January 16, 2017 2 min read
Today we visited the Olive Tree Community Center run by SPI (Small Projects Istanbul) in Istanbul Turkey. The Olive Tree Community Center provides free supplementary education services and community support – primarily to those displaced by the Syrian conflict.
"Since 2011, Istanbul only has become home to over 600,000 Syrians and Palestinians who have been forced to flee the conflict in Syria, and numbers continue to grow daily. many of those affected are children, the majority of whom have been out of school for several years or more. despite the ongoing efforts of the Turkish government to respond effectively to this humanitarian crisis, there is a resounding gap between the needs of these individuals and the services currently available to them."
Turkish Government granted all registered Syrian nationals refugees the same rights to work as Turkish citizens so we will be able to collaborate with them with the exact same conditions we do with our Turkish mums.
As you know at bebemoss our philosophy is to empower a mum community, to help those in need and provide with sustainable work to mothers offering flexible work conditions and the possibility to work from their own home at their own pace and of curse a fair payment for their work. So starting a collaboration with SPI and including Syrian mums into our knitting mum community is just a great and natural match. Thanks to all amazing volunteers involved who made this new adventure possible. Even the language barrier was not a big deal so far. We met warm and friendly faces and talented and crafty women!
Here are a few pictures of our day today.
And here are a few pictures of the Centre itself and their activities:
If you want to know about SPI and their work or if you would like to donate check out their website here
And we will keep you posted as soon as we start knitting!