Help Istanbul's Syrian Guests
Donation protected
My name is the Rev'd Jeff Hual. I'm an Episcopal priest in Washington, DC, serving at St. Paul's Parish, K Street.
I recently travelled to Istanbul to collaborate with my friend Hakan Gulerce in a project intended to highlight the need for interfaith charitable acts to address the Syrian crisis. I assumed that this would require us to travel to Greece, or at least to Anatolia. Instead, we found impoverished, displaced Syrians in the heart of the Vefa neighborhood of Fatih, an area that is quickly becoming the Istanbul's Syrian quarter.
There Hakan and I met Ahmed and his family, who left their homes in Aleppo and are now guests in Istanbul. Ahmed is the grandfather, and his family of fifteen live in a tiny apartment that is two basement levels below ground. In Syria, Ahmed was a professor of philosophy at a baccalaureate college. Because he only speaks Arabic, it is going to be difficult for him to continue his career in Turkey. Only one family member has been able to find work, as there are far too few jobs for the number of Syrian guests. Without the aid of the government and the help of charity, it will be difficult for this family to survive. You can watch our video to meet the people for whom we are trying to raise this money.
Please help us to help Ahmed's family, as well as other Syrian families living in Istanbul. Together we can provide aid that will supplement their incomes and give them a chance of finding more permanent and settleed living conditions in Istanbul.
100% of the money donated will go directly to help Syrian guests living in Istanbul through direct cash donations. Our first goal is to help Ahmed's family, then depending on the amount raised, we would like to try to help Ahmed's neighbors in the Syrian quarter. In order to disburse the money, we will be assisted by the Istanbul Foundation for Science and Culture, which is a Turkish religious nonprofit organization headquartered in the Vefa neighborhood, about fifty meters from the Syrian quarter. Hakan is an employee of the Foundation.
Thank you for your help in this work. God bless you. Barak'Allah.
I recently travelled to Istanbul to collaborate with my friend Hakan Gulerce in a project intended to highlight the need for interfaith charitable acts to address the Syrian crisis. I assumed that this would require us to travel to Greece, or at least to Anatolia. Instead, we found impoverished, displaced Syrians in the heart of the Vefa neighborhood of Fatih, an area that is quickly becoming the Istanbul's Syrian quarter.
There Hakan and I met Ahmed and his family, who left their homes in Aleppo and are now guests in Istanbul. Ahmed is the grandfather, and his family of fifteen live in a tiny apartment that is two basement levels below ground. In Syria, Ahmed was a professor of philosophy at a baccalaureate college. Because he only speaks Arabic, it is going to be difficult for him to continue his career in Turkey. Only one family member has been able to find work, as there are far too few jobs for the number of Syrian guests. Without the aid of the government and the help of charity, it will be difficult for this family to survive. You can watch our video to meet the people for whom we are trying to raise this money.
Please help us to help Ahmed's family, as well as other Syrian families living in Istanbul. Together we can provide aid that will supplement their incomes and give them a chance of finding more permanent and settleed living conditions in Istanbul.
100% of the money donated will go directly to help Syrian guests living in Istanbul through direct cash donations. Our first goal is to help Ahmed's family, then depending on the amount raised, we would like to try to help Ahmed's neighbors in the Syrian quarter. In order to disburse the money, we will be assisted by the Istanbul Foundation for Science and Culture, which is a Turkish religious nonprofit organization headquartered in the Vefa neighborhood, about fifty meters from the Syrian quarter. Hakan is an employee of the Foundation.
Thank you for your help in this work. God bless you. Barak'Allah.
Organizer
Jeff Hual
Organizer
Alexandria, VA
