In 2024, the project Yeniden was implemented by Anadolu Kültür as the executive partner in collaboration with Deprem Dayanışma (Earthquake Solidarity) Association in Hatay, Maya Association in Mersin, and Kırkayak Kültür in Gaziantep.

The project was developed with a participatory, localized and sustainability approach by maintaining close communication and solidarity with local organizations that Anadolu Kültür had been working with for a long time in the immediate aftermath of the February Earthquakes, worked together in the field and conducted pilot studies in the months following the earthquake.

The project, together with its local partners, established communities of practitioners in each city, and aimed to strengthen their knowledge and skills in “rights-based approach”, “child safety” and “psychosocial support through arts” so that children and young people had regular access to arts-based activities and built the capacities of local institutions in these areas.

While there were still many obstacles to access to rights in different areas for both adults and children in the earthquake regions, Yeniden Project prioritized community-based empowerment that supported rights-based practices by increasing the capacities and capabilities of local organizations and individuals, and aimed to move forward in a holistic framework in three cities, at three levels, in three different areas.

1- Organizational Capacity Building: The project supported the capacity building of our local project partners in all three cities in rights-based and arts-oriented children and youth work. We created and monitored child safeguarding policy documents and codes of conduct together and we strengthened them in terms of active human resources by establishing and sustaining local communities of practitioners.

2- Local Community Building and Empowerment: Our local project partners created a “community of practice” of adults who lived in their city and had been directly affected by the earthquake, they empowered themselves and each other in the community with the trainings and contribution by the experts and artists, they had the opportunity to practice in small groups and received supervision.

3- Supporting Children and Youth through Arts: Local partners and the community members conducted rights-based and art-oriented, regular, monitorable activities with children and youth with different needs and from different age groups. Thus, children and youth had better opportunities of self-expression through creative methods and accessed regular activities for “learning through arts”.

We were aware that the project involved working in cities which had been severely affected by the earthquake in various ways and with individuals and communities who had directly experienced and were still going through the devastating impact of the earthquakes in its many dimensions. Therefore, we established a comprehensive support system. First, we supported our three local partners through the employment of a local coordinator throughout the project and provided a mentor for organizational capacity building.

Regarding the project participants who constituted the local communities of practice, there was a triangle support framework. In addition to trainings and workshops that aimed to strengthen the knowledge and skills of local organizations and project participants, we also provided partial financial support to each project participant and a comprehensive staff care and well-being program for both the local organizations’ team and project participants.

In this context, each project participant was paid for each child/youth activity they ran during the four-month period in which they were active participants, and was offered the opportunity to request psychological support through individual sessions and group work, expressive art workshops and creative expression free of charge.

PROJECT SCHEDULE AND ACTIVITIES:

City Visits: As the first activity of the project, we visited our local partners in the prıject cities. We reviewed the estimated plans and the project flow in order to come to terms and joint decisions with the local partners on how to implement and carry out each envisaged step and corresponding activity in the project planning. We designated the local project coordinators with relevant qualities and competencies in each project city and gave the start to the project in early February 2024.

Selection of Local Community of Practice: Anadolu Kültür collaborated with local partners to select community members from each city to participate in the project.  To advertise our project, we published an open call and reached out to local stakeholders in each project city.  25 participants were selected from each city for each cycle, making a total of 150 community members by the end of the project.

Ground Trainings: During the project's Ground Training cycle, the project team-  which included the project team in Anadolu Kültür, local project coordinator, and experts— met with the Community of Practice (CoP) members for the first time in person. During the 4 days Ground Training Program, participants gained valuable knowledge and practical tools in Children Rights, Trauma-Informed Approach, Empowerment and Community Building, Expressive Arts and Psychosocial Support Principles.

Psychosocial Support Through Arts - Implementer Trainings: Following the Ground Training which served to establish the sense of community as well as a strong base for Rights-Based Approach, Code of Conduct and Children Safeguarding Policies, different “Psycho-Social Support Through Arts Practitioner Trainings” are offered in each project city. Each Arts Practitioners Training consists of 2 days of intense learning process on the content, methods and activity pool, and 3 days of pilot implementations of the learned arts activities with children in different locations in the city with diverse local partnerships. 

Each participant had the chance to choose among different artistic fields regarding their interest among “Photography”, “Dance and Cultural Heritage”, “Puppet Making and Drama”, “Printmaking” and “Ecology and Arts”. This approach made sure that community members were exposed to a variety of artistic practices, which helped them develop a more comprehensive skill set as art workshops practitioners.

Arts Workshops with Children (Implementation): The trained participants who successfully completed the Psycho-Social Support Through Arts Practitioner Trainings conducted arts-based workshops with children in different community centers, schools or activity spaces in each project city.

Antep: Local CoP members organised 157 arts-based workshops for children, reaching a total of 1,556 participants. These workshops took place in child-friendly spaces, schools and container areas in the city centre of Antep, districts of İslahiye and Nurdağı. Partner organisations involved in delivering the children's activities included the Mavi Hilal Association (IBC), the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM), the Child Protection Agency (Çocuk Esirgeme Kurumu), the Child Support Centres (ÇODEM), the Family Support Centres (SODAM), the Turkish Psychologists Association, several primary schools and the Zeugma Mosaic Museum.

Mersin: Local CoP members organised 105 arts-based workshops for children, reaching a total of 1,390 participants. These workshops took place in child-friendly spaces located in the neighborhoods of Karaduvar, Adanalıoğlu, Kazanlı, Çağdaşkent, Akbelen, Resulköy, Toroslar, and Karacailyas. Partner organisations involved in delivering the children's activities included the Karaduvar Kültür Evi, Karacailyas Mahalle Evi, the Mersin Municipality Arts & Culture Center, Bayetav Vakfı, İyi Ekim, D5 Sanat Ortamı, Kültürhane, Adanalıoğlu Mahalle Evi, Kazanlı Mahalle Evi, Toroslar Çağdaşkent Mahallesi Muhtarlığı, Toroslar Akbelen Mahallesi Muhtarlığı, Toroslar Resulköy Muhtarlığı, Toroslar Musalı Köyü Muhtarlığı and Yunus Emre Kültür Merkezi.

Hatay: Local CoP members organised 114 arts-based workshops for children, reaching a total of 1,215 participants. These workshops took place in child-friendly spaces located in Serinyol, Yeniçağ, Karaçay, Defne, Çekmece, Döver, Samandağ, and Gümüşgöze. Partner organisations involved in delivering the children's activities included the Kolektif Koordinasyon in Tomruksuyu, several primary schools, Tomurcuk Association,  Habitat Association, Mahalle Evi in Yeniçağ, Alan Antakya, Antakya Performative Collective, Hatay Gençlerle Sanat İnisiyatifi, Buradayız Hatay, İhtiyaç Haritası, Çocuk Dostu Köy, Gümüşgöze Çocuk Evi.

Community Wellbeing: A total of 11 “Community Wellbeing Activities” were organised across the three cities to promote collaboration among the local CoP members and support local partners' 'volunteer policies'.

Beyond the project's primary operations, these community well-being and empowerment activities extended the local partners’ abilities to retain volunteer involvement by strengthening the organic links that existed between CoP members and local partners.

Individual Psychological Support: One of the bases on which the project positioned itself was to support the mental health and well-being of each individual member of CoP.  Throughout the project, a total of 123 individual therapy sessions with expert psychologists were provided to CoPs as required.

 

The Yeniden Project was supported by the Fondation de France and Stiftung Mercator in 2024.