Close your eyes, and the scenes of carrying out rescue with the Chinese Blue Sky Rescue Team in the earthquake-stricken area of Turkey flashed in Wang Wenqi’s mind again. He worked as an interpreter during the rescue and tried his best to serve as the “ears” and “mouth” of the rescue team members.
On February 6, 2023, after a strong earthquake occurred in southeastern Turkey, although international rescue forces continued to gather in the earthquake area, due to the lack of heavy machinery and equipment in the disaster area, rain and snow, and language barriers, the rescue process was delayed. It is very difficult to advance.
”Post-00″ boy Wang Wenqi is a junior student at Sichuan International Studies University. In September 2022, he came to Istanbul University to study as an international student. Just a few days before the earthquake, he had just passed the Turkish C1 level exam. After the earthquake, he has been paying attention to the local situation and wants to do something for the disaster area.
When Wang Wenqi learned that there was an urgent need for a batch of Chinese-Turkish translators in the international student group, he immediately signed up. Language barriers will directly reduce rescue efficiency. That night, he started the translation work: he coordinated with the Turkish management department in advance to understand the location and information of the operation, and asked them to send a vehicle to send the rescue team to the rescue site… When the communication was almost completed, it was already the early morning of the next day. With no time to rest, he rushed to Istanbul Airport non-stop, joined the Chinese Blue Sky Rescue Team, and flew to the disaster area together for rescue.
Wang Wenqi followed the rescue team to Malatya Province in eastern Turkey. Many white tents were placed around the ruins. The local people sat or stood in front of the tents, silently looking at their former homes, and there were depressive cries from time to time.
It was the first time that Wang Wenqi had such a close contact with the post-earthquake scene. He was greatly shocked . He wiped his wet eyes and said, “I must translate well, buy precious time for the rescue team, and try my best to rescue as many people as possible!” At the scene, Wang Wenqi followed the rescue team members closely. Where there is a task, he often responds immediately, and feeds back the needs of the scene to the rescue team members one by one. When the cooperation of local rescue forces is needed, he conveys the thoughts of members of the Chinese rescue team in Turkish. When using sound detection equipment, he will tell people around him to keep quiet in Chinese and Turkish respectively, so as not to interfere with the detection.
On the afternoon of February 9, Wang Wenqi and members of the rescue team found a weak sign of life in front of a ruin. It was a T-shaped block with narrow streets, and most of the buildings on both sides were in ruins. Wang Wenqi quickly relayed the words of the person in charge of the rescue site to the team members: “It is very risky to search and rescue in the neighborhood, and the remaining buildings may collapse at any time…” At that time, many team members were injured during the search and rescue process, and he himself sprained his foot, but After listening to his translation, no one at the scene backed away.
Beside the ruins, Wang Wenqi needs to help direct the excavator master to work according to the angle and method required by the rescue team. This time involved a lot of technical terms, which made his translation more difficult. Seeing that the angle of the excavator was always wrong, Wang Wenqi was so anxious that she was sweating through her clothes. “Reducing communication barriers by one minute can save the rescue time by one minute.” Thinking of this, he quickly ran to the excavation site, waved his arms at the huge bucket teeth, and even said and gestured: “Go to the left! Up!” “That’s right!” He shouted excitedly, and he didn’t even realize that he had broken his voice. Before she could take a breather, Wang Wenqi took the initiative to join the rescue team to help clear the passage together.
When the Chinese Blue Sky Rescue Team successfully rescued the man who had been trapped for a long time, Wang Wenqi couldn’t help crying. The tall boy once again felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders. He said: “It is my greatest responsibility to ensure the smooth communication between the Chinese rescue team and other rescue forces.” He quickly grew up to serve as the “ears” and “mouth” of members of the Chinese Blue Sky Rescue Team.
The members of the rescue team are racing against time, and Wang Wenqi is also very busy. From Malatya to Adiyaman, where the disaster was more serious, he worked nearly 17 hours a day, could only eat one hot meal a day, and was often woken up by freezing when sleeping in a tent at night. But he never complained. He said: “I am surrounded by people who have lost their homes and children. What they suffer is the real pain. As long as one more person can be rescued, all the sacrifices are worthwhile.”
When Wang Wenqi and members of the rescue team were walking on the road, they could always hear someone shouting “China’s rescue force is here!” Sometimes there will be children who pull their family members to come forward and want to take a photo with them. In order to facilitate the rescue work, they only carry equipment to the work site, but when they return to the camp, their pockets are always full of snacks and drinks stuffed by local people…
The nearly ten days of rescue work has touched Wang Wenqi a lot. He said: “Life is fragile, but kindness and love know no borders, and respect for life is a common language for all human beings. This experience has also taught me to cherish more. In ordinary days, we must strive to achieve It’s best to try to have no regrets and be ready for whatever happens.”
