Source: Tzu Chi Monthly Issue 685

Narrated by Basel Khalil, IT Director of Tzu Chi Türkiye

Compiled by / Wei Yu-Hsien, Tzu Chi Volunteer in Taichung

Basel Khalil (far left) overseeing the distribution in an earthquake-stricken area of Türkiye, ready to step in at any moment. | Photo by Abdulrahman Hritani | 2023/03/22

Amid a crowded queue under the scorching sun, I endured a four-hour wait until it was finally my turn to receive the supplies. I did not want others to endure such a long wait, so I developed the "No-Wait System."

In my life, there have been two significant moments. The first was when I put on a Tzu Chi volunteer vest, and the second when I met Dharma Master Cheng Yen in Taiwan in 2019. During that visit, I presented her with a "Family Card" we used during distributions, named "Master." At that time, I had just married, and Master gave a unique gift to my wife, something no one else had. Now, coming back to Taiwan, I have a daughter.

In 2011, I was a third-year student studying software engineering in Damascus, Syria. The civil war forced us to leave our home and relocate to another province. Every day I would leave home at 6 a.m., reaching the school by noon, attend two classes, and then rush home. If I was delayed, finding accommodation for the night would be a challenge.

I spent six hours commuting daily, relying on aid from charitable organizations, and endured painful queues for essential supplies. During one distribution, in the early morning of a fasting day during Ramadan, I tried to persuade my brother to accompany me, but he refused. Alone in the crowded queue, under the scorching sun, I waited for four hours. When it was finally my turn, I told the distribution team of my software engineering background and offered to help redesign the queuing system.

Every moment I thought how to design a system to spare people from lengthy delay and avoid the agonizing wait I had experienced myself. A year later, I succeeded. Previously, the organization could only serve a hundred families a day with very long waiting times. With the "No-Wait System," we can now assist up to eight hundred families daily.

After graduating from technical college, I chose not to enter the corporate world like my peers. I remained in the life provided by the charitable organization, an experience unlike any typical workplace. But war eventually forced me to leave my homeland. I will never forget how painful it was for my father. He did not want to say goodbye, his eyes were filled with sadness, but he would not express it.

In Türkiye, every day I eagerly anticipated seeing him again. After five years apart, one day my father told me he could finally come with my mother to visit. But, on the day he received his passport, he passed away, and my heart was shattered.

On March 15, 2023, the earthquake-stricken province of Sanliurfa in Türkiye, one of the severely affected areas of the Türkiye-Syria earthquake on February 6, faced another crisis with heavy rainfall that caused floods. The situation worsened significantly. On March 26 and 27, Tzu Chi initiated distributions for 5,000 households in Sanliurfa city, providing crucial aid to those affected by both the earthquake and floods. The distribution system designed by Basel Khalil, IT Director of Tzu Chi Türkiye, played a crucial role in this relief effort. Continuously updated and improved since the first distribution, the system aims to minimize the time quake survivors spend in queues, ensuring smoother aid distribution. | Photo by David Yu | Sanliurfa, Türkiye | 2023/03/27

Arriving in Türkiy, I joined the staff at El Menahil School in Sultangazi, Istanbul. After a month, they asked me to assist in a weekend distribution event. I asked in surprise: "We're a school, what are we distributing?" They replied: "We're a charitable organization, and the school is part of it."

At the distribution site the next day, I saw people searching for their names on a wall, like students checking exam results. In that moment, I understood that my two years working for the charitable organization had been a training ground to help these people.

I successfully developed a relief support system. By sending distribution information to the beneficiaries, they could register their preferred date and time for collection. After system integration, the beneficiaries received confirmation messages, notifying them when to collect. On the distribution day, identity verification through the check-in system allowed printing of receipts, facilitating smooth card collection. This streamlined process provided more time for volunteers to introduce Tzu Chi to the recipients. Additionally, the system could be monitored remotely online. To help Ukrainian refugees who had to flee their country after the outbreak of the war with Russia, the system allowed us to track the entire progress of the distributions in Poland from Turkey.

On the second day of relief distribution in the heavily affected province of Hatay, senior Tzu Chi volunteer Ching-Kuei Hsieh (謝景貴, right) seized the opportunity to pass on his experience to Basel Khalil (left). Photo by Huhammed Hak | Mustafa Kemal Universitesi Kirikhan Meslek Yuksekokulu, Kirikhan, Hatay, Türkiye | 2023/03/11

A team is like a computer, and the power source is Master Cheng Yen and the Tzu Chi members. Because of your support, we have the strength to accomplish everything. I sincerely thank Master Cheng Yen; her warmth touches everyone!