Turkish lady fights poverty in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG Moved by the poverty and joblessness in a South African village, a Turkish-born woman has taken up task to elevate living standards of people, by imparting skills. In a shanty China Town settlement in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, Burcu Cunneen, 41, an artist, teacher and founder of Turkish Wave Ocean Smile - a non-profit organization - is training women to sew cloths, and make jewelry, paintings, and beads to earn a living. “I train unemployed women aged between 18-35 years, so they come out of poverty,” Cunneen, told Anadolu Agency in an interview. Her love with South Africa started in 2016, when she arrived in the country with her husband Simon to spend holidays. A year later, the family relocated from Turkey to St. Francis Bay, a beautiful resort village, in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. The couple discovered many impoverished communities, living in tinned houses, just a few kilometers away from their home in China Town, an informal settlement located in Sea Vista township. Instead watching poverty right under their nose with helplessness, they decided to take action and founded the voluntary group to impact skills and reduce hunger. “We would drive past Sea Vista, as well as other townships and see poverty, little income, limited education and health issues,” She said, adding, there was huge disparity between the townships and suburban areas. “I was a teacher back in Turkey and my principles of learning are very much based on the old Turkish education system, based on concentrating and investing in villages. I have applied this principle to the township here, very much a hands on approach,” She told Anadolu Agency. She was referring to a network, called village institutes, set up by the Turkish government few decades ago, to increase literacy rate in rural areas. In the system, selected rural students were trained, who would then return to their villages to work as teachers. They would set up schools near the fields and besides imparting normal education, they would provide skills in agriculture, construction, arts and crafts etc., to address livelihood issues as well. Cunneen, mother of two, says she drew inspiration from Ataturk, Turkey’s founding father. “I wanted to do my part in helping the less fortunate and making their future brighter which would allow peace at home and peace in the world” The project operates in a shack (tinned house) given to them by one of the residents of China Town. She gets donations from Turkish women around the world and form her face book followers to support the project. “I seek support from Turkish ladies and my face book followers when I require items to be donated for the township project,” she said. She uses an online South African shopping site ‘Takealot’, which is similar to Amazon, by circulating a link of items necessary for her project. The sponsors check the link and then place orders on her behalf, wherever they are in the world. The items are delivered to Cunneen’s address in South Africa. About the nature of her project, she said her organization trains women, in the skills as per their interest. Once trained and fully equipped, they will make products in bulk, which are then sold in the market. Also they are required to educate and train other community members to ensure continuity. “The notion of sharing and working cooperatively is central to the idea of the Turkish Waves Ocean Smile. Supporting and learning from each other not only strengthens your self-esteem as an entrepreneur, but also contributes to growing individual businesses,” she said.