What’s left behind becomes a faded memory, one that will be carried long distances no matter how tough it gets. Life becomes what’s packed in a single bag, leaving behind childhood memories and remains of something that was but no longer exists. Refugees arrive at their final destination exhausted, defeated, broken, and unaware of their surroundings. The first question they ask themselves is, ‘now what?’
With a new country, limited community, and an unfamiliar language, surviving becomes a priority and options become limited.
Understanding the struggle refugees go through, especially after the journey of seeking safety, Toplum İçin Yenilik Ve Yardım Derneği was founded in 2017 with a mission to support them build their new lives in Turkey and become positive contributors to society.
Through many different programs, TIYYD is able to help a significant number of refugees rebuild their lives, become financially independent, and prepare youth to go to college and plan for their future.
With the slogan, “A Better Tomorrow, Today,” TIYYD has different programs through which it supports the community residing in Turkey: the Families program, Scholarship program, and its Community Center, Karam House. Each focuses on different aspects that a refugee family might need help with.
The Families Program seeks to end child labor for Syrian refugees and allow children to return to school. As a team, TIYYD’s goal is to help families become independent and begin on the path towards self-sufficiency. The program builds a strong connection with the families on an individual basis. The team gets closer to the mothers, the fathers, and the children they help. They meet with them regularly to understand their needs, their challenges, and the barriers preventing them from reaching self-sustainability. Since 2017, the program has helped 18 families reach financial stability, and supported 146 families of which 49 were female-led households.
The Scholarship program provides Syrian refugee students with financial relief to help them focus on their education and quit the jobs preventing them from focusing on school. In addition to financial assistance, the scholarship program offers support in coaching high school students to prepare them for university, investing in the personal and professional growth of university students, and providing access to internship opportunities. Since 2017 there have been 23 graduated scholars.
TIYYD created community centers in both Reyhanli and Istanbul, Turkey. These centers — known as Karam Houses — are open to all members of the local communities, no matter where they are from. Youth come together to access the space and work on homework, collaborate, play games, read books, and hang out during their free time. Mothers and fathers come to Karam House to take part in integration activities or informative awareness sessions. Furthermore, local and international experts including chefs, artists, poets, creators, writers, and innovators visit Karam House and provide youth with the opportunity to learn from their expertise.
The team at TIYYD works tirelessly to help refugee youth become the leader they are set to be, you can be part of this by joining Karam House.
For more information, visit TIYYD.org
Social Links:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/karamhouse/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/karamhouse.tr/
All content courtesy of TIYYD.
