Three women, three countries, one dream: A happy future…
27 April 2023
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Türkçe
Rua Alidu, Istabrak Muhammed and Fatma Anter are only a few of the women who are in early twenties, fled the war conditions in own countries to settle in Türkiye, and are striving to make a place for themselves in the economic life, produce and contribute to family livelihoods if possible even a little bit.
They blend their own modern interpretation into the traditional yemeni shoes (flat-heel shoes) at Yemenia Women’s Cooperative supported by the ILO Office for Türkiye, and come together to socialize both with local people and other women who share the same destiny.
The ILO Office for Türkiye has for years been supporting cooperatives to enable women to have livelihoods, and ensure at the same time that women are able to have solidarity, share experience and destiny.
“Türkiye has always been a country that we know and like, and even come for studying in university, but we have never thought of coming to and living in Türkiye. Upon the onset of the war, we had to leave school and migrate, and all of a sudden, found ourselves here.
My dream is to have education and become a programme…”
“I attended this course because I wanted both to contribute to the household economy, and have an opportunity to work at home while also supervising my children, I have 4 children!
Being here makes us feel different because we have always been at home to date.”
The common characteristic of women who arrived in Türkiye at different times to run away from wars in Iraq and Syria to have safety is that they have had the opportunity to work and socialize in Türkiye which they did not have in their native country. They say that they left their countries by necessity, not by choice, and their biggest happiness is to come together to produce.
Due to some threats, we fled and came here, first lived in Hatay. My story is very long, I had big difficulties at the beginning. Our situation was dire, and I had to work for a long while. Working conditions were precarious. Unfortunately, there was a period I worked without social security or salary.
As I did not speak the language, I sat aside at every break and tried to learn Turkish through my phone…
Then I started to work for another woman, I learned everything about working life from her, e.g. social security, working hours, minimum wage etc.
I have not been working for the last one and a half year because I attend school. I finished the open education, now I study hospital management in university, and come here to make some financial contribution though a bit.
We are so lucky because my mother and father have always supported us on education. My father failed to have education due to lack financial means. My father always says that set a goal for yourself and do what is necessary to achieve it…
At their workshop in the historical Hamamönü in Altındağ district of Ankara, using leather and entirely natural materials, they manufacture hand-made yemeni shoes as well as bags, wallets, belts and necklaces etc.
The ILO Office for Türkiye has since 2020 been providing technical and financial assistance to cooperatives under the project Supporting Resilience and Social Cohesion with Decent Livelihood Opportunities funded by the US Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).
They blend their own modern interpretation into the traditional yemeni shoes (flat-heel shoes) at Yemenia Women’s Cooperative supported by the ILO Office for Türkiye, and come together to socialize both with local people and other women who share the same destiny.
The ILO Office for Türkiye has for years been supporting cooperatives to enable women to have livelihoods, and ensure at the same time that women are able to have solidarity, share experience and destiny.
“Türkiye has always been a country that we know and like, and even come for studying in university, but we have never thought of coming to and living in Türkiye. Upon the onset of the war, we had to leave school and migrate, and all of a sudden, found ourselves here.
My dream is to have education and become a programme…”
“I attended this course because I wanted both to contribute to the household economy, and have an opportunity to work at home while also supervising my children, I have 4 children!
Being here makes us feel different because we have always been at home to date.”
The common characteristic of women who arrived in Türkiye at different times to run away from wars in Iraq and Syria to have safety is that they have had the opportunity to work and socialize in Türkiye which they did not have in their native country. They say that they left their countries by necessity, not by choice, and their biggest happiness is to come together to produce.
Due to some threats, we fled and came here, first lived in Hatay. My story is very long, I had big difficulties at the beginning. Our situation was dire, and I had to work for a long while. Working conditions were precarious. Unfortunately, there was a period I worked without social security or salary.
As I did not speak the language, I sat aside at every break and tried to learn Turkish through my phone…
Then I started to work for another woman, I learned everything about working life from her, e.g. social security, working hours, minimum wage etc.
I have not been working for the last one and a half year because I attend school. I finished the open education, now I study hospital management in university, and come here to make some financial contribution though a bit.
We are so lucky because my mother and father have always supported us on education. My father failed to have education due to lack financial means. My father always says that set a goal for yourself and do what is necessary to achieve it…
Yemenia Women’s Cooperative
Yemenia Women’s Cooperative was founded by 7 women to combine traditional yemeni shoes with modern design so as to manufacture them without altering their naturality, promote the values of culture and art domestically and internationally, and contribute to women’s employment.At their workshop in the historical Hamamönü in Altındağ district of Ankara, using leather and entirely natural materials, they manufacture hand-made yemeni shoes as well as bags, wallets, belts and necklaces etc.
The ILO Office for Türkiye has since 2020 been providing technical and financial assistance to cooperatives under the project Supporting Resilience and Social Cohesion with Decent Livelihood Opportunities funded by the US Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).