“I lost my husband in the war and escaped to Sanliurfa with my three daughters. Our life was hard at the beginning. My daughters woke me one night because they were hungry and anxious. At that moment I realised that I had to change something. But I’d just arrived and didn’t know anyone. Then I thought of the neighborhood muhtar. I went to him the next morning. Even though he didn’t know me, he helped and found me a job as a translator. Since then I’ve had work. His help allowed me stand on my own feet again and continue my life.”
Nur Alhoca, NGO worker
“I’m now a second-year engineering student, but like most Syrians here I have difficult times behind me. My dad was arrested in Syria and when he was released from prison we came to Turkey. We managed to rent a house, but we had so little money that we couldn’t furnish it. Then one day our Turkish neighbors came to visit and the next thing we knew they had collected furniture for us. We will never forget their support. What’s really incredible is that they didn’t even know us.”
Sarah Alhajmuhammed, Student, Department of Computer Engineering