To effectively collect donations and organize volunteers for the earthquake zone, a group of Bilkent students launched a registration through Google Docs.
“We gathered as people who could share information with others, and we built systems to do this effectively. Our system was based on communication; we tried to ensure that accurate information was shared with as many people as possible. We kept our work sustainable by organizing our team members. In the first few days, only three people were making all the calls. We learned to reduce the workload as much as possible” said fourth-year CS student Emre Tarakcı.
For the group, being involved in organizing people was more important than being physically present in the field. Instead of providing one workforce by going to the location, it was possible to direct 50 people to the right place.
“The lack of coordination between different aid centers led to too many volunteers in some and not enough in others. The problem was not a lack of people willing to help but a lack of communication and organization between aid centers. We, as volunteer students and teachers, tried to let people know which aid center had which needs” continued Emre.
“We were able to communicate with people who wanted to take part in the organization and understand where there was a need. Since the information in our file was updated regularly, people could refer to it anytime.”
“In the first week, when we indicated a need with a code red, 200 people were directed to the right place within half an hour.”
By the twelfth day of the earthquake, people were better organized locally, and the need for the system decreased. The team decided to discontinue the Google Docs file, considering the high effort that was required to maintain it. They continued to make announcements on Whatsapp.
The students received countless “thank yous” from aid centers as well as from people who wanted to donate.
