Mersin Metropolitan Municipality organized the Davultepe Male Student Dormitory to accommodate earthquake victims in the best conditions in the temporary shelter areas created in the city after the earthquake that affected 10 provinces.
“518 earthquake survivors are staying in the Temporary Shelter in Davultepe”
Mersin Metropolitan has transformed the Davultepe Male Student Dormitory, which was used as a dormitory before, into a Temporary Housing Area after the earthquake. There are individual toilets and showers in each room in the dormitory, which has 142 rooms in total. The dormitory, which has a capacity of approximately 750 people, currently offers accommodation for 518 earthquake victims.
There is a cafeteria, laundry, infirmary, therapy room, playground for children, drama workshop, an area where yoga and fairy tale narrations are performed, a playground, a sports field where they can play volleyball and basketball. There are 3 large halls on the roof of the dormitory building. These halls are; It was designed as a study room, a television viewing room and an online training room. Mersin Metropolitan is trying to offer almost all the necessities that a person needs in his daily life here.
“We have 142 independent rooms in total”
Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Head of Climate Change and Zero Waste Department and the Coordinator of the Temporary Shelter in Davultepe, Kemal Zorlu, gave information about the general structure of the Temporary Shelter Area and said, “This is a building that was used as a dormitory before. We have 142 independent rooms in total, and we have individual toilet and shower facilities and hot water facilities in each room. Its total capacity is around 750. We are currently hosting around 518 guests here. Among these guests, we especially host individuals who are sick, pregnant, in the postpartum period or who need special needs. We have a cafeteria where we serve food and tea, a large-capacity laundry room for washing clothes, an infirmary room where we provide health services, a therapy room where we provide psychological support, a playground for our children, a drama workshop, an area where yoga and fairy tales are told. “We have an outdoor playground for children, a sports field where they can play volleyball and basketball.”
Stating that there are also 3 large halls on the roof of the dormitory building, Zorlu said, “One of them is a study hall, where nearly 200 children staying here are provided with educational opportunities and a working environment, and we also have a large television viewing hall for our guests staying here to watch television. and we have an online training hall, which will be commissioned in a day or two, where our university students can study in order to continue their university education.”
“As Mersin Metropolitan, we have created areas where we can host our guests who come quickly”
Talking about the population density in Mersin after the earthquake, Zorlu said, “Our citizens who were harmed in the provinces affected by the earthquake primarily came to Mersin and when they came to Mersin, they needed places where they could stay. As Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, we have created areas where we can host our guests who come quickly. In order to provide accommodation for our incoming citizens, we quickly commissioned this dormitory and created a collective accommodation area belonging to Mersin Metropolitan Municipality. We started receiving guests here a week after the earthquake occurred and we have been hosting our guests here for about 2 weeks. On average, around 500 guests daily receive active accommodation here. There are those who come in, there are those who leave. There is a certain circulation, but we host around 500 guests here.”
Stating that they offer an independent space to people in this Temporary Accommodation Area, Zorlu said, “We try to offer almost all the necessities of a person's daily life to our guests staying here. Business people groups that came together independently in the creation of this structure had great support. They gave us this building for 6 months free of charge. Apart from that, they provided us with most of the materials inside. I want to thank them as well,” he said.