Libyan community members mourn devastation back home, local mosques raise funds for victims

Libyan community members living in Waterloo region and Guelph say there are no words to describe the devastation back home after floods wreaked havoc across the eastern part of the country over the weekend of Sept. 9.

As of Friday, the death toll had increased to 11,300, and Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, the mayor of Derna, said deaths in that city could reach 18,000 to 20,000, based on the extent of the damage. 

"We're still thinking, 'How could this happen?' We're lost with words. I don't know what to say," said Ismaeil Mazek, who's lived in the K-W area with his family for over two decades.

"The first few days we didn't realize the magnitude of the disaster. We could not imagine this could happen to Libya."

Mazek's relatives live in the eastern part of the country, in Benghazi, which he said only had some damage, but his wife still has family living in Derna. Mazek said they worried for their safety over several days after they learned about the floods.

"We couldn't reach them," he said, but luckily, "they are from the fortunate ones that survived," he added.

Mohamed Jadi, a practicing physician in Guelph who immigrated to Canada from Libya more than 20 years ago, said the devastation in the country is "heart breaking."

"It's beyond imagination. I've never ever dreamed that this would happen at all," he said.

His family in Libya live in the western area of the country, and as he flew to visit them on Friday, Jadi said he would be thinking of those who have lost their homes and family members.

"It's not a happy feeling like before," he said, noting his trip was planned before the floods happened.

Jadi and Mazek said the Libyan community is tight knit and many are currently trying to help where they can.

Mosques in Kitchener and Waterloo are raising funds after prayer services for the victims of the floods in Libya and the victims of a deadly earthquake that hit Morocco on Sept. 8.

"We know that what we will do is very little, but we will try to do our part," said Abdul Mannan Syed, the Imam at the Waterloo mosque.

"The need is huge, so we will try our best to motivate the people and encourage them to give as much as possible so aid and help can reach there, where they are really suffering and they are in need."