When the civil war broke out in Syria, Visem Hanım was not only a mother of five but also a young woman whose education had not yet been completed. She was preparing for university and dreamed of becoming an English teacher. Along with the cities it destroyed, the war also shattered this dream, forcing her to leave everything behind. When she came to Türkiye in 2013 in search of a safer, more hopeful life, she began rebuilding her life with her children. She wanted her children to complete the journey she herself could not finish. That’s why, for her, a diploma was not merely a title, but the greatest assurance in life for a woman and a child, their most solid foundation.
Visem Hanım’s eldest daughter, Fatma, is currently in high school. Ömer is receiving vocational training, while Ahmet is in middle school. Şam is in elementary school; he was elected class president due to his academic success and sense of responsibility. The youngest, Rim, is excited to have just started school. For Visem Hanım, each of her children represents a separate effort, a separate hope.
A mother can also become a good teacher if she wants.
The first couple of years were spent in crowded homes; shared kitchens, lives squeezed into a single bathroom. But for Visem Hanım, the core issue never changed. She explains it in her own words: “Our purpose in coming to Türkiye from Syria was to enable our children to embrace life through education. Every morning when I wake up, I think: They are my children. I want to make sure I give them the best life I possibly can. And the way to do that is through education.”
She didn’t know Turkish well and was finding her way step by step in a new country. But she didn’t give up. To ensure that her children remained engaged in education, she first focused on words; she started learning Turkish. She enrolled in a Turkish course at a public education center. She explained the letters she learned in class to her children when she came home in the evenings. Together, they memorized the days, months, and seasons. However, sometimes, not everything may work out as smoothly at the same pace. Over time, obstacles increased. They could not find the money to take the bus and were unable to meet the school bus costs. And most of all, the school uniforms… This was not just a financial hardship. Visem Hanım was deeply hurt from seeing her children feel inadequate among their friends, seeing them bow their heads in front of them. That feeling of embarrassment was as heavy as not being able to go to school. For a mother, being unable to protect the dignity of her child will turn into a storm raging inside, but invisible to everyone else. Visem Hanım carried that storm quietly in her heart.
From a Broken Bell to the Gateway to the Future
Perhaps on one of those most depressing days, Visem Hanım noticed something at home. Ömer, her second child, was taking apart and reassembling items in the house- fans, sockets, the doorbell… This was not a game for him. While he was away from school, he was exploring broken items to satisfy his curiosity, trying to understand how they worked. The small repair workshop he built with his own means showed that his desire to learn had not diminished at all. While watching her son quietly, Visem Hanım realized how skilled he was; he kept on trying, never giving up.
When they crossed paths with the Association for Social Development and Aid Mobilization (ASAM), their story took a different turn. Through ASAM’s education program, Ömer was enrolled in school.
Visem Hanım describes this process as follows: “With the help of ASAM staff, we enrolled my child in a vocational high school. Since I don’t speak Turkish well, they supported me at every step along the way, from obtaining a medical certificate to completing the enrollment procedures. Sometimes they became a voice for me, sometimes a guiding hand. At a time when I was feeling extremely exhausted, we re-embraced life thanks to ASAM. They never left me alone.”
For Visem Hanım, this was not just a school enrollment. It was a door reopening to her son’s future, and for her, a way of saying, “I’m not alone.” Today, Ömer puts what he learns at school into practice at home and describes his dream in his own words: “I love learning new things. It makes me happy to fix something that’s broken. I watch videos on the internet. It doesn’t matter if it’s about a socket or a fan. When I started school, I realized that I would be learning even more important things there. At first, I wanted to be an electrician, but now I want to be a teacher in the electrical department and teach other children. Touching other people’s lives through education means paving the way for them. ”Ömer’s words were a small but powerful indication of a mother’s steadfast journey over the years. On 24 January, International Day of Education, this story reminds us once again that when education touches a child’s life, it not only illuminates that child’s future, but also the future of an entire family and community.