Memories of the ground shaking at 4:17am on a cold February night still haunt Elif, an eight-year-old girl from Gaziantep, Turkey, the epicentre of an earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes.
Elif sits holding a doll that she grabbed that night she had to run out of her house.
“This doll helped me fall asleep while I was afraid of all the aftershocks that lasted for weeks,” she said. Elif and her family found temporary refuge at her father’s workplace.
Six months have passed since the Turkey-Syria earthquake, which displaced millions, and many children who lived through the disaster continue to experience trauma. Some still live in tents, and many have been unable to return to school.
According to UNICEF, more than four million children across Turkey have been affected by the tragedy. Those who witnessed injuries and deaths are struggling with post-traumatic stress symptoms, such as anxiety and flashbacks.
“Children need stability more than adults because, at that age, they can’t understand or cope yet with the instabilities of life,” said Zeynep Bahadir, a clinical psychologist with expertise on disaster traumas. “Playtime is the most important tool for them in this situation. It can work as therapy.”
That could be why, for some children, the first object they grabbed when they had to abruptly leave their homes was their favourite toy, helping them feel safe amid the chaos. “Toys have a bigger meaning; they are their words,” Bahadir said. “They can express themselves through toys.”
In February, eight-year-old Eymen lived in a car with his parents and two siblings for three days after the earthquake. It was the only place where he felt safe. Since then, he has carried a toy car around. His mother says it makes him feel protected.
Hisa’s family of five initially fled the Syrian city of Idlib in 2018, but they were displaced again when the earthquake hit their new home in Nurdagi, Turkey. They have since been living in a tent by the ruins of that home.
“This doll I’m holding is a gift from my mother when I was younger and we were still living in Syria,” said Hisa, 11, adding that she received it as a form of encouragement before they left Idlib, and carried it on her journey across the Syria-Turkey border. “I’m very attached to it, and I’m happy I was able to retrieve it from my house and bring it to our tent.”
Nurten Ozturk Ortaokulu, a middle school in the centre of Nurdagi, was attended by more than 750 children before being damaged in the earthquake. It hasn’t reopened, leaving classrooms empty for months. Lessons are set to return this coming September. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]
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Children wait for a team of volunteers to begin playtime activities in a camp on the outskirts of Antakya, Hatay, which was severely affected by the earthquake. The camp shelters about 1,800 displaced people, one-third of whom are children. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]Children attend activities set up by a team of volunteers in a camp in Antakya, Hatay. According to UNICEF, some four million children across Turkey have been affected by the tragedy, with some suffering post-traumatic stress symptoms, such as anxiety and flashbacks. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]Sare, who is nine years old, holds a stuffed doll gifted to her by her grandfather, who passed away just 10 days before the earthquake hit her hometown of Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey. After the earthquake, Sare and her family of six went to Konya, where the government put them up in a hotel for four days. ‘The doll reminds me of my grandfather and makes me feel close to him. Especially the night of the earthquake, it helped me fall asleep in the car and feel less scared,’ Sare said, adding that she was happy her grandpa did not have to see what happened to them and their city. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]Sare’s stuffed doll lies on a desk at her school in Gaziantep, where many schools were able to reopen in the spring, a few weeks after the tragedy. Sare says she feels lucky to have been able to come back to school, and cannot wait to return in September. ‘This doll means a lot to me; it reminds me of my sweet grandpa,’ she said. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]Eymen, eight, plays with his toy car in a classroom in Gaziantep. He has been carrying the toy everywhere since the earthquake, when his family left their house and slept in a car for three days. His mother says the toy makes him feel safer and reduces his fear of more earthquakes. ‘The wheels are so big and strong that they can face the ground shaking because of an earthquake,’ he said. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]
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Eymen’s toy car has helped him feel safe and protected since that February night, because it represents the car where his family took refuge during that stressful time. It was the only place where he felt safe from the continuous aftershocks. The cramped space inside the car ‘was like a big hug’, he said. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]Three-year-old Abdulraheem sits next to his three goldfish in the tent where he now lives with his relatives in Kirikhan, Hatay. Born in Turkey to Syrian parents, Abdulraheem is the only survivor among his immediate family after his father Ahmed, mother Hiba and his little sister Lamar died under the rubble of their home. Abdulraheem was unable to retrieve any of his toys from his old house, but he was gifted the aquarium shortly after the disaster. He named the fish after his parents and sister. Zeynep Bahadir, a Turkish clinical psychologist, said children below the age of six elaborate trauma in a different manner, as their brains have not fully developed yet. ‘That doesn’t mean they will forget more easily. The symptoms of loss of loved ones will show up at later stages in life.’ [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]The aquarium was a gift to Abdulraheem from his current caregivers, who thought the fish could help him process the loss of his loved ones. Aside from toys, pets can be a vital source of comfort for children grieving the loss of a family member. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]Children queue at a food distribution point in Nurdagi, organised by the Turkish Red Crescent. The town lost about 2,500 people in the earthquake, and many survivors relied on food assistance in the wake of the disaster. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]Children run and play in a camp in Antakya, Hatay. Playtime is an significant part of the day for children displaced by the earthquake, who often do not have other opportunities to release their stress. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]A girl collects gifts distributed by volunteers to families living in informal tent settlements in Gaziantep’s Islahiye district. Since February, local and international organisations have helped to distribute blankets, food, prepacked hygiene kits, and toys for children. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]A woman and her daughter return after the distribution of hygiene kits and water organised by Oxfam in Samandag, Hatay province. [Carola Cappellari/Al Jazeera]
