00:00Laughing together, having fun with friends.
00:05For the children here in the Turkish city of Antakya, these are rare and special moments.
00:12A group of artists is putting on entertainment and workshops for the little ones.
00:19A welcome distraction from everyday life here in the earthquake-battered region.
00:25It's a great day.
00:28We painted our faces and watched a movie.
00:35There's a lot going on here.
00:38The children can also try their hand at acting or even learning sign language.
00:44It's about finding new ways to express their thoughts, their feelings.
00:49At first glance, you can't tell what many of the kids have been through.
00:55In February of 2023, two powerful earthquakes devastated large parts of southern and southeastern Turkey, leaving hundreds of thousands of buildings, homes, workplaces, schools, destroyed or damaged.
01:10More than 53,000 people were killed and many more injured.
01:16The surviving kids witnessed tragedy and death firsthand.
01:20Many lost family members or friends in the rubble.
01:23Parents know how deep the trauma runs.
01:26They were really, really scared.
01:31And they still have those fears.
01:33So even now my children can't sleep alone.
01:36Either I or their father has to be with them.
01:40If there's the smallest tremor now, the kids get scared.
01:46They call me at work and say, Dad, there's an earthquake.
01:50We can't stay home.
01:51The anxiety is still there even after all these years.
01:56And the children are constantly surrounded by reminders of that life-shattering moment.
02:02Antakya was almost completely destroyed by the earthquakes.
02:05To rebuild everything here is expected to take many more years.
02:09Today the city resembles a giant construction site.
02:13The Turkish government has promised to get the earthquake-hit region back on its feet
02:18and is completing new apartment buildings at a rapid pace.
02:23But tens of thousands of families continue to live in container camps
02:27where children have limited opportunities to play and socialize.
02:32And parents worry about how they can survive another winter.
02:38There are frequent power cuts.
02:43We don't know what to do.
02:45We can't cook.
02:47The water is also constantly being cut off.
02:50And if it does come, it's muddy.
02:53I have three kids and it's difficult.
02:56They don't have enough space to do their homework
02:59because we're all crammed together in one container.
03:03And the rain gets in every day.
03:07Events like these take the children out of their strange new lives.
03:13The artists here can't help with most problems.
03:16But at least, they say, they can inspire confidence and hope.
03:24We believe that laughter is as important as shelter and food.
03:30We all need to laugh.
03:31We all need this moment of mental health,
03:36taking care of our mental health in the midst of something as traumatizing as the earthquake.
03:45For the children, it brings a sense of normalcy, free from worries and fears.
03:51And it helps the parents too.
03:53Even if only for a few hours.
03:57But it brings the top classroom to other scientists to take place.
03:58In the Egyptian school called Assembly office.
04:02Once again, we read.
04:03We're two kids and guests sobre this structure.
04:05As the Hungarian playwright, we were three kidsHa-Four,
04:06so theaucang are unborn-like cells and hundreds of gem Haw-Four down.
04:07And it's like a couple of descends.
04:08Our time placement will burn with us.
04:09That's the same.
04:10There is a couple of students waiting for the��s.
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