“I Volunteer As an Interpreter to Show My Gratitude”

The Complementary Emergency Social Safety Net (C-ESSN) Project, funded by the European Union and carried out by the Ministry of Family and Social Services in cooperation with the Türk Kızılay, supports the most vulnerable foreigners to hold on to life. Our Syrian beneficiary Emine el Isa (38), who was not able to walk or speak since childhood due to her muscular disease but is now healthy enough to volunteer as an interpreter thanks to the treatment she received in Türkiye, says, ‘Thanks to T-SUY, I can take my medications regularly, and I try to come through for everyone to show how grateful I am for the first steps I took after the age of 30.’

Sharing her childhood story with us in their rented house in Sivas, Emine says: “Even though I couldn't walk or even talk, escaping our bomb site of a city with the help of our neighbours was like achieving the impossible. But the real miracle for me began in Türkiye. There was no cure in my country for the muscular disease that I caught at the age of 7. My mother used to make me sit by the window in the mornings to pass the time. Looking out the window, I would envy those who were going to school more than the children playing. I used to think, ‘Oh, if only I could go to school, I'd be like the lawyers that I see on TV’. However, since I couldn't express myself, no one, not even my family, was aware of my perception and my dreams for the future.”

In Emine’s own words, ‘the first step to take her out of her dark world and bring her into the light’, was her family's application to the hospital to consult the Turkish doctors after they had to take refuge in Türkiye. Saying, ‘I took my first baby steps after the age of 30 with the treatment I received following the tests,’ Emine talks about those days as follows:

‘In the very first phase of my long-term treatment, I was able to sit straighter and my muscles started to feel stronger. As the medication eased the stiffness in my muscles, my tongue opened up, too. I learned Arabic and Turkish just by listening, so when I started talking, everyone including my family and the doctors wereshocked. One day, when I heard the knocking on the door, I got up with the feeling as if it was something I did, and I fell down as I was taking a step. But I cannot describe the joy of those few seconds I was standing without support, on my own. I told my mother, who ran to me, that I walked, but it was obvious that she didn't believe me. A few months later, I was strong enough to walk around the house with a walker. I wanted to talk and sing all the time, as if I wanted to take away the pain of being in silence for years. That was happiness.’

After she started walking and talking, Emine thought, ‘To this day, I was only able to stand up with the help of others. So what can I do for people?’ She found her purpose at the hospital where she goes regularly for her check-ups when another patient said to her ‘You speak both Turkish and Arabic. Can you help me talk to the doctor?’ Her wheelchair has also been a great source of support in her daily struggles.

Talking about her feelings, Emine says: ‘I could not study due to my illness, but with this job, like my childhood dream of being a lawyer, I help people. Sometimes even Turkish patients ask for my help, such as by asking where the clinics are. Now, not only I am able to walk and talk, but I also feel that I am helping people find remedy and happiness. Thank you, everyone, who made this possible for me.I also want to share my gratitude for Kızılaykart and the C-ESSN Project, which enabled me to buy medication that I could not find in my country.’