Those refugees remaining in the cities have also been scattered as
extensively as possible, a notable instance being Konia, where 2,500
people have been scattered all over the city and surrounding gardens, a
few dozen having been put into each “mahle” or quarter of the city, so
that it took a week of careful search and inquiry to obtain statistics
that were anywhere near accurate. This extensive scattering makes the
work of relief very difficult; nevertheless much has been accomplished
already and by systematic canvassing by American missionaries and native
agents it is hoped that much of the suffering and need of the refugees
will be discovered and relieved. Relief of over-crowding, supply of
adequate clothing and bedding, opening of soup kitchens and supply of
food other than the dry bread given by the government, distribution
of fuel and medical aid, indicate the principal lines along which the
Red Cross must work for the next two or three months. The officials
everywhere express the hope that they will be able to send the refugees
back to Europe for the spring, but, of course, nothing definite can be
planned as yet. Whatever may be the political outcome of the Balkan war,
a large number of the refugees will undoubtedly remain in Anatolia, and
the Red Cross may then consider the advisability of providing employment
for these people, supplying them with farm implements, etc. The large
majority of the refugees are women and children, many of these having
been rendered widows and orphans by the war; the few able-bodied men who
have come have for the most part, been drafted into the Turkish army
and sent to Chatalja, so that the question of employment will have to
be considered later on. A few of the refugees are able to earn money by
carting wood and grain, using their primitive oxcarts for the purpose,
but most of them are idle, and on account of the great scattering
throughout the country they must, unfortunately, remain so for some time
to come. It is most fortunate that the general health of the refugees is
good, and from the hygienic standpoint the policy of scattering has no
doubt been a good one. There are, of course, many cases of sickness among
them, and in the process of investigation we have found many people at
the point of death from exposure and cold, the most pathetic cases being
among the children. Here again the scattering makes it impossible to do
much visiting, and though the communities may be saved from epidemic,
many individuals, sad to say, will perish from cold, hunger and disease
this winter.
[Illustration: MACEDONIAN REFUGEES FLEEING TO CONSTANTINOPLE.]
Our investigations have been confined chiefly to the cities, where
several hundreds or thousands of refugees are gathered, but we have also
looked into the condition of a dozen or more villages and have found
that in general the villagers have been kind to the refugees and have
given them food and shelter, and have lent them clothing and bedding;
but in some places the villagers have thrust the refugees into stables
and broken-down hovels, with little or no clothing and bedding, and
just enough food to keep body and soul together. In some instances
the unfortunate, defenceless women and girls have been forced into
prostitution.
The Constantinople Chapter of the American Red Cross has established
relief work in Konia and Broussa along the lines indicated above. In
Konia a systematic canvass of the city and surrounding villages has been
made, and bedding and clothing distributed according to need; in many
cases eight or ten people were found sharing one quilt, and women and
children walking about the frozen streets with bare feet. For people in
the city we distributed tickets having the articles they were to receive
indicated on them, and the distribution was made on the mission premises.
The government, however, forbade us to carry on independent work and
insisted that all articles for distribution must be handed over to them;
we were unwilling to accept this condition, so work was stopped for the
time being. In Broussa an effort has been made to get the people into
more sanitary quarters than they now occupy; we found many places where
eight, ten and even twelve people were packed into a tiny mud-floored
room about ten feet square, damp and dismal, and with one or two of
the family sick—in one case three people, one with ulcers and two with
dysentery, reposing under one small and filthy quilt. Not only must these
people be gotten speedily into more healthy surroundings, but some sort
of sanitary supervision must be established over the quarters to which
they are to be removed. It is our expectation to open one or more soup
kitchens and inaugurate some medical work.
We have turned over the city of Eski-Shehir to the Germans, who promise
to attend to its needs and to those of the surrounding region. We hope
through the above arrangements to get into direct touch with more than
half the refugees in Asia Minor, and trust that where our work is unable
to reach them other helpers may come forward to tide them over this first
difficult winter.