By Fatih Kyman | Editor
On our previous report, we described how we value integrated support and respond to the needs of the Syrian community through with a needs-based methodology. In this report, we would like to give the word to Aliya, a Syrian mother who gave birth to her second child soon after she crossed the border. This is her story.
“My husband Yakup and I came to Turkey 4 years ago. We lived in Al-Darbasiyah in Syria. It’s right across the border. Once the war was practically knocking on our door, we had no choice but to cross the border.
Our life was in order back there, before the war. I used to go to school. It was our land after all. Who would want to leave their land? My family is still there – my siblings. I haven’t been able to see them since the borders are closed. I fear I will never see my family again. Sometimes we are able to speak on the phone. But they only get 2 hours of electricity each day. They tell me it got very cold and that even bread is very expensive.
Meanwhile, over here we had to deal with an entirely different set of problems. You have to get your temporary protection ID and without it, you cannot even receive medical help. We had a lot of difficulties when I was pregnant for my second child. The private hospitals were too expensive and there was no way we could afford them. I saw on social media that Support to Life is doing work on maternal health. The first time I heard of them was when I was looking for Turkish language courses – which were offered free of charge. My neighbours suggested that I should go to Support to Life’s office and explain my situation, and that could offer their help. I hadn’t been able to see a doctor during the first few months of my pregnancy. I could even die – all because I lacked the ID card.
It was very important for us to be able to get our ID cards – mine, my husband’s, my children’s. During my second pregnancy, I could have my regular checks done at the hospital. We’ve been able to register my son Valid to our family with these cards. This was very important for me. Now we are really a family.
We will be able to raise our kids in good health, in peace here. My wish back in Syria was to finish school. I really liked studying. But war broke out and I couldn’t study past high-school. Now I am the mother of two kids. This is why my first wish is to raise them in peace properly and send them to school.”
-Aliya, March 2018 (Mardin – Turkey)
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
