https://www.diken.com.tr/ezidilere-yardim-eden-gonullulerden-cagri-tum-sanatcilari-savas-magdurlariyla-calismaya-bekliyoruz/

AZADE SİMAVİ

Thousands of Yazidis who fled to Turkey to escape ISIS’s threat of genocide continue to struggle to survive under difficult conditions. Volunteers are working tirelessly at the camp set up by Viranşehir Municipality in Şanlıurfa. Meals are prepared daily, and 80 children aged 3 to 12 receive education and psychological support.

‘I came to help children overcome the effects of war psychology’

Çiçek Yıldız, an Ezidi volunteer from Germany, explains that she wants to help children overcome the effects of war psychology. Yıldız, who has received training in child development, says, “I came to help children overcome the psychological effects of war. We play games to protect them and bring them together in a shared life.” Yıldız explains that she came to Turkey with a donation of 900 TL and a suitcase full of toys from the Yazidi community in Germany.

I couldn’t continue with my routine work in Istanbul.

Gülsüme Oğuz, a founding member of the Art Psychotherapy Association, has visited the region for the third time. Psychologist Oğuz first went there in August to support the Yazidis fleeing the ISIS siege of Sinjar. “After learning about such savagery and massacre, it was impossible for me to continue with my routine work in Istanbul,” she says.

Oğuz aims to draw her colleagues’ attention to the region and develop a comprehensive psychosocial service area. From an expert’s perspective, he believes that “it is necessary to share in order to understand the atrocities that have been committed”: “Every time I return to Istanbul, I take care to write down and document what I have gathered. Because I know that in order to understand the effects of this unprecedented atrocity, we need to share with each other as much as possible.”

“My conscience wouldn’t be clear if I just sat at home.”

Zeyna Vural, 23, who works at the Viranşehir Med Cultural Center, also emphasizes that there are not enough volunteers. Vural is part of a team that works with children for two hours a day,

focusing on music, playing music for them with instruments, and writing songs together. “We help them forget that they come from a war zone; we want them to feel at home,” says Vural. She adds: “I can’t have peace of mind; I can’t sit comfortably at home. That’s why I’ll keep coming.”

A call to all artists

Vural also has a call for artists: “Today, the children asked when we would come again; they said, ‘Come earlier next time, we are bored.’ Despite having many volunteers, we cannot keep up with the demand. We invite artist friends from every discipline to work with people who have been victimized by war.”