Rising from the Rubble: Miyese's Journey of Healing

Miyese, a 39-year-old mother of two, lived a simple life with her family in a village in Gaziantep Province. She and her husband sold jewellery and ornaments in their shop, which was their main source of income.

Suddenly, the devastating earthquakes of February 2023 turned their lives upside down, like so many others.

“We renovated the interior of our house before the earthquakes. Our life was going well. Unfortunately, our shop was heavily damaged in the earthquakes.”

Miyese still gets emotional when she recalls that day. She remembers being overwhelmed with emotion checking the condition of her house when the tremors stopped.

“We were scared, so we went to stay with my husband's uncle. They set up a tent for us. Then, my husband went to check our house. When he came back, he told me not to look because it was too sad. I went to look and all I saw was destruction. I couldn't stop crying.”

In the aftermath such tragedy, Miyese and her family suffered not only economic losses, but also a deteroriation of their mental wellbeing.

“I held my child, and he was shaking. My 8-year-old son started stuttering after. My daughter's psychological situation was also terrible.”

Following the earthquakes, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) was active on the ground through its Psychosocial Mobile Teams, providing psychosocial support to Miyese and other affected families who had difficulty accessing mental health services.

Teams in Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Malatya and Şanlıurfa provinces carried out a range of activities to promote wellbeing – including sports and play activities, rituals and celebrations to foster community cohesion, creative and arts-based activities to facilitate emotional expression, family and caregiver resilience programmes, child and youth resilience initiatives, and case management services for individuals in need of tailored support. IOM’s work was guided by participatory assessments, identifying communities’ key needs and planning activities collaboratively.

Miyese states that she was not feeling well before attending IOM's psychosocial support sessions. “I could not tolerate my children. They naturally wanted things all the time. Everything was chaotic,” she describes. “Since I could not offer my children what they wanted, I was getting more and more angry.”

Miyese attests to how IOM’s PMTs help individuals manage their emotions: “After the support I received, I started to be more understanding towards both my children and my husband. As I realised that this support was good for me, I tried to attend all the sessions organised.”

Miyese’s son was further evaluated by an IOM psychologist, who provided the appropriate support.

Since the earthquakes, IOM's PMTs have reached thousands of migrant and local community members in affected provinces.

“When we first arrived in Miyese's village, we identified the challenges facing the community and their expectations,” explains Selen Bilirer of the IOM’s Gaziantep PMT. “Our discussions revealed a clear need for psychosocial support in the village, and we promptly began working to meet that need. We provided structured psychosocial support sessions to women, children and persons with disabilities through group discussions.”

Referring to Miyese's journey of healing, Selen adds, “When we first started the sessions, I thought that Miyese might be one of the most resistant people, because she did not seem hopeful and was very angry. But she got better in the process. I checked the notes we distributed during the sessions, and in one of them Miyese wrote: ‘I imagine myself on a holiday right now because I am free in my dreams’. It is very important for the participants to express and write down their feelings, because they need to give themselves time. This is a journey of recovery.”

Today, Miyese is grateful for how far she has come. She is now able to better empathise with her husband and children and has improved family communication. “In one session, we were given papers and asked to write down how we felt. As I wrote down my feelings on that paper, I felt a great sense of relief.”

Although rebuilding from the earthquakes is a long process, she is now more hopeful about the future and looks forward to settling down with her family in her new home.

“My husband is now a daily worker. Despite all the difficulties, life goes on. Our house is starting to be built. My biggest dream for my family is to regain our previous lifestyle. Our new daughter will be born soon. I hope we will raise her in our new home.”

IOM's Psychosocial Mobile Teams are currently active in Gaziantep, Hatay, İzmir, Kahramanmaraş and Şanlıurfa, made possible with funding from the United States Government.