This School was realized through your donations!
Good to see results and proof, that donations reach the people in need. BASF colleagues from Turkey together with BASF Stiftung had the opportunity to witness UNICEF’s impactful work in the earthquake region in Turkey: On a field trip with UNICEF they could gain insights into the still ongoing disastrous effects of the earthquake hitting Turkey & Syria more than a year ago. They got to visit the prefabricated school that was enabled by the donations of BASF employees and follow up on the work everyone is doing there first-hand.
Why did we visit Turkey? Key purpose of the trip was visiting the school, that was enabled by the donations of the BASF team. The school is located in a container city in Hatay, one of the most affected provinces, and fully functional since late February 2024. The prefabricated school operates in two shifts to accommodate pre-primary, primary and lower-secondary students – about a thousand each day.
“It was great to see all these girls and boys learn, laugh and play; back in an educational routine and accompanied by qualified teachers and other staff to overcome the experiences that still pose a severe burden”, says Iris Weber-Mucha from BASF Stiftung and adds: “Visiting the school not only allowed us to track progress and tangible results of the aligned relief efforts. Interacting with the local partners of UNICEF gave us an impression of their partnerships and networks. We found these characterized by mutual trust and appreciation – a great basis for meaningful impact.”
School, that was funded by BASF Stiftung, in one of 205 container cities in Hatay
About 1,000 children visit the school every day in shifts. More than 8,000 people live in this container city right now, but getting more daily due to relocation from tented areas. © UNICEF/Kilic
It was shocking to see how large the region is where you see destroyed houses.
About 1.8 million people live in Hatay, ~100,000 buildings - 26% - are destroyed.
In front of the school from the left: Tolga Demirozü*, Jana Völkers, Iris Weber-Mucha, Seda Diker*, Asli Celikten*
Marked with * means from BASF Türk; Jana & Iris from BASF Stiftung, © UNICEF/Kilic
Children playing on the school ground during break.
The prefabricated school operates since Febuary 2024 in two shifts to accomodate more than 1,000 pre-primary to lower-secondary students and teachers. © UNICEF/Kilic
In the psycho-social session the children were exploring their feelings by drawing them. © UNICEF/Kilic
In addition to the school, the group visited other support and health services that UNICEF and their partners maintain, such as a youth center within another container city. © UNICEF/Kilic
The thunderstorm the night before triggered a lot of traumatized women as it was the same weather as during the earthquake. © UNICEF/Kilic
We were driving by so many container cities and tent housing where still thousands of people live – while there is not much attention in media anymore about a year after the earthquake.
Impressive work everyone is doing on the ground – and so much more is needed for the affected people. Thank you all at BASF so much for your donations and UNICEF and their partners for the energy in working with all those traumatized children and families trying to take tiny steps back to normality. A large number of donations from BASF employees made this school possible - in a gesture of solidarity from BASF team that still fills me with great gratitude.
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Background information on Hatay and the educational situation
Hatay has a population of around 1.8 million people and is one of the most-affected provinces by the earthquake. The earthquake caused more than 23,000 deaths, left countless others injured, the relocation of more than 560,000 people in Hatay, and destroyed almost 100,000 buildings - 26% of all.
Currently about 170,000 individuals live in ~79,000 containers in one of 205 container cities.
Prior to the earthquake, there were 434,446 students in Hatay . In the 2023-2024 school year, a total of 398,675 children are enrolled in schools in Hatay. The number of enrolled students decreased by around 8% after the earthquake. Prior to the EQ, there were 23,635 teachers in Hatay and currently only 22,711.
