The psychosocial impacts of the earthquakes in Syria and Türkiye are severe as will continue to make themselves felt and survivors process their shock and loss.
The effects on children, many of whom fled war and displacement in Syria, are profound and they must be supported, writes Mustafa Alokoud, Executive Director of Hope Revival Organization (HRO)
“We cannot forget the first moments of the earthquake when we woke up, panicked and ran onto the streets in the snow to escape the terrifying earthquake. We were very shocked and panicked when we heard the horrific news about Kahramanmaraş and Antakya in Turkey, and Harim and Jandairis in Syria, where we lost many of our friends and their entire families, as well as 80 NGO employees and four UN staff.
Thank God, none of our employees, volunteers or their families were lost, but more than half of them had their homes damaged while others lost loved ones.
Health facilities were overcrowded, basic services were out of order, and basic needs such as food, water and electricity were unavailable.
As humanitarian workers we felt very helpless and afraid and slept in parks and streets, cars, a mosques and shelters.
Like the rest of the community, we were affected like them, and we did not know where or how to start. What motivated us was the courage of some of our colleagues and the speed of their response.
They did as much as they could with their available resources to ensure safety for survivors and providing mental health and psychosocial support services:
Non-pharmacological psychosocial support through conducting bio-psychosocial assessments, psychological first aid, and individual sessions to help children and their families deal with these traumatic events.
Providing awareness-raising and individual and group psychoeducation sessions about mental disorders and reactions.
Referring those beneficiaries in need of pharmacological intervention to psychiatrists or doctors to provide psychopharmacological or any other necessary services.
Providing structured and unstructured psychological support to children such as the Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) and the resilience programs that helps children deal with fear and anxiety.
Providing specialised training on how to deal with children, for educational counselors in the directorates of Aleppo and Idleb, in cooperation with Chemonics organisation.
Providing peer support sessions to the organisation’s employees to ensure their wellbeing.
We are safe now and away from walls or ceilings that might fall on us at any moment
During one of the children's recreational activities, a little girl living in a temporary shelter said: "We had many beautiful toys, but the earthquake destroyed them all, but what matters now is that we are safe now and away from walls or ceilings that might fall on us suddenly and at any moment".
If we had enough capacity, we would provide psychosocial support to all affected children and adults because the difficulties and fear they have experienced, and the associated trauma will take time a long time to be addressed.