HOUSTON — Two Houston-area doctors are back home Saturday after spending two weeks on an emergency mission to help people in Syria and Turkey impacted by devastating earthquakes.
It was just about a month ago that Dr. Sophia Banu and Dr. Dania Albaba, along with the rest of the country, woke up in the U.S. to the news of a massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake hitting Syria and Turkey. More than 50,000 people have died and more than 100,000 were injured from the natural disaster.
Dr. Banu is a psychiatrist and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine and Dr. Albaba is a resident at the school. The two spent time treating patients and helping educate and train emergency responders in the countries.
“We’re all humans and we all feel the pain. But we have so much to be grateful for that you forget your discomfort that you forget that you’re not in your home not in your bed," Dr. Banu said. "You do anything to help someone in need, and I think that’s what makes us stronger.”
Dr. Albaba, a Syrian-American, said the experience was very emotional.
“They’re sleeping in tents, sleeping on the street, sleeping in cars, a lot of them don’t plan to return for months so it was very hard to see.”
The doctors said the need for resources in these countries is still great.
They said the victims were so grateful that people like themselves were coming all the way from America to help.