‘#HandballHeals’, the joint project between the European Handball Federation and the Turkish Handball Federation (THF), is aimed at supporting earthquake victims and provide a morale boost and psycho-social support to children affected by the disaster.
The project is centered in the Samandağ district of Türkiye’s Hatay region. A volunteer team of THF staff and handball players visited Hatay to teach basic handball and lead sports activities, including the federation’s general coordinator Zeki Pehlivan, ınternational activities coordinator Zeynur Pehlivan, under-19 women's national team coach Hakan Dinler, and under-15 national team coach Savaş Yüksek.
Two main events have been held, with 60 students from Samandağ Cumhuriyet Secondary School participating in the first and approximately 100 children living in Qatar 4 Container City in Hatay joining the second event.
The #HandballHeals initiative is aimed at developing a sustainable and longer term plan supporting recovery efforts. It envisages an outdoor handball field for every tent camp within the next two years, allowing children and adults to play handball on a continuous basis. The federation will also enlarge and empower its volunteers' base, and provide disaster awareness and management education to handball stakeholders.
The project is supported by the EHF’s Social Fund and it will continue in the coming months. Contributions from volunteers are welcomed.
