Empower 200 Women & Children in Turkiye Now!

Dear KEDV Supporters,

Recovery is not only about responding to immediate needs. It is about rebuilding everyday life, strengthening relationships, and creating spaces where women and children can continue to learn, organize, play, and support one another.

Thanks to your support, KEDV’s Women and Children’s Centers continue to provide these spaces in earthquake-affected communities. In this update, we wanted to share a closer look at some of the activities that have helped families regain a sense of routine, connection, and community.

Play as Part of Recovery

For children, returning to play is an important part of rebuilding everyday life.

Through our playrooms, more than 2,500 children have taken part in structured activities designed to support their social, emotional, and cognitive development. The playrooms provide safe spaces where children can spend time with their peers, explore, learn, and simply be children again.

Our Toy Libraries extend this support beyond the centers. More than 1,800 children have participated in Toy Library activities, accessing educational and inclusive toys, books, puppets, and games.

Families can borrow materials and take them home, making play and learning part of daily family life. Mobile activities also help us reach children who face difficulties accessing the centers.

Our approach is guided by a simple principle: playing heals.

Women Shaping Their Own Communities

Women are not only participating in activities at the centers; they are helping shape what happens there.

Nearly 700 women have taken part in women’s committees, creating spaces where women can identify common concerns, discuss priorities, and develop solutions together.

Their initiatives have addressed very practical challenges affecting everyday life — from access to transportation and clean water to waste collection and other neighborhood needs.

At the same time, around 1,400 women have participated in social and economic empowerment activities, including leadership, entrepreneurship, rights awareness, skills development, and support for collective production.

These activities reflect what has always been central to KEDV’s approach: women themselves know their communities best, and lasting recovery is stronger when they have the space and resources to lead it.

Recovery Is Built Every Day

Recovery is made up of thousands of everyday moments: a child choosing a toy to take home, a mother meeting other women in her neighborhood, women coming together to solve a local problem, or a family finding a safe and welcoming place to spend the day.

These moments may seem small, but together they rebuild the social connections that disasters disrupt.

Your support makes it possible for these spaces and relationships to continue.

Thank you for standing with women and children as they rebuild their lives and their communities, together.

With gratitude,