Who Are they?
Fatma, Nuseybe, Hayat, Suad & Imen are five refugee mothers currently living in Ankara, Turkey. The mothers are seeking funds and resources so that kids displaced by war (including their own) can be assisted through art to approach their world in a more healthy manner and to expand on their sense of self. Art workshops often yield great designs by these kids which will then be used by the mothers to create stuffed toys. This can answer their needs for safe and sustainable employment.
What They Need
We have already seen the benefit of involving refugee kids in creative art work that helps them reinvent themselves or imagine & re-imagine their future. Local and international volunteers, especially university students (some of whom are aiding in this project) have been actively trying to create these opportunities. With your funds the mothers hope to continue , with longer more focused art workshops in a safe environment that really allows the kids to sink into their creativity. A portion of the funds will therefore be spent on getting materials for the kids alone.
The mothers are also looking to purchase sewing machines for themselves and also training that will allow them to make the toys and other products for which their kids will act as creative designers! The video shows the efforts of the mothers which started out as a one-off activity that soon blossomed into its current ambitious form.
How Important is Your Help?
One thing greatly motivating this project is the sense of accomplishment and pride experienced by the kids and mothers through their creative collaboration. When this activity initially took place, planned very casually, there was no thought given to the possibility that it would be a source of purposefulness for the kids and dignity for the mothers. Your help in perpetuating this experience is important.
This project is also motivated by mothers who have come to realize that the many vulnerabilities they face as refugees cannot be overcome without them seeking and receiving their own empowerment. Just as refugee kids need to explore their sense of self as something more or in addition to being a refugee kid, the mothers seek to be something more than refugee mothers. Your contributions will not change their lives. It will assist the mothers to stand on their own feet. After which they will work to change their lives. So that they can identify themselves as working mothers, shaped by the refugee status but not limited by it. So that they can work towards living life instead of just surviving hardships.