So many people are asking me how I did this, why I did this and how I started everything...Enjoy the read :)
I woke up early and set off on the tram towards beyazit. My idea was to walk behind the grand bazaar in the big markets and end up in Eminonu.
So off I walked :) I stopped in various shops along the way and started buying the necessities.
I bought many pairs of socks, gloves, vests, wet wipes and nappies.
I asked one of the shop men for extra bags so I could make up little packages to give to each child . I stopped at a bread man , his cart was half full. I told him I wanted every single loaf of bread he had. He thought I was an absolute nutter but bagged them all up for me and gave me free cheese.
Next stop, water. I bought about 15 small bottles of water.
Can you imagine how heavy this all is now ?! haha !
I stopped in an alley way and sat down, bagged everything up with two pairs of socks in each bag, two wet wipes in each bag, two loathes of bread, 2 bottle of water, one pair of gloves and two vests.
I had about 20 of these little mini packets.
So I had this wonderful idea to help all these people and give them the things I bought... But then I was having second thoughts. I suddenly started questioning myself.
'what if they think im being rude?'
'what if they dont accept it?'
'what if I offend them?'
'what if they attack me?'
With these questions going around in my head I decided to take some time out and just sit down and suss out the situation. I went down by the fish stalls. I sat down, next to a man with a nice camera. I wanted him to be my friend, he had a lovely camera ;)
I introduced myself and asked him to show me his photos. His name was Sedat.
Sedat had been photographing some Syrian children who loved the camera. Sedat started speaking to the children and asking them to come play with us. They were a bit sceptical at first but soon approached us.
These kids had coats, clothes and shoes. They didn't fit, but they still had protection. I pointed to their feet and asked them to show me their feet. They thought I was crazy. Why is this crazy foreign lady touching my feet. I saw they didn't have socks on so I asked the boys to sit down and I took off their shoes and put fresh socks on them.
They still had total looks of confusion on their faces. Who knows if they had ever worn socks before. Their feet were black with dirt and cracked with dry skin and sores. I then handed over the bags to the children, there were 5 in that family. So they all had socks, vests, water, bread, cheese and gloves.
We carried on playing with the children and their father approached us. I wasnt sure if he was happy with me giving his children clothes or not. He shook our hands. He thanked me for feeding his children and giving them socks. He showed us his Syrian passport and told us he and his family had escaped the refugee camps and had come to Istanbul as it was safer than the refugee camps.
I then went around the rest of Eminonu and found many more families in need. I handed bags to them and they accepted greatfully. Some families let me play with their children and photograph them other families just accepted the gifts and thanked me.
I didnt expect anyone to let me play with their children or photograph them. Just because I was giving them something didnt mean they had to interact with me.
I met two young boys eating corn on some stairs. I asked them if I could take their photos and their faces lit up. They really played up to the camera and vied for my attention.
They were so sweet , I spent a good hour with them, taking their photos and seeing who could jump higher off the bench. I gave them a bag each. they asked me to buy them another corn. I did.
I handed out more bags and headed home.
I felt guilty going home to my warm house with my big thick duvet and comfortable sofa to sleep on with a fridge full of food.
0 comments:
Post a Comment