4.5 million children were left without parents due to the two earthquakes of 7,6 and 7,7 Magnitude in the city of Kahramanmaraş. Yetim Foundation, got to work to support the children left without someone to rely on.
As a result of the biggest earthquake in Türkiye since the last century, 46 thousand and 104 people lost their lives in Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Adıyaman, Malatya, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Kilis, Adana, Diyarbakır and Elazığı. The research done on the ground suggests that the earthquakes destruction covered an area of about 1000 square kilometers and in 10 cities, 230 thousand apartments either need emergency destruction or have high damage.
The president of Yetim Foundation Murat Yılmaz highlighted that since day one, with the “hold on to goodness” campaign the foundation reached and supported 20 million earthquake survivors in just one month. President Yılmaz also mentioned that through the two natural disaster coordination centers in Adıyaman and Hatay, they performed various psychosocial support activities and responded to many emergency needs in all cities of the area.
Support for 7 million orphans
Yetim Foundation President Murat Yılmaz stated that after the aid campaign the second phase will be psychosocial support in the area. Yılmaz also added that due to the earthquake the number of children who lost their parents or are social orphans is 4.5 million and this number is 2.5 million is Syria which also was affected by the earthquake. In total there are 7 million children that we aim to support and take under our wing.
Application form for support
Yetim Foundation evaluates all types of requests in response to applications made through its website for supporting children orphaned by the earthquake. The foundation, having completed all its preparations, continues its support activities in the psychosocial tents it has set up in the region, while also launching a mobilization to help earthquake-affected children who have sought refuge in any city across the country overcome their trauma. When the situation of orphaned children in the region and the cities they are located in is reported, the foundation's teams carry out support activities to meet the identified needs.
Free books for Students
In addition, Yetim Foundation volunteers started a campaign to make sure students in the earthquake zone who are entering YKS and LGS get books and tests they need. With the slogan “Theres no time to waste, it just takes One Message” they will call out for support for this campaign until the 7th of April.