Northwestern Turkey, the country's most populated region and industrial heartland, has been struck by two massive earthquakes in less than three months. The first, measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale hit on August 17, 1999. It killed more than 17,000 people and left 600,000 homeless. No more families, no more offices, no more shops, no more houses, no more school....

The initial disaster was followed by more than 1,300 aftershocks, culminating in the second earthquake on November 12, 1999 which rated at 7.2 on the Richter scale. The homeless are now living in tents in freezing temperatures under rain and snow.

These drawings are the finalists of a drawing contest organized by the Turkish National Committee for UNICEF. They were selected by a committee of artists, teachers and UNICEF staff members. Encouraging children to draw or paint helps them recover from such trauma. The drawings represent what elementary school children experienced and observed in the disaster.

These drawings were sent to Fordham by the Turkish National Committee for UNICEF to be auctioned off during the Annual UNICEF campaign. The drawings will be on display at the UNICEF booth in the Lowenstein building. The silent auction will last until the last day of the campaign and the winners will be announced on December 17, 1999. Please note that the starting minimum bid for each painting is $100 and several of them already have guarantors at that price.

You can make a difference by bidding for one of the drawings. Every single dollar spent on these drawings will go to the Turkish National Committee for UNICEF for the earthquake relief program. The Executive Director of the Turkish Committee, Ms. Sevinc Soysal will personally start the silent auction on Tuesday, December 7, 1999 at 2pm. Please join us in welcoming Ms. Soysal to the Fordham Family.

Special Report

Have you ever seen a crying sun?

Yasemin, an 8-year-old girl now living in Emirdag, the biggest tent camp in the city of Adapazari, has seen it and drawn it. Besides a crying sun, she also draws helicopters, houses, and tents. Three weeks ago, Yasemin used to draw trees, flowers, and birds. Now she is complaining about not being able to draw happy pictures as well as she once did.

Children here are far more sensitive than they were before the earthquake. An unusual noise in the tent city is enough to make them cry and even faint. They do not let their mothers leave their side, even for a short time. They hang onto their mothers as if they had been separated from them for ages and follow them around like a shadow.

A UNICEF volunteer, who works in Budakli tent camp of Adapazari, reports that some children are not interested in school activities.

"There cannot be anything worse than just a blank white paper even a dot means something," the volunteer said. When the volunteer arrived in the Budakli camp, she tried to inspire children by teaching them origami (Japanese paper designs) and interactive drawing. On one occasion, when she asked children to write stories on any subject they liked, she noticed that Ilker, a 10 year old boy, did not respond at all. He has not spoken since being buried under rubble for five days.

The UNICEF volunteer asked him to select a pencil. He could not decide what to draw. She chose the yellow one. Ilker waited. Then he chose the blue one. The game started. She made a yellow circle. After a few minutes of silence, he copied her and made a blue circle. Ilker started to draw.

During the same art therapy, Defne, 12, wrote a story about "the dream of two friends." It was about two children who miss their families very much. While she was writing this story, she stopped suddenly and said, "I have no mother and father anymore."

The psychological impact of this disaster is immense and the complexity of the situation needs urgent and continuing attention. That is why UNICEF, together with its partners, is developing and implementing a psycho-social program for children, youth, and teachers in the affected areas of the country. The program covers the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of a child's well-being. It aims to help children express their trauma and develop coping mechanisms to bring back light to their lives.

Fordham UNICEF Team

From left to right:  Jaime Alpert, Clarissa Dayton, Gricel Nieves, Erin Schultz, Valerie Guerra, Ilhan Akbil.

Contact Information

Ilhan Akbil
Associate Dean of Corporate Programs
Fordham University Graduate School of Business
Tel:  212-636-6170  
Fax: 212 636-7302  
Email: akbil@fordham.edu

Drawings purchased by:

[Photo 1]
Ernest J. Scalberg 
  

[Photo 2]
Tom Bielan
  

[Photo 3]
  Sevin Yaraman
  

[Photo 4]
 Angela Panzarella
    

[Photo 5]
 John & Dorothy 
Panzarella
  

[Photo 6]
  Janet Marks & Hillel Maximon
  

[Photo 7]
  Janet Marks & Hillel Maximon
  

[Photo 8]
 Ebru Ozdemir (Ankara, Turkey)
    

[Photo 9]
  Ilhan & Jane Akbil
   

[Photo 10]
Garo Dogramaciyan (Cannes, France)
     

[Photo 11]
 Kathy & Keith Pattison