Turkish children traumatised by earthquake find comfort in drama and games

Volunteers try to reduce anxiety among displaced children in Adana

With drama, games and films, volunteers in the southern Turkish city of Adana are trying to bring a sense of normality to the lives of children displaced by earthquakes that left large parts of the country in ruins two weeks ago and has killed so far close to 50,000 people.

“How did you enjoy today’s race?” asked Meleker Eli, a child development specialist, as she knelt on the lawn in front of Adana’s municipality building to speak to three girls, aged seven and eight.

“It was good,” answered Hasanur, seven. “You felt good or really good?” asked Ms Eli. “Really, really good,” said Hasanur.

Every day at 2pm, more than 100 children gather for activities organised by a group of volunteers on the lawn outside Adana’s municipality. The activities are designed to be fun, a distraction from the death and destruction the children recently witnessed.

A woman walks among destroyed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. Getty Images

A woman mourns a relative during the burial of one of the earthquake victims in Antakya, southeastern Turkey. AP Photo

A family photo is seen amid the rubble in Hatay. Getty Images

Syrian refugees in Turkey return to their home country following the deadly earthquake. AFP

Members of NGOs Deathcare Embalming Team and Turkish Kurt-Ar inspect the bucket of an excavator as they search for bodies in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AP Photo

Dust covers a family photo album found in Antakya. AP Photo

A man made homeless by the 7.8-magnitude quake carries mattresses distributed by an NGO at a makeshift camp in Afrin, in Syria's Aleppo province. AFP

A cracked road near the quake’s epicentre in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AFP

A rescuer stands near the site where Aleyna Olmez, 17, was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, about 10 days after the quake struck. AFP

A rescuer holds a cat after it was rescued from the ruins of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. AFP

Quake survivors queue for food amid the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

Bedran, a local resident who lost his house in the earthquake, keeps warm in Antakya, Turkey. Reuters

A girl carries a box of water bottles next to a damaged mosque in Antakya. Reuters

A car lies crushed by parts of a badly damaged building in Samandag, Turkey. AP

Residentes remove their belongings from their destroyed house in Samandag. AP

Aleyna Olmez, 17, is rescued after being trapped for 10 days in Kahramanmaras. Getty

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Ankara. AFP

A message scrawled on a car covered in dust from collapsed buildings in Antakya, Turkey. AP

Destruction in Antakya. AP

A cracked road leads to a flooded area in Antakya. AP

A man looks bewildered at the site of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. EPA

Numbered stones near graves of earthquake victims at a cemetery in Adiyaman, Turkey. EPA

A makeshift camp set up amid the rubble in Antakya, south of Hatay. AFP

A woman holds her baby inside a tent in a camp in Antakya, Hatay. AFP

Greek and Turkish rescuers are at work to extract bodies of victims from the rubble in Antakya. AFP

Samar Hamouda, 44, recalls her experience of the earthquake destroying her home, at Tishreen Hospital in Latakia, Syria. Reuters

A damaged house in Jableh, Syria. Reuters

Photos of missing children left in hope in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

People collect copies of holy books from the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

People carry a bodybag as residents wait for their relatives to be pulled out from the rubble in Hatay. AFP

Dust covers a family photo album found in the debris of a building in Antakya. AP

Portuguese rescue team members try to free the dog named Tarcin from the rubble in Antakya in Hatay. EPA

An injured survivor at a makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP

A makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP

Britain's King Charles III (C) meets with members of the Turkish diaspora community who have been collecting, packaging and organising the transportation of food, blankets and warm clothing for people who have recently been affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, during a visit to the West London Turkish Volunteers, in Hounslow, greater London. AFP

People stand by the fire next to the ruins of a collapsed building in Elbistan, Turkey. Reuters

Destroyed buildings in Syria's rebel-held village of Atarib, in the north-western Aleppo province. AFP

Rescuers carry Fatma, 15, who was pulled out from the rubble in Hatay, Turkey. Reuters

A displaced woman receives food inside a stadium in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

People lineup to receive aid supplies at a makeshift camp in Iskenderun city in southern Turkey. AP

Humanitarian aid provided by Saudi Arabia for survivors of the February 6 earthquake are unloaded at Aleppo Airport in northern Syria. AFP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the World Government Summit in Dubai via video link. Antonie Robertson/The National

A man walks between trains being using as shelters in Iskenderun, southern Turkey. AP Photo

A woman and children inside a train being used as shelter after the earthquake, in Iskenderun. AP Photo

Tents erected in a school yard for Syrians who have lost their homes after the deadly quake, in the rebel-held town of Harem in Syria. Reuters

A woman walks by the destroyed Habib-i Neccar mosque in the historic southern city of Antakya in Hatay, Turkey. AFP

Rescuers pull out a 12-year-old Syrian girl, Cudi, from the rubble in Hatay. AFP

Amar, a Syrian refugee living in Turkey, looks on as search for survivors continues in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

Displaced people keep warm by a fire in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Earthquake survivors receive distributed meals in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

A woman stands amid boxes of donated clothes in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

A man walks near a damaged building that leans on a neighbouring house in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

UN emergency relief co-ordinator Martin Griffiths stands amid quake-damaged buildings in Aleppo, Syria. Reuters

Delegates observe a moment of silence for the Turkey–Syria earthquake before the start of the World Government Summit in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

People keep warm by a fire as the search for survivors continues a week after the earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A child receives food in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A dog is seen through a glass door in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Children walk in the street with food boxes in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A minaret stands as the sun rises over the earthquake-hit city of Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Therapy will come later, once the children have returned to their routine, says Ms Eli.

According to the UN, 5.4 million children in Turkey were impacted by the February 6 earthquake, and 2.5 million children require immediate support.

James Grey, Unicef chief of child protection in Turkey, told The National that it was important to keep children engaged in normal activities as quickly as possible after a natural disaster.

"That can be play activities or recreation activites or anything to bring a sense of routine, and engage them with each other in a sort of supportive caring protective environment," he said.

"At this stage of the aftermath, it's not necessarily helpful to go with trauma therapy or anything too specialised."

In Adana, children live in government-provided tents, with no heating, electricity or running water. Although the weather has recently warmed, temperatures were below freezing in the days following the earthquake.

Children have stopped going to school and their parents often fear returning home because of aftershocks. A new powerful earthquake hit southern Turkey on Monday evening.

Ms Eli, who heads a local NGO borne out of the earthquake called “Hands of Angels”, says that distracting the children has helped reduce their anxiety.

“On the first day, there was a child from the province of Hatay who repeatedly said things like: do you know how your building collapsed? Have you seen the rubble? Do you know how many people died?” said Ms Eli.

“But nearly two weeks later, he had calmed down. He was waiting for the games to start instead of talking about the earthquake.” The child recently left with his family to the coastal city of Antalya, she added.

Adana, which was relatively spared by the February 6 earthquake, is located more than 200km from its epicentre in south-west Turkey. The fifth largest city in the country, it acts both as a point of refuge and of transit for those who lost their homes.

The NGO’s sports teacher, Harun, said that physical activities help children feel more grounded. “They take power from the ground, feel it and give it to the sky,” he said, describing a stretching exercise.

“During the game, we might need to say that we understand them, and accept that this is a sad situation,” said Ms Eli. “But with the dialogues that we are trying to build with them, we need to make them focus on the moment they are in.”

The children must be sheltered from anything that may rekindle their trauma, she says.

Topics banned from conversations or films include any references to earthquakes, displacement, separation or being underground.

The NGO’s volunteers recently removed the Disney classic The Lion King from the list of films deemed appropriate for children because it includes a scene of separation between a father and son.

A traditional Turkish film that included moles was also considered unsuitable. The small mammals live in tunnels underground, which may trigger memories among children of relatives trapped in rubble, said Ms Eli.

Activities organised by 'Hand of angels' support group to help children cope with trauma. Nilanjana Gupta/ The National

She decided to show the children Disney’s Aladdin because “the flying carpet will make them dream".

“We try to keep them away from social media and the news that broadcast constant updates on the earthquakes,” said Ms Eli. “We show them films that respond to their needs right now.”

The NGO’s drama teacher, Sirin Gulsirin, is trying to coax the children into expressing their feelings via improvisation.

“They talk a lot about death, dying, collapsing, rubble, and that they are not going to be happy anymore,” she said.

Ms Gulsirin showed The National a recent video in which she sits the children in a half moon around her.

She encouraged them to say one word each. Together, the words create a poem.

That day, there was no talk of rubble or death. Instead, the children crafted a story about stars.

They laughed and hesitated before starting to talk.

“One day, I don’t know, but I went to the stars. I saw the planets. They were beautiful,” they said.

They continued: “A star smiled at me. I said it was beautiful. I smiled back.”