Quake survivor children stargazing in tent cities

Mert Gökhan Koç- ADIYAMAN

In a time when grief-stricken people are trying to pick up the pieces to find strength and move on with their lives following the deadly earthquakes, Türkiye’s Teknofest team has come up with a wonderful idea to cheer up quake survivor children in tent cities in the southern province of Adıyaman: Stargazing activity for kids.

The mental wounds caused by the disaster are trying to be healed in many ways across the 11 provinces that were hit by Feb. 6’s devastating quakes.

In the tent city at Sümerevler Athletics Track in Adıyaman, the T3 Foundation and Teknofest team have brought telescopes and virtual reality (VR) headsets to lift the quake survivor children’s morale.

Observing the sun during the day and the stars and planets in the evening with the Teknofest team’s telescope, quake-stricken children try to relieve the stress of their trauma by looking at the sky and learning about space.

In addition to stargazing through the telescope, children spend time in a simulation by wearing VR goggles in the game tent set up by the Teknofest team.

In other parts of the tent, the Teknofest team organizes activities with children, such as woodworking and painting workshops.