Gade continues to work at the job she got in the scope of our short-term employment project that was a lifeline support for herself and her family during the pandemic. Now she believes in herself more, because she is a breadwinner. Her expectation from the future is to work at a long-term job where she can receive the pay she deserves and secure her new life in Turkey.

We are saying #FutureBetterTogether on June 20 #WorldRefugeeDay and listen to Gade's story.

41-year-old mother of four, Gade has been living in Turkey since 2016. After she and her husband left with their children their ‘poor but happy life’ in her own words in Aleppo back because of the war and came to Turkey, they were faced with financial problems and accommodation to a new life. They are living with her eldest son and his wife. It is not easy to provide for a family of six. Gade says with sorrow that her 15-year-old youngest son had to quit school to work. She does not want her 6-month-old grandchild to share the same destiny and adds that she took action to contribute to the family budget. Gade initially started working at a tea shop in Adana where they first settled at when they came to Turkey and still live in. After a while when she was diagnosed with a herniated disc, she had to quit job but she also had to earn some money. That is when her path crossed with Support to Life.

The Short-Term Employment Project that Gade participated in is financed by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in the scope of PEP – Promotion of Economic Prospects Program and implemented in Adana by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Support to Life (STL), and Adana Metropolitan Municipality. Actually, this is not Gade’s first experience as a project participant. In 2018 she participated in another Support to Life project centered on supporting livelihood. Gade says that she is very pleased to be a part of this project that aims to support the most vulnerable parts of the society with economic opportunities. Because especially the pandemic period was quite difficult psychologically as well as economically: “My husband and two children were working but there was a fire at bag manufacturing facility my husband was working at and he was unemployed for one year. My children were working at a tailor shop but they were discharged due to the pandemic. This year was very hard on us both economically and psychologically. With this project I had the chance to contribute to the family budget.”

Now Gade works as a member of the Merkez Park team of Adana Metropolitan Municipality Directorate of Parks and Gardens. She takes part is landscaping activities at the park from 07.00 a.m. to 04.00 p.m., collects mown grasses with rake. Gade also says she is very happy for not having any problems with her Turkish colleagues and thanks Support to Life team especially for their respect to Syrians.

Gade describes how this project touched her life by saying: “I am very happy for supporting my family financially and earning some money. We were in a lot of debt. I help paying those. Thanks to my contribution we can make ends meet without going into further debt. Because I work, I have better relations with my family. I am working, standing on my own feet and believing in myself.

With the short-term employment project, Gade now has hope about working in the future despite her health problems. Her primary wish is to find a long-term, stable job: “I see that everyone likes people that care for and love their jobs. Success at work also helps social relationships. I hope to continue working after the end of this project. I hope to have a job that I can lovingly work for a long time.”

This project that we executed to support vulnerable populations during the pandemic will end in Adana in August. We hope that this project will open the door for Gade to have the job opportunity she wishes for and work for the pay she deserves in her life in Turkey that she describes as ‘tough but we are getting by’.

Gözde Kazaz
Support to Life Communication Officer

Editor: Çiğdem Usta Güner
Support to Life Corporate Communication Expert

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