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Najah story, the six-year-old girl

For six straight hours under the rubble, and between the tremors of the devastating earthquake on February 6, 2023, the lives of Necah and her family were about to change forever. The earthquake destroyed their house, which was a rented house, and the container they moved in Nurdağı became an alternative to their destroyed house.

The family, consisting of five persons, was registered with ESSN/SUY(Emergency Social Safety Net), Still so. The father was self-employed, who worked hard to meet the needs of his family, which in turn began to live on the support of humanitarian organizations. The father says in this conversation, “Our house was completely destroyed, so we moved to the camp and live in a container and our lives depend on the response of organizations to us.”

The father talks about his youngest child, Necah, five years old, who was living in a state of isolation and silence “We can never leave her. If a car passes by her, She cannot hear his voice or the sound of the car’s horn.” as her family noticed after she passed her first year that she was unable to speak and did not respond to any command. Necah has had a hearing loss since birth, which has caused her inability to speak, communicate with others, or even go to school.

“She moves a lot, but after the earthquake and because of the cramped accommodation in the container, it affected her negatively.” But Necah did not give up, she kept dreaming and hoping for a new day that would bring her hope and joy.

With the difficult living conditions and lack of services, like Transportation problems, problems in access to health services due to insufficient health services in the region and also problems due to language barrier, Necah and her family found themselves facing great difficulties in obtaining the treatment they needed, and the matter became worse after they learned that she needed surgery before she turned 6 years old, and that she only had one year left to undergo this operation. It is necessary to act and move quickly.

The case management team at Sened Organization provided a specialized doctor, an audiologist, and a hearing center for the girl, and after setting the appointment at “Gaziantep City Hospital,” the team made sure that Najah obtained the health committee’s report from the hospital, in order to secure the necessary expenses and perform an ear helix transplant for the child.

The child's condition and treatment will continue to be monitored for another three months from the time of the operation, through communication with the beneficiary's doctor and audiologist, communicating with the beneficiary's family by phone, and making home visits.

The father says: “If I only think about the cost and trouble of transportation from Nordag to Gaziantep, and Sened took care of transporting us back and forth...that is enough for me to thank them.” Sened Organization’s support was not limited to the medical aspect only, as a special car was allocated for the family to travel from Nordagı to Gaziantep center and vice versa. After the child’s operation was completed successfully, the child participated in psychosocial support activities and provided a speech and language specialist to help her improve her condition. With the doors opened in front of her and opportunities provided, Najah will begin her journey towards education and development, where Najah’s dreams have turned into a bright reality and a new adventure of hope and change.

Necah's doctor says that after this first operation, if her condition improves, she will not need another operation after that, given that the operation is very advanced and has a high cost, and that many people perform this operation and it succeeds. The father says, “It is possible for her to improve more, read, respond to us, and interact with us. I think she will succeed in school and be creative, as she is talented and loved.”

Now, Necah and her family look forward to a promising and bright future. They dream that Necah will thrive in school, achieve her potential, and live a life full of achievement and joy.

“Insha'Allah, it will be for the best, and we thank Sened for standing with us. I only want my daughter to speak and listen, and I hope that Sened will continue with us and not leave us until the final stage.”