Bazaar
BOUNDLESS
is a small label for textiles and accessories and is part of our sewing project in our
Community Center in Izmir. With this project, we would like to give women the opportunity to regain
their dignity and give them a chance to be able to stand on their own feet and to shape their own life
independently.
For most of the women living in Izmir, who lost their husbands during the war, life is very hard and
heavy. Many women live in confined spaces in one or two rooms, together with often 4-5 children, to
overpriced rents. For many of the women the way to prostitution is usually pre-programmed.
By producing and selling bags and backpacks, we can help these women on their way into a dignified
and independent life and give them such a chance. Currently, we have three women and a tailor at
our Community Center in Izmir. While the women are working, their children are taught in our school
or supervised in our children’s day-care center.
website:http://www.boundless-textiles.org
Drop Earrings Not Bombs
is a craft collective situated inside Small Projects Istanbul (SPI), a Turkish
NGO attending the ConAction Conference, which focuses on creating community, developing skills,
mentoring youth and providing livelihood support to displaced Syrians making a new home in the
Fatih district of Istanbul. Displaced Syrian women design and handcraft each pair as an expression of
their individual experience, heritage, and spirit.
Through participation in Small Project Istanbul's Women's Skills Development Program, craft
collective members have access to Turkish and English language support to ease the difficulties of
social integration. Additionally, basic business skills alongside computer classes are fostering the
empowerment of the group, towards a future where their lives are in their own hands. In the short
term, the project allows the collective to earn a living, supporting their families.
Each pair is a display of creativity and design; a story told through the eyes of the person behind it.
Making the earrings provides space for community building, artistic expression and enables the
women to rediscover their self-value.
Handcrafted in Istanbul. Fostering empowerment | Celebrating creativity
Website: http://www.dropearringsnotbombs.org/
ReVi - Knitted products and seed bead bracelets
ReVi supports 30+ women in Izmir through our knitted products or seed bead bracelet programs. The
idea is to help these families to complement their income for a small amount of work per week from
home. So they can still devote most of their time to take care of their children. Each woman can
make up to 10 bracelets per week. What we pay is enough to cover their monthly rent.
This program is extremely important to these families because jobs are very uncertain in Turkey. The
husbands usually need to change jobs without much notice, and sometime don’t get paid for weeks.
So, we have heard from many families how crucial our programs were in helping them during those
difficult times.
Our plan is to transition some of the families into creating their own brand and set of products. We
would help them with sales, but slowly they would take more control of their business: they’d buy
the materials, take photos for the online store, package and take orders to the post office.
Website: https://www.revifamily.org/store
Imece - supportBags
In order to facilitate a regular and above-average income for single refugee women, Imece Inisiyatifi
has started a sewing and tailoring project consisting of two branches. Firstly, a tailor workshop in
Izmir, where refugee tailors can use the sewing machines and materials. Furthermore, trainings are
offered in this workshop to women who have little experience in sewing. Secondly, refugee mothers
who have to take care of their children receive donated sewing machines and materials to work from
home. The main goal is to empower single refugee women and pave a way for them to become more
economically independent from external support. Some women, who previously were living on the
streets are now able to afford the rent for housing.
At the moment, the main products are the supportBags in different designs which are mainly sold
within Europe. There are plans to expand the designs and offer a more diverse range of products in
the near future.
Website: http://www.imeceinisiyatifidernegi.com/en_US/magaza/
