On one floor of a complex is a clinic for Syrian children. They receive speech, physical, psychological and behavioral therapy. There’s also a preschool and Turkish language classes.
There are different rooms: some for classes and others for group therapy sessions. Teachers give one-on-one counseling, and there’s a large playroom full of developmental and cognitive therapy toys. The children learn, in part, by playing.
It’s the Sigaruna Kibaruna Clinic, located in the Hatay province in southern Turkey, near the Syrian border. It’s a specialized facility for children with developmental disabilities. Zakat Foundation of America sponsors the clinic to rekindle the hopes of young Syrians, ensuring no children are lost to the post-traumatic chaos of war.
Copies of the Quran are printed in braille to help the blind, and the plans to print more are in the works. The clinic even aims to open a whole floor solely for women’s services.
Zakat Foundation of America Outreach Coordinator Abdelhamid Omran toured the clinic as part of a field visit to Turkey and Jordan. He got to see how dedicated and caring the teachers are to their students. He watched as a child answered challenging questions for his age and abilities. A young one identified a big fork and little fork in a dining set.
He said he was happy to see the people who work there, calling them the real heroes for those fleeing war. The clinic helps 550 displaced Syrian children, but there is always more to be done.
The Sigaruna Kibaruna Clinic would like to have more advanced equipment to help kids further develop their physical and mental abilities.
“In times of war, only the biggest and most basic necessities sometimes are what we focus on, so food, shelter and water — that’s what you need to survive,” Mr. Omran said. “But I was happy to see that even though there’s this huge conflict, we’re not forgetting kids like this who would get easily left behind because it’s even harder to cater to them.”
Please donate now to make the clinic even better and support more children. It is by empowering the youth now that we may live in a more promising future.