Waterloo region's Moroccan community finds ways to support people affected by earthquake
CBC
Moroccan community members in Waterloo region are still reeling from the news of an earthquake that happened in Morocco late Friday that left thousands dead and injured.
"Honestly, I don't have the right words to describe my feelings," Aoussaf Arrout from Cambridge told CBC News.
Her family, including her parents, live in the area of Cassablanca. Though it was away from where the earthquake hit, she got a call from her mother on Friday who told her they could could feel the tremors from the quake.
"She was really scared and she told me the house was shaking, the chandelier was shaking and all the neighbours, they went on the street," she said.
"They couldn't go back to their home because they were scared if this would happen again, especially what happened in Turkey, where the earthquake happened and then hit again."
The disaster has killed more than 2,600 people, and that number is expected to rise.The United Nations estimated 300,000 people were affected by Friday night's 6.8 magnitude quake.
Arrout said she was overwhelmed on Friday with messages of support from her colleagues and friends in Canada and other parts of the world.
Now, like many Moroccans in Waterloo region, she is trying to figure out what can be done to help family and neighbours back home.
"Our hands are really tied in how we can help and how we can support them and even know whether all of our family is safe," she said.
Arrout said she's been calling her parents regularly to offer them emotional support. She's also joined a local What's App group that is trying to raise funds to send to the Moroccan government aid in rebuilding efforts.
Mohamed Bendame, who is the Imam at the Kitchener Masjid, said news of the earthquake has been hard to process.
"It is heart wrenching, what's happened in Morocco, especially because it's the country that I come from," he told CBC News.
Bendame said he worries for the families living in remote and rural villages in Morocco, areas the were some of the hardest hit by the earthquake.
"Following the news and seeing the images and the destruction and the loss of life, it's really painful to watch," he said.
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