Van: Katie's Home in Rubble

When we flew out of Istanbul, Tommy flew into Van to help our friend Joseph pack up their old home as well as help with some relief effort and shelter building.
These pictures are from inside our friend's apartment and building. They were not home during the earthquake.

The stairwell outside their apartment

Entry hall

Fallen bookshelf; why anchoring them to the wall is valuable

Kitchen; none of their dishes broke

Kitchen. The living room sustained no real damage, even the china cabinet there was fine.

Stairwell after Tommy swept the debris to the sides so the movers wouldn't slip.

They don't have freight elevators, so everything goes up and down flights of stairs. One man will carry a whole couch up the stairs by himself on his back.

One more Van post, and we'll move on to our Christmas celebrations (of which I haven't even looked at the pictures!) and some new year resolutions.