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Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Julia Hahn
00:57 - 01:14 February 2023 | Archive footage
01:32 Eda Celik | Mother
01:45 Ozan Akbaba | Father
02:04 Julia Hahn | DW Correspondent | Antakya, Turkey
02:43 Dudu Bilen | Antakya resident
02:55 Emine Altinoz | Antakya resident
03:36 Sabine Choucair | Humanitarian clown, SOS Turkey

Script:

+++Children laughing, clowns clowning 

00:02
Laughing together, having fun with friends… 

+++ATMO

00:07
For the children here in the Turkish city of Antakya, 

these are rare and special moments.

+++ATMO drums 

00:15
A group of artists is putting on entertainment and workshops for the little ones –

a welcome distraction from everyday life, here in the earthquake-battered region.

00:26
+++VOX Ishak, 9 years old (Turkish) 
It's a great day!+++ (3 sec)

00:29
+++VOX Elena, 9 years old (Turkish)
We painted our faces and watched a movie, there's a lot going on here.+++ (8 sec)

+++Children doing other things with artists

+++ATMO 

00:40
The children can also try their hand at acting, or even learning sign language.

It's about finding new ways to express their thoughts… (-very short pause-) their feelings. 

At first glance, you can't tell what many of the kids have been through.

+++Flashback: 2023 drone destruction after earthquake, Insert: File / February 2023 

00:57
In 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.

More than 53,000 people were killed and many more injured. 

+++Kids looking more serious  

01:17
The surviving kids witnessed tragedy and death firsthand. 

Many lost family members or friends in the rubble.

Parents know how deep the trauma runs.

01:30
+++SOT Eda Çelik / Mother (Turkish, R-L) 
They were really, really scared. And they still have those fears. So even now, my children can't sleep alone. Either I or their father has to be with them.+++ (14 sec) 

01:43
+++Ozan Akbaba / Father (Turkish, L-R) 
If there's the smallest tremor now, the kids get scared. They call me at work and say, "Dad, there's an earthquake, we can't stay home." The anxiety is still there. Even after these years.+++ (15 sec)

+++Drone of building site

01:57
And the children are constantly surrounded by reminders of that life-shattering moment.

02:03
+++PTC Julia Hahn / DW Correspondent, in Antakya/Hatay 
Antakya was almost completely destroyed by the earthquakes… To rebuild everything here is expected to take many more years. Today, the city resembles a giant construction site.+++ (11 sec)

+++Drone TOKI, then details 

02:14
The Turkish government has promised to get the earthquake-hit region back on its feet 

and is completing new apartment buildings at a rapid pace.

+++Drone container camp, the details children etc. 

02:24
But tens of thousands of families continue to live in container camps…
 
where children have limited opportunities to play and socialise,
 
and parents worry about how they can survive another winter.

02:40
+++Dudu Bilen / Antakya resident (Turkish, L-R) 
There are frequent power cuts. We don't know what to do. We can't cook. The water is also constantly being cut off. And if it does come it's muddy.+++ (14 sec)

02:54
+++Emine Altınöz / Antakya resident (Turkish, R-L) 
I have three kids and it's difficult. They don't have enough space to do their homework because we're all crammed together in one container. And the rain gets in every day.+++ (13 sec)

+++Sabine and clowns with kids

03:09
Events like these take the children out of their strange new lives. 

The artists here can't help with most problems – but at least, they say, they can inspire  

confidence and hope.

03:25
+++Sabine Choucair / Humanitarian clown with NGO SOS in Turkey (English) 
We believe that laughter is as important as shelter and food. We all need to laugh. We all need this moment of mental health, taking care of our mental health in the midst of something as traumatizing the earthquake.+++ (20 sec)

+++Kids with clowns, parents, clapping 

03:46
For the children it brings a sense of normalcy – free from worries or fears.

And it helps the parents too...

even if only for a few hours.

Text ends: 03:57
Pictures end: 04:01