Forging bonds: Syrian refugees find more than new livelihoods in Turkey
Tuka is just one of dozens of micro-scale entrepreneurs who benefited from the trainings, offered both to Syrians and members of the Turkish host communities in Izmir, Bursa and Şanlıurfa.
Dozens of micro-scale entrepreneurs have benefited from the trainings, offered both to Syrians and members of the Turkish host communities. ©FAO
When Tuka arrived in the Turkish port of Izmir, seeking temporary protection after fleeing the conflict in Syria in 2017, it felt as though she had found a safe haven, but lost almost everything else. The violence had claimed several of her loved ones. The tailoring workshop she had painstakingly built up in her home city of Aleppo was no longer.
She tried to carry on with the tailoring business in Turkey, working from home, but found she could only earn a paltry USD 1.50 a day. She and her husband had to borrow money to stay afloat, without any clear idea of when they’d be able to return it. They both struggled to master the Turkish language skills they needed to survive.
“It took us some time to understand that market needs are different in Turkey...and realize that we must be open to learning new skills.”
That’s when Tuka’s resilience and determination kicked in. She seized the opportunity to enrol in a food production and entrepreneurship skills training provided by FAO and the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and funded by Japan. And she’s never looked back since.
Tuka learned how to stuff mussels, prepare sauces and store, pack and label foods, using equipment and packaging tools which were totally new to her.
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