[Turkiye] Public Viewing of a Football Match with Children Affected by the Huge Earthquake that Shook Southern Turkiye in 2023
Over a year and a half have passed since the huge earthquake hit southern Turkiye on February 6, 2023, but more than 440,000 people still live in temporary container houses in the disaster-hit areas. Peace Winds, in cooperation with our partner organization Solidarity Respect & Protect (SRP), has been providing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) to those who live in container camps in Iskenderun city in Hatay Province. As a part of this project, we hosted a public viewing of a football match, which is very popular in Turkiye so that children and their guardians together could enjoy a relaxing fun night.
So far, more than 3,000 children and 1,000 guardians have participated in the MHPSS activities. Children have taken part in physical activities, drawing and other programs in child-friendly spaces, which can ease the pain and anxieties they had during and after the earthquake.
As programs for the guardians, we have provided training sessions to enhance the guardians’ and the communities’ ability to protect the children by offering lectures by experts on children’s rights, gender-based violence, child labor and so on. At the same time, these sessions have served the purpose of providing safe places for the adults to share their problems and feelings so that they would be released from the stress.
guardians at a training session
However, male guardians living in the container camp have less chances to participate in these activities because they work during the day. Their participation in MHPSS activities help them better understand the importance of the activities, leading to their encouragement for their wives and children to take part in these activities.
That is why we hosted a public viewing of a football match on August 21 in the container camp. Football is a very popular sport in Turkiye and we thought it would be an attractive opportunity for male guardians to join and get to know our program. And needless to say, we wanted to provide a nice relaxing evening to those who manage to live difficult lives in the camp.
The event was scheduled to start at 10 p.m. so they can come after work, but children with tickets in their hands started to gather around an hour ahead of the game. When the game started, there were more than 70 children and adults in front of the large screen.
Children started to come before the game
Our staff prepared handmade “tickets”
An ice cream vendor joined the event
The game turned out to be a heated match with a total of five points together. Children and adults enjoyed the night cheering for the players, talking and laughing with friends.
Everybody watched the game enthusiastically
Our staff handed out leaflets during the halftime introducing the MHPSS activities and explaining about the training sessions that deal with children’s rights, communication among family members and so on.
the handed-out leaflet
Some participants curiously asked questions about the project
For many of the male participants, this event was the first time they came. One said, “I have heard about children’s rights but was not aware of the importance. Now I have a better understanding of the necessity” and another said, “My work keeps me busy, but I will try to come to the next training session.” Another one said he really enjoyed the viewing, not thinking about his work. Another said, “I had hoped for an event like this for adults since I knew there had been a movie night for children. Now I am so happy that you provided an opportunity for grown-ups to enjoy.”
A staff of SRP said, “It may be difficult for all the males who came tonight to come to our training sessions but it was worth holding this event if even a few of them attend the training sessions in the future.”
The temperature in Hatay Province gets as high as 40℃ in summer, but the signs of autumn such as rains in the morning and evening and cool winds started to blow have been felt gradually after the night of this event. After the fall, the lives in the container camp will be very harsh in the severe cold of winter. Peace Winds continues our efforts to meet the needs of the people affected by the earthquake and to ease their pain.
This project has been made possible with your contribution and funded by Japan Platform. Thank you very much.