Ali Eyupoglu of Milliyet daily describes Kimse Yok Mu (KYM) Foundation’s efforts in Kenya, where even basic needs like water and food are scarce, as lifesaver. He shares his experiences in his column:Two days in Kenya

What are the three basic needs that a human needs to survive?Air, food and water…

What I’ve seen in Mombasa, Kenya, after a 7-hour flight on Turkish Airlines, is that these needs except for air are really hard to find.

Many of the Somalia immigrants Kenyans are living in jerrybuilt shanties.

Rain is abundant but none of these houses has drinking water. So, Kimse Yok Mu volunteers who earlier built water wells and thus brought drinking water to these houses are lifesavers indeed.

Besides the water wells, the foundation also gives away donations of food, particularly meat, in the region. Speaking of donations, do you know what is the biggest problem that volunteers are facing here? The answer is life safety. They risk their lives trying to help these people. Though not as dangerous as the greedy, there’s no question about how dangerous the hunger can be.

I asked a KYM official back in Istanbul why they’ve built a school, dormitory, soup kitchen and hospital in Mombasa when the entire nation is pouring aid to Soma, where 301 miners fell dead in a mining disaster. Here is his answer: “Our search and rescue team ASYA was at the scene in Soma right at the first night. We extend a hand to wherever is in need in Turkey. You will understand “Why Kenya?” when we get there.” And so I did.

I realized what an honorable job KYM has been doing when I arrived in Malindi, in the southernmost Kenya. A campus that cost 10 million Turkish Lira..

I saw what a campus on 7.5 acre consisting of a 600-student capacity school, a 35-bed hospital and a soup kitchen meant for Kenyans.

KYM Secretary General Savas Metin said this campus will function as a base in Malindi for the aid efforts to be done in the region. “We have brought drinking water for 1 million people, with the water wells we established in the drought-ridden Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya. We will not only educate underprivileged students at Light Academy but provide medical aid to whoever is in need as well. The biggest problem here, above all, is to deliver aid donations safely. Our donations will be safe in this base. And aid deliveries will be safe too.”

Excerpted from the article published [in Turkish] on Samanyolu Haber, 28 May 2014, Wednesday