MaviKalem Women’s Counseling Center: Meeting Point for Women

 MaviKalem Women’s Counseling Center: Meeting Point for Women

MaviKalem’s Women’s Counseling Center in Esenyurt is getting stronger every day thanks to the solidarity between women. The women’s network that has formed around the project has become an integral part of both the project and the services provided to the women who benefit from it.

The women’s solidarity network consists of Turkish and Syrian women. This group, which started with volunteer women, has grown over time and now they have a room in the center where they do their own work and exhibit their products. Here, women come together and prepare handicrafts such as sewing, embroidery and painting together, and even conduct workshops to teach each other. This space has become a favorite haunt for our women’s group.

The workshops organized at the center are implemented by different women. Each workshop is tailored to the expectations, needs and interests of the participating women. Women especially enjoy painting.

One of the women said, “We feel like we are at home here. We come here every day to produce something and learn from each other.”, emphasizing once again the importance of social spaces where women can come together.

Women actively participate in the center’s work, providing support in promotion, activity preparation, organization, translation support (Arabic-Turkish) and as implementers. They also spread the word about the center’s work in their neighborhoods, circles of friends, family and social media.

The contributions of the women’s solidarity network enrich not only the lives of the women in the project, but also their own lives. Being at MaviKalem offers women the opportunity to get away from the difficulties of daily life and find themselves again in solidarity and sharing. One woman summarizes this experience as follows: “Every minute I spend here gives me peace and I feel better.”

Another woman said the following: “I realized that being at MaviKalem not only added knowledge and skills, but also increased my self-confidence.”

Let’s add our color to life together!

• The Women’s Counseling Center and Mentoring Project is supported by the “Development of Community Based Social Services for Refugees and Host Communities (CLIP 2)” implemented by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ).