How tragedy can be a teaching ground for children

SUGAR LAND, Texas - When speaking with child experts about tragic events around the world, they recommend parents share age appropriate information and guide their kids by looking how they can be a part of a solution to the problem. 

Mehmet Okumus, who lives in Sugar Land, is doing just that after an earthquake struck their homeland of Turkey killing almost 46,000 people. 

RELATED: Turkey earthquake: Ways you can help those affected

"It is going to require a lot of efforts to get back to their feet emotionally and psychologically, especially with the kids. I wish we could do more," said Okumus. 

He took his passion for gardening to become a purpose for his country and a teaching ground for kids.

"You know these kids. They can’t do anything they don’t want to. I am so glad that she wanted to do it and she gathered her friends there," said Okumus. 

"I am putting these plants in these pots, so we can sell them at the plant sale next Sunday," said Mehmet’s 15-year-old daughter, Nilufer. "I know how much of a love that people have for gardening and what extent that would do to help the need, and I was like this is a great idea and this is something definitely that is attainable that we can actually do."

Nilufer, with the help of her dad, got other friends involved and had a plant sale raising almost $2,500. 

"Sometimes it is like, this is too much work or it’s not our problem, we are not the ones going through it. We are humans, and we have to help each other out," she said.

"You should be grateful for what you have, but you should also try your best to help out other people who don’t have nearly as much as you do," said Zehra Kaya, a teenager helping with raising money for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey.

These are lessons parents like Mehmet hope others can instill for future generations.