Izmit

Greetings! We are writing from the Simge Women's Cooperative in İzmit, Turkey. This week we have been back and forth between here and the neighboring Kardelen Women's Cooperative, just minutes away from here on an apartment -lined mountain road. From the office window we can see the city of İzmit below. It is early evening now and the mountains are casting huge shadows throughout the landscape - a mixture of pine trees and massive cement structures.

It is hard to imagine that just ten years before the cıty was leveled by a catastrophic earthquake. On August 17th, 1999 a quake reading 7.6 on the Richter scale struck İzmit, killing over 20,000 people.

At the time, most women were housewives wıth no jobs outside their homes. Losing community members and fearing another disaster, many became isolated and afraid to leave their houses. At the same time, however, women were among the greatest contributers in rebuilding their communities in the wake of this tragedy. The pervasive feeling of instability and the great need for leadership allowed women to take on roles that before would have been looked upon unfavorably by the local society.

Indeed, it was a group of brave and inovative women that recognized that those who had lost loved ones and homes were experiencing psychological trauma. They knew they would need more than new buildings to restore their communities; they would need to create a culture of healing and support, and a space where women could come together and begin to move forward. The first women and children's cooperative in Turkey was built by a team of such women leaders alongside KEDV (Kadın Emeğini Değerlendirme Vakfı), the Foundation for the Support of Women's Work in Turkey.

The Simge Women, Environment, Culture and Enterprise Cooperative began wıth little means and few programs. Its only material assets were a modest, pre-fabrıcated building and the land it was placed on.

Today, this site houses a comprehensive array of programs and services that support the empowerment of women and their children. These include an early-chıldhood education program; leadership, financial, and parenting trainings for women; and a microfinancing cooperative group. The aforementioned Kardelen Cooperative offers a similar set of programs at its site. We have learned this week that in fact the greatest benefit of these centers is the warm and supportive community they provide to the women in their communities.

This week we have been lucky enough to fılm many of the activities of the cooperatives. We have filmed pre-school children painting the walls of their school, women dancing at a lake-side barbecue, and a women's micro-finance meeting. We have interviewed a dozen or so women and been witness to their amazing stories of recovery, inovation, and sheer will.

Aside from that we have had many afternoons of coffee and chatter, and many evenings of good meals and singing. We have been welcomed into their homes and been consistantly overfed. Fernando has tried to help out with dishes several times only to be swept out of the kitchen by three or four sets of hands - "Ayip!" they shout, shame! The extent to which we have been treated as honored visiters and welcome friends has overwhelmed us.

We look forward to our next visit to Düzce, another cooperative in the earthquake region, next week. We will be accompanied by our friend and able translator Burcu - Jill will be happy for the break from her ever inadequate if well-received translations!

Pictures to come soon - we have a great photo shoot of some mother-child finger painting that will be posted as soon as we have access to wi-fi.


Until then, all the best from your cooperative journeying friends,

Fernando and Jill