Not too old to start over

This story is a part of the "Stories of Creativity and Resilience" book, which is a poignant, personal, and hopeful tale of refugees in Türkiye; a moving account of their dreams and aspirations and a demonstration of their resilience in spite of the adverse circumstances they live in.

For refugees uprooted by war, using their artistic talents and creative skills is a great way to feel included and protected. Through our livelihood interventions, we wanted to give artists, craftsmen and artisans a chance to use their talents to generate income and to support them to develop professionally to demonstrate the transformative power of creativity and craftsmanship.

The Danish Refugee Council’s Economic Recovery programming aims to help refugees establish sustainable sources of income to enable them to live a more dignified life during their displacement. We believe that by supporting them to improve their ability to pursue and achieve sustainable livelihoods, they can minimise their vulnerability to any future shocks related to their displacement.

Our wage and self-employment interventions help build a stronger economic foundation at individual and household levels promoting self-reliance, increasing access to inclusive economic growth and contributing to local integration as a durable solution to displacement.

In our interventions, we also include members of the Turkish host community who have been affected by displacement, pandemic, and economic recession.

These stories represent only a fraction of the large number of socio-economically vulnerable members of the refugee and host communities who need support to access income generation opportunities and achieve self-reliance and resilience. We hope to reach more of them in collaboration with our donors, partners, Turkish government entities, and private sector allies.

“I had to start from zero,” he says. He could not find a job because employers considered him to be “too old”. He also tried to work in his field of profession, but he could not do so.

“The materials I needed such as large canvas, oil colors, brushes, copper and gold paper and painting materials are much more expensive here than in Syria,” he says.

As a result, he had to use very basic tools and materials and the quality of his work was not the same. He felt frustrated because he could not show his true skills.

Building a customer base was another challenge. He lived in an area where there were not many people who would purchase his art work. He did not know how to reach potential buyers. He felt down because he could not pay the rent and did not know how to make a living until he heard about the Danish Refugee Council’s (DRC) Productive Asset Support (PAS).