Sustainable operations the tough challenge
Chiu, who now rents an apartment in Reyhanli, has brought seven assistants with him to provide on-site services. He points out that Syrian refugees don’t pay taxes, but still compete with local Turkish residents for jobs and allocation of resources, creating tension between the two groups. Chiu’s hope is that the Taiwan Center will not only provide services to Turkish residents, but will also be able to help Syrian refugees find a new lease on life.
It’s hard to imagine the difficulties involved in inviting local non-governmental organizations to participate. Most of the participants in NGOs are women, but Syrian women, dressed in burqas that cover the entire body and leave only the eyes exposed, are very conservative, and, being in a foreign land, are extremely wary. Chiu adopted a strategy of “dogged determination” and diligently visited the NGOs, eventually getting quite familiar with them. “I became the first male to participate in the NGOs, and each week I lead volunteers to offer these women classes.” The volunteers offer skills training classes, while Chiu teaches a fine arts course for children.
Chiu got to know the stories of the refugees, most of whose husbands have been injured or disabled if not killed in the war. What they are seeking in bringing their young children from Syria to Turkey is simply “to survive.” The greatest hope of these women, among whom unemployment runs at 75%, is to have a job and help defray family expenses.
In order to help refugees “survive” and to give them hope through jobs, the Taiwan Center assists in marketing the “Woof Woof Scarves” and “Meow Meow Pouches” (with dog and cat designs) currently being made by 150 women. Inside the pouches there is soap made by hand using the olive oil and laurel berry oil produced in abundance in nearby Aleppo. Because it takes ten days to hand-knit one scarf, supply currently can’t keep up with demand for fundraising sales in Taiwan, and the problem of how to operate sustainably will be a tough one.
The Taiwan Center helps market pouches and scarves made by Syrian women refugees, so that they can find hope through employment. (photo by Jimmy Lin)