Our team of community volunteers is very important for voicing the rights of refugee communities we want to reach, meeting their needs and touching their lives. Our outreach officer Pervin Eviz from Batman describes what kind of responsibilities volunteers have in responding to the changing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am Pervin Eviz, I…
#SupportToLifeDuringPandemic Fatima escaped conflict-ridden Syria, but not the chronic illness that left her feeling powerless. She fears her son could end up the same way. When fighting in Aleppo intensified, Fatima and her family were left with no choice but to flee their country to find safety elsewhere. “We were scared all the time. We…
OUR LIFE BEFORE We had a very good life in Syria. My husband who was a French teacher was going to work while I was tutoring pre-school age children and writing informative articles for older students about universities. My son Alaa was preparing to study at university and my daughter Kinde was studying English. It…
Being a refugee means starting from scratch for many. Humanitarian aid can be a big facilitator for individuals that are struggling to regain their independence. In the case of Manat (11), we once again experienced how crucial can well-placed assistance be. It was invigorating for all of us in Istanbul field office to see a…
If we define our own living space though predefined identities of belonging, norms for a ‘home;’ for the last two weeks Pazarkule is a ‘haunted house’. For the last two weeks the ‘no man’s land’ –the buffer zone between the two borders– spearhead defendable values of the modern age. This no man’s land has been…
Elvin is 30 years old, married and has two children – Eflin and Aden. They live in Kazanlı, where farming (especially greenhouses) is the main source of livelihood. The day we reach there is just a couple of days after a strong storm. Some greenhouses have their roofs blown over and as we drive in…
