Rebuilding Walls and Hopes After Türkiye's Earthquake

Selim was a successful mason living a peaceful life with his family in eastern Syria. He started his career as an apprentice with his father at a young age, but he was forced to flee to Türkiye with his family seven years ago due to the conflict.

When he first arrived in the border province of Hatay, he struggled to find a house to settle in and a job to work. He joined his brothers in another province, Adıyaman, who helped him find his footing.

After going through many hardships, he was finally able to start working as a mason again. He found a suitable house where he and his family could live, and then focused all his efforts on building a new life. Selim felt he was finally on the right track, but his dreams were shattered again by the February 2023 earthquakes.

Selim's house was badly damaged by the earthquakes. He and his family lived in a tent for the first eight months and then moved into a container.

Once again, he found himself not being able to find a job. He lost not only his house, but also all the equipment he was using to work as a mason. More broadly, in the immediate aftermath of the earthquakes, the construction sector in Adıyaman came to a complete halt.

Just when he was losing hope, Selim encountered the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which regularly visits temporary settlements and works with local authorities to provide residents easier access to livelihood opportunities.

In Adıyaman, as part of efforts to drive socioeconomic recovery, IOM identified skilled craftsmen in need of support to re-establish their businesses. Selim was one of 59 craftsmen across the provinces of Adıyaman, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Şanlıurfa who had lost their equipment but received support through IOM's cash grant programme funded by the Republic of Korea.

The support helped Selim buy the equipment he needed to work as a mason again, including a brick cutter, a jackhammer, a shovel, a trowel and a lift. Today, Selim is able to provide for his family again. "If you don't go to work with the right equipment, it's like going to work with one hand and one leg," he quips, expressing the importance of the equipment he received.

"This support solved the biggest problem in my business. Before, I was renting equipment, which cost me half of my daily wages. Now I don't have to rent it anymore. My income has increased, and I can buy better clothes and food for my family," he adds.

Now back on track to building the life he envisioned, Selim is looking to expand his business to include insulation and tiling. He hopes to do this with the friends he made since moving to Türkiye. At the same time, he continues to work hard in order to move his family out of the temporary settlement and into an apartment.

More than anything, he wants to build a better future for his children. His daughter, soon to complete her secondary studies, dreams of studying medicine. “She will be the first doctor in our family,” he says. Selim hopes to support her dream, recalling how his own dreams were shattered when he was forced to leave home.

With new equipment and revived business, Selim is hopeful. "I want to support my family to achieve their dreams."

IOM's assistance to Selim was made possible with the financial support of the Republic of Korea.

Written by Anıl Bahşi, IOM Türkiye Communications Specialist