INTERVIEW WITH BEYEN
Eda OKUTAN
İGAM
25.09.2019
How did you come to Turkey?
We were living in Aleppo. My father died in battle. We went to Latakia. Then we returned to Aleppo again. We came to the border of Turkey and Syria. We had a hard time. We were hungry, we were cold. There was a way descending down. My sister was shouting at the dirty puddle on the floor. So we silenced her because the soldiers were coming. There were cops on the street, if they saw someone passing, they would catch and send them back. They caught the families before us and sent them back. There were no cops when we passed, so we didn't get caught, we crossed the border without any problem. We boarded the car in Turkey. We went to Tel Abyad. There was a camp. There was a dormitory in Urfa for orphan children to study. Dorm to go to school. We were both staying in these dormitories and studying. My brother didn't go because he was small. I was 6 years old, my sister was 3 and my brother was 2 years old. I was staying in Urfa for fifteen days, 2 days in camp (Friday and Sunday).
Was it difficult to stay away from your brothers for a long time? Were they taking good care of you there?
It was very difficult, there was a telephone. But it was a nice place, they were taking good care of me. It was getting too hot. There were only orphan children. At first we were 70 children, then the number went down. When they found a house, they left. When the camps were empty, the number fell. I was educated from first grade until fourth grade.
Was the training good? Was it fruitful?
The training was very good. I learned English and Turkish. There was also Arabic. I was very successful, the school sent a certificate of thanks to the camp. I'm the only one who got this document. We took our permit and came to Ankara. We didn't want to leave the camp, but we had to. We had no money.
What challenges did you encounter in Turkey?
There were difficulties in the camp. You must take good care of the tent or it will fall in bad weather. Sometimes it collapsed, we repaired it again. Once there was
a fire in another tent. We were too scared since it could jump on us. We put it out.
How are you now? Are there other challenges?
There is great financial difficulty right now. That's why we didn't want to leave the camp.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be a lawyer.
Why?
Because lawyers know who's lying and who's right. I always want to be right.
What will be your last message?
EDUCATION IS HAPPINESS! IF YOU CONTINUE TO EDUCATION, YOU WILL BE WHAT YOU WANT, IF YOU DON'T CONTINUE, YOU MUST START THE EDUCATION AGAIN.
TÜRKÇE