Settlement Visit Outside of Izmir, Türkiye
This past week, Glocally Connected assembled a team of volunteers to visit and provide support for a Syrian refugee settlement just outside of Izmir, Türkiye…
Refugee Landscape in Turkey
Today, Türkiye has the world’s largest refugee population in the world, with over 4 million refugees and asylum seekers, over 3/4th of which are Syrian. Izmir is the third largest city in Türkiye, with over 3 million inhabitants including currently an approximated 150,000 refugees. Located on the south-central coast of Turkey, Izmir is used as a central gathering point for migrants enroute to Western Europe or simply looking to seek refuge wherever jobs may be. Integration here is often an extremely difficult task, especially when entering into the labor market in a new place, with a new language, particularly in Türkiye which is already experiencing economic strain.
Settlement in the Outskirts of Izmir
The settlement recently visited by Glocally Connected is one of 22 unofficial tent cities in the surrounding area which gains residents through seasonal agricultural work where refugees earn their keep through hard work and long hours in the fields of rural Turkey. Workers and their families choose to pay rent here at the settlement to save money on renting apartments in town, which is by far the biggest monthly cost incurred from relocating to Türkiye.
Refugee child with his new teddy bear
With around 35 families living in the settlement, Glocally Connected was able to gain a contact to help facilitate the aid given to settlement residents. Although some refugees are able to find better work elsewhere, most people have lived in this same place, with the same poor conditions, for multiple years. There are even a few who have decided to return to Syria, taking on the risk of violence they will likely face at home because of the foreignness of their new country and tiredness that comes with living in poverty for so long. One woman from this camp remarked on the state of the settlement saying, “I’d rather die in my land than live in these conditions here”.
This settlement holds a special connection to Glocally Connected, as volunteer teams have been visiting and providing support since 2018, when action was taken to get the children from the settlement to the local school. In 2019, the efforts were successful with the children granted enrollment, and provided transportation with the help of a PIKTES grant from the Ministry of National Education in Türkiye. Glocally Connected helped again support the settlement’s school age children after witnessing that they did not have shoes or school supplies to be able to attend classes. With the help of donations, 200 pairs of shoes were provided, along with the necessary supplies for the students.
The success of getting the settlement children left them yearning for more opportunities in education, as opposed to a childhood filled with labor. Unfortunately, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique obstacle that had left many of these same children behind due to lack of access to digital learning tools. Leading them to be forced into agricultural work on top of the prejudice they felt from cultural clashes and bullying by other kids who were able to continue their education. After the pandemic, kids from the settlement who went to school before begged to go back and resume their studies, as seen in the photo below.
A drawing made by a refugee child that says, “God. You are a good person. We loved you very much. Please open a school.”
Settlement child using supplies brought by Glocally Connected
Now, Glocally Connected is working to make this dream a reality for the dozens of children living in this same settlement. Education is crucial in helping to lift up those experiencing poverty, and we believe that is a human right to have access to lifelong learning and education. We aim to provide a place for the children of this settlement to receive a basic education. With the help of our donors, we can make their dream a reality by opening a settlement school, with open access to all.
Recent Trip
This past week, Glocally Connected was able to bring over 50 teddy bears for the youngest children of the settlement, as well as more school supplies, such as crayons and notebooks. Whilst visiting, older children were working their agricultural labor jobs in the countryside, picking vegetables amongst other jobs, and were not able to receive the items brought for them directly. Being accepted into a community that has been shunned and looked down upon by their own neighbors, and a large part of the world, comes with particular difficulties. Through builded trust over many years of work with the settlement residents Glocally Connected has been given the chance to make an impact on the people living in conditions like these. In coming years, Glocally Connected has plans of action to make an even greater impact so that all refugees, not only in Turkey, but in the United States as well, can live equally with others.