Earthquake Relief | Helping Surviving Children

A teammate comforts a young girl on top of the rubble that has buried her brother forever.

In the Middle East, our partners have been visiting villages outside of main cities to care for survivors with little access to relief efforts. Many buildings were destroyed so completely that some bodies were never able to be recovered.

One of our team members heard from a young girl who survived the quake. She, her father, mother, sister and older brother were rescued, but her younger brother’s body remained buried deep under the rubble of her house. 

Her older brother continues to fight for his life in an intensive care unit. 

Children show their drawings of their dream houses.

In the same area, our partners offered an activity to some of the children to help them process the severe trauma of loss and displacement. 

They asked the children to draw on pieces of paper their dream houses, where they wished they could live. Some drew a house. One drew the moon. 

One very small little girl drew a heart. 

“What does this mean?” our partner asked.

“I want a heart, to live in, to stay in,” she said.

The little girl’s drawing of a heart.

This little girl’s wish is emblematic of all that these children have endured. They are the survivors of ongoing war, malnutrition, illnesses and now a devastating earthquake. 

As part of our relief efforts, we are tentatively planning longer term goals to 1) continue humanitarian relief, 2) open a children's shelter that will reunite orphans with extended family and 3) renovate damaged homes and apartments.

To learn more about this project, please click here.