By Busra Kiriscioglu, YES 2012-2013, Turky, hosted by AYA in MN

Over the past 4 years, 3 million refugees have started a new life in Turkey. This means that more people in Turkey started going to school, working and shopping alongside Syrian refugees, yet there was no sign of real integration. Especially in Istanbul, a city teeming with so many people that some can become invisible, the tolerance for the 'other' group runs low because neither group really knows much about each other. YES alumni in Turkey had been observing this for some time and began planning events and projects that would help bring these two cultures, Syrian and Turkish, together. We were inspired by the many people from diverse backgrounds we met and learned from during our YES year and the empathy it inspired in us.

The YES Alumni Turkey Association partnered with the Ishraqat-Syrian Ladies Association, an NGO that organizes services for Syrian mothers in Turkey, and, in October, our project came alive. Fourteen alumni came together in Istanbul to run the “Mothers and Little Hands” project. This project brought together 20 Syrian refugee mothers, their children and 12 Turkish mothers and their children. The mothers painted kitchen aprons while the 32 children painted t-shirts, but this was just one part of our amazing day. We spent the whole day painting and sharing.

Many of the Turkish mothers remarked that this was the first time they had interacted with Syrian mothers. The mothers talked all day, exchanged phone numbers and arranged future meet-ups, while the children enjoyed painting and playing with each other. Many thanks to Ishraqat for their support and for sharing their office with us. We also received help from three Arabic translation students of one of our alumni.

Another thing of note is that the YES alumni who organized this project are all women. Aslı Hercihan (YES 2012-2013, hosted by AFS in Wisconsin) said, “We were fourteen brave women alumni with open minds and hearts embracing Syrian and Turkish women and their lovely children. I encourage everybody to do the same: to be willing to see and welcome differences.”

Another alumna reflected after the project, saying, “We didn't speak the same language but we told each other a lot. We smiled, we showed understanding, we shared, we hugged each other, we overcame our prejudices. At the end of the day, every one had a smile on their faces, and this was what mattered.”

We are proud to say that this project was a big success. When we left the Ishraqat office we were all smiling. After working so hard on the project, seeing the happy faces of mothers and children definitely made our day. When the children were leaving, they asked if we could do this project again next week! This has motivated us to start planning some new activities with Ishraqat.

At the end of the day, “Mothers and Little Hands” showed us how in need of peace our community is. We know that even if just for one day, we forgot everything and just found peace together as women and children. It is the first step we took to address the refugee crisis, but it won't be the last, because we are aware that change might be slow, but is only possible with consistent actions and commitment to being the change.

For more photos, visit our Flickr page!