Learning the ABCs of child development in an earthquake zone

We are in the backyard of a teacher's container and expectant mothers and mothers with their young children and babies are sitting on the chairs and sofas placed in this garden in Hatay, waiting for the Infant and Young Child Feeding Session to be given to them. Organised in 8 provinces with the support of UNICEF and in cooperation with the Development Foundation of Türkiye (TKV), the training provides information on early childhood development to parents of children aged 0-8.

Belgin Açıkgöz, TKV Early Childhood Hatay Provincial Coordinator, states that the teachers working in the field in the Early Childhood Education and Development programme identified the regions where there are many mothers and expectant mothers and feeding sessions have started in these regions. Stating that the trainings are given in mobile areas, Belgin said, "After the earthquake, there was no classroom environment where we could provide education. Therefore, we gather mothers and expectant mothers in front of a tent, in a shaded area in front of a container, or the courtyard of a house, parks or camellias."

The training includes topics such as the mother's nutrition beginning from pregnancy, breastfeeding when the baby is born, breastfeeding positions, breastfeeding positions, techniques to increase breast milk, and children’s nutrition with the transition to supplementary food.

Underlining that mothers usually act with hearsay information, TKV staff counts the main mistakes made by mothers, for example, that the benefit of colostrum is not known among the people and it is being discarded, or that sugar water or molasses is given to babies during the first six months, or that garlic is given to babies to prevent them from jaundice.

"The mothers never thought that someone would come and tell them about this subject. When someone comes and tells them about these things and brings them to where they are, they feel more important. The fact that they have the chance to get the right information and apply it to their children makes them very happy," Belgin says.

These trainings, which take place in a single session, can be given collectively or one-to-one depending on the demand of the mothers. These trainings attract great interest from both Turkish citizens and Syrian refugees and are carried out by bi-lingual TKV staff. The content of the training is redefined each time according to the age range of the children of the participant group.

"After the earthquake, there were times mothers could not meet their baby's needs. This training actually helps us to reduce their worries about early childhood development," says Belgin. "In other words, these sessions also provide some psychological support. We do not prejudge our mothers in this training, but we congratulate and thank them." Stating that mothers are open to receiving the training thanks to this approach, Belgin adds, "After receiving this training, mothers pay much more attention to the development of their children, we always observe this after the training."

Meryem (28) says, "Thanks to this training, I have reinforced what I know and learnt what I do not know". Meryem, who attended the training with her 2-year-old son Özgür, says that she plans to become a mother for the second time and adds: "I am learning what I did not know with my first child." Stating that she had previously obtained such information from her close circle, Meryem says that she encountered misinformation in this process. Explaining that she hung garlic on the cradle of her baby Özgür on the advice that garlic would be effective against the risk of jaundice, Meryem underlines that she has learnt once again in this training how wrong such hearsay information can be.

Fatmanur (21), who attended the training with her 3-year-old Ramazan and 1.5-year-old Onur Berke, said, "I learnt many new things in this training, such as breastfeeding positions and how to feed the baby after the first 6 months. I and all the mothers I spoke to would like to see more trainings like this."

Visam (31), a Syrian refugee who heard about this training from neighbours and came to the training with her 1.5-year-old twin children Muhammed and Furkan, said, "For example, my mother used to tell me that if you squeeze your breasts, a lot of milk will come out, and I used to squeeze it and damage them. In this training, we actually saw that some things are not like that. For example, I have just learnt how to express milk in the right way. Or for instance, our mothers used to tell us to give water before 6 months, but with this training I learnt that we should not give water before 6 months."

UNICEF is working with families in earthquake-affected provinces to raise awareness and promote activities related to Early Childhood Development (ECD) and care for every young child. The main objective of the project is to build momentum on ECD issues through the co-operation and involvement of strategic influencers, partners and the Government of Türkiye.