Kimse Yok Mu provides ‘sustainable help’ to needy women

I came here upon the advice of a friend, and my mental health has gotten better. The association is also providing financial aid as well as food and clothing. My 9-year-old son suffers from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura [ITP], a bleeding disorder. He should have a balanced diet. He should have good morale. I should first feel good myself so I can take better care of my son. All the responsibility concerning him and the house is on my shoulders. It is very difficult for a woman to stand on her own feet alone. Only those who have experienced this can understand what I say,” says a woman in a small woodcarving atelier opened by the Turkish charitable organization Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anyone There).

She is among 19 women who have been attending the association’s vocational courses launched as part of a recent project aiming to provide “sustainable” help for women in need by helping them acquire a job. “The issue of distributing aid to those in need is a problematic issue because new needs emerge one after another. We have for years been providing people in need with basic necessities, but we thought a permanent solution was necessary,” said Mehmet Meraklı, the coordinator of Kimse Yok Mu’s recent project.

Meraklı says there are a number of free-of-charge vocational training courses provided by municipalities or other institutions but that their project differs from these. “At the end of these courses, participants are given certificates and left to their fate. Our primary target audience in this project is women in need. Those already registered with our association and those who had to leave their children in Social Services and Child Protection Agency [SHÇEK] orphanages are our first priority,” Meraklı says.

One of these mothers is S. M., another participant in the association’s woodcarving course. She was referred to the program by SHÇEK. “I have three children. I divorced my husband 11 years ago. My house burnt down five years ago, and I had to leave my children to SHÇEK because I had no income. Thanks to Kimse Yok Mu, I toaok my children back. I have been here for one-and-a-half months. I would like to open my own shop if I become successful. I only want to earn enough money to take care of my children,” she says.

Kimse Yok Mu meets all expenses of program participants

The association’s new project is reminiscent of a famous Chinese proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” The association teaches the women to catch fish but continues to provide them with financial aid until they truly stand on their own two feet. “We meet all their needs during the program, from their travel expenses to their food and clothing needs. We also provide a kindergarten for the women’s children,” Meraklı adds.

The opportunities the association offers participants of the program are more than that. The association also provides necessary equipment for trainees who complete the courses successfully and open an atelier, whose expenses are also met by the association for a year, to support the women. “Six of our first graduates have already opened an atelier. We teach these women a craft and ask our donors to help these women by opening an atelier. A woman can open an atelier for around TL 4,500-6,000,” Meraklı says, adding that the association also works to bring together women who opened a shop and companies that would like to work with these shops. “Kimse Yok Mu is not engaging in trade here. We are just a mediator,” he stresses.

Eight women completed the course successfully in the first training program, which began in November and ended in February. Six opened an atelier and the remaining two became teachers at the association’s main training workshop, Meraklı says. He stresses that the two programs were pilot programs to test their feasibility while the third program, hoping to see broader participation, is set to be launched in June.

“We presented our project to a number of state officials. İstanbul Deputy Governor Mustafa Altıntaş liked it very much. He said this project should be more widely available. State Minister for Women and Family Affairs Selma Aliye Kavaf and Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu also praised our project. The Üsküdar Governor’s Office and the Üsküdar Public Education Center strongly supported the curriculum of our program. We are planning to sign protocols with state institutions such as SHÇEK, the Ministry of Education and the Turkish Employment Organization [İŞKUR] and will then conduct the project in cooperation with them in the third term,” Meraklı says.

First atelier marks success story of project

In what could be seen as the first concrete fruit of the Kimse Yok Mu project, six women who successfully completed the training courses opened ateliers with the support of the association, which has already provided them with the machinery and equipment they will use. “This atelier was opened three months ago. The association gave us our machines and met all our needs from the tea we drink here to the rent of the atelier. They have pledged to meet all our needs for a year. They will keep us on our feet for a year,” says Aysun Yücedemir, one of the six women.

She has a touching life story, which changed course when she encountered Kimse Yok Mu. “My husband died a year ago. I have a 3-year-old daughter. I was staying at a women’s shelter when one of my close friends wrote a letter to the association asking them to help me, something I learned about years later. The association out a house for me, furnished it and provided every kind of assistance to us. Last August they told me about the training program and asked me if I would like to attend. I said it is my job because I was a theatrical designer making stage props. I enrolled in the course, became successful and here I am now. I drop my daughter off at a kindergarten before coming here. They did not leave us to our fate after the program. I cannot even compare my life before Kimse Yok Mu and after it. We see them [the association’s volunteers] as our brothers and sisters,” she says, her eyes filling up with tears.

Yücedemir says they are currently producing toys for a kindergarten and that they aim to focus on toy production for other kindergartens. “Almost no wooden toys are produced in our country. We also plan to voluntarily make toys for kindergartens of women’s shelters,” she said.

People can donate to the Kimse Yok Mu project by visiting the association’s website (www.kimseyokmu.org.tr) or by sending an SMS to 5777 and writing MESLEK on their cell phones. Doing this will ensure TL 5 is donated to Kimse Yok Mu on your behalf.

Waste material used in atelier

The association trains participants in a fully equipped atelier under the guidance of a technical education teacher, Adem Kasılan. Kasılan, a woodworking instructor, underlines that they use leftover or used material such as parquet. “We use them as our raw material and make souvenirs and wooden jewelry with them. We turn this material into products,” he says. Kasılan says that although they do use Chinese-made goods, which are cheap but generally unhealthy, they prefer to use Turkish products. Nineteen people are currently attending the course. Kasılan says he tries to test the skills of all participants to enable them to specialize in the field in which they are skilled.