SOUTHERN TÜRKIYE
Why Türkiye?
In the wake of the devastating earthquakes that killed more than 47,000 people in February 2023, including 1,500 refugees, the urgent need for mental health and trauma relief support has become paramount. For about 12 years, Türkiye has hosted the largest refugee population in the world - over 4 million people. As of the knowledge cutoff in September 2021, Kilis, Türkiye was home to around 140,000 Syrian refugees, making it one of the highest refugee-populated areas in Turkey. Given the trauma experienced by the affected population, including both Turkish citizens and refugees, there is a critical need for mental health services and trauma relief support to help individuals recover and rebuild their lives.
Our Program Supports:
We work closely with our local partners to provide support through four pathways.
Advocacy & Awareness
At ART OF HOPE, we strive to use our voice and global network to advocate for the emotional and psychological well-being of refugees as we believe that the invisible wounds of war, displacement and loss should not be forgotten.
Program Development
At ART OF HOPE, we work closely with our local partners in the field to develop the most effective programming for those who serve. We spend weeks, sometimes months studying the crisis at hand, examining the best strategies, and designing tangible, sustainable, and scalable programming that can deliver effective change.
Capacity Building
At ART OF HOPE we strive to create programming that's complimentary and sensitive to the socio-cultural nuances of the communities served while also empowering for our local partners and caregivers. In addition, we believe that mental well-being is for all - therefore, we take pride in providing support for our therapists and caregivers in addition to our beneficiaries by ways of unique and personally curated mindfulness programming.
Kareemat NGO
In the aftermath of the deadly 2023 earthquake that shook Southern Türkiye and Northern Syria, and claimed the lives of more than 50,000 innocent individuals, ART OF HOPE worked tirelessly to design a strategy best fit to support the trauma-relief and mental health needs of the vulnerable Syrian refugee communities in Southern Turkey who are now enduring a second trauma in addition to all that they've endured while fleeing the war in Syria. Together, and in collaboration with our Lebanese partner NGO RESCUE ME and our local Syrian NGO partner KAREEMAT in Kilis near the Turkish-Syria borders we have:
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1. Conducted intensive once-on-one therapy for over two dozen traumatized caregivers.
2. Conducted on the ground trauma-relief workshops for local caregivers and children.
3. Designed unique Art Therapy programming to support the mental health and emotional well-being of children and orphans affected by the earthquake .
4. Ran advocacy campaigns surrounding the mental health and trauma-relief needs of refugees.
