Shipping container homes and trauma is reality for Turkish citizens struck by earthquake one year on

On February 6, 2023 an earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing 50,000 people. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has raised over £150 million to support relief efforts in the countries.

Madara Hettiarachchi, the Director of Programmes and Accountability for the the DEC, writes for ITV News.

The first thing that strikes you when you visit Hatay, southern Turkey, is the sheer scale of the destruction wrought by the devastating earthquakes that hit the area one year ago. 

The evidence is everywhere. Piles of rubble and debris. Abandoned buildings awaiting demolition. Vast flat areas of wasteland where neighbourhoods once stood.

One year on, some rebuilding is underway, but hundreds of thousands of people still live in ‘container camps’ here - rows and rows of converted shipping containers that people now call home.

I’ve been in Hatay, one of the provinces worst affected by the earthquakes, to visit projects being funded by the more than £150 million donated from the UK to the DEC's Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal, an amount that makes the DEC the biggest charity donor to the relief effort, according to UN figures.

In Turkey, DEC charities and their local partners have been using donations to provide people living in these camps with food, clean water, toilets, hygiene items, medical care and much else besides, as they’ve begun to put their lives back together. 

It’s not been easy. More than 300,000 buildings were destroyed in the earthquakes.

Footage supplied to ITV News shows the scale of devastation caused by the earthquake one year on

In places such as Antakya (the ancient city of Antioch), the government estimates more than 40% were destroyed. What’s more, since the earthquakes, people here have faced freezing cold, torrential rain and flooding, extreme heat in the summer and now freezing winter again.

Just across the border in northwest Syria, which was also badly affected by the earthquakes, the situation is even worse. The frontline of the civil war runs through the area and many people were already living in tents.

There, charities have prioritised getting people clean water and enough to eat to stave off disease and malnutrition.

In both countries, a major component of the response has involved giving people cash or vouchers to buy what they need.

This is a very efficient way of delivering aid, when markets are functioning, as it reduces costs while supporting the local economy and allowing people to choose to buy what their family needs most.

Some damage is less obvious, but no less difficult to deal with. I initially wondered why I had been taken to a house in Defne that looked like it had escaped unscathed.

But inside, the owner showed me repairs he had just completed to the children’s bedroom, using a grant from CARE International funded by donations to the DEC.

Two of the walls had been damaged by the earthquake to the extent that a huge hole had opened up through to their parents’ room. The whole family had been sleeping in the living room since. 

Then there are the effects of the earthquake that can’t be seen at all. A psychologist with a partner of the International Rescue Committee, who has been working with people affected by the earthquakes since the week after they struck, told me that she has seen an increase in crying, insomnia and eating disorders as the anniversary has approached. 

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, many people were in survival mode, finding shelter, food and water for their families while burying loved ones.

Now that there is some stability, with most people here moved into containers, the emotions and fears they had to suppress at the time have come bubbling up again as February 6 comes round again.

Some people even fear disaster could strike again, and with aftershocks continuing even now, who can blame them?

Charities are doing what they can to meet the increased demand for psychological and social support, providing psychologists, as well as support groups and safe spaces for people to talk about their feelings and escape their cramped living conditions.

A group therapy session was underway when I visited one of the container camps. “Do you want to go in?” asked my host.

I declined, not wanting to disturb the session, but after hearing about my visit, the women burst out determined to tell me how much they valued the support. We all ended up in tears.

Recovering from a disaster of this size is going to take a long time. Progress has been made, but huge challenges remain, with many people still needing help with basic essentials. 

Nonetheless, the real impact these projects, funded by donations from the UK, are having on people’s lives is plain to see. Thank you for your support.

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