Read the first part of the article here.
This is why you have to believe in yourself, believe in your project and believe that you can make a difference. The foundation did answer my desperate mail and proposed to meet me the next day around 12PM (my flight was at 9PM so I knew this was going to be a rush but I could not give up on my project…). My face changed completely and I went to bed nervous but with a smile as big as the Bosphorus bridge. I was nervous because this was not organised and I knew that on such short notice I could not organise everything I wanted to do with the foundation. I couldn’t stop smiling though. As I said, this was the first big step to presenting my project to a foundation that actually believes in it and is willing to help. I could not disappoint them or make them feel like they were losing their time!
I guess being with someone with Down syndrome reminds me of Home.
The next day around 11:30 AM I said goodbye to my friend Pablo, from Madrid, who had accompanied me during these four days in Istanbul. If you want to know the best places to eat in Istanbul, call him! I spent four days eating and stuffing my mouth with Baklava, a typical pistachio dessert from Istanbul. It’s green, tasty, local and it comes haunt you when you go to bed! I don’t know what they put in it but it clearly makes you want more! Anyway, I will let Gordon Ramsay talk about international gastronomy and I will focus on telling you more about my first meeting.
When the taxi got to the hotel, the man at the door started putting suitcases at the back of the car. I don’t know who they belonged to but I guess they are thankful I told the man they were not mine because otherwise, if I hadn’t noticed, I would have left them in a random taxi on the asian side of the city! Clearly not the best way to finish your vacation… The foundation was actually quite far from the hotel and when you don’t speak the local language and you are traveling alone there is always this little voice in your head saying “what if you have the wrong address and you get lost?”. No phone, no Turkish, and who knows if someone was going to understand me. I often over exaggerate personal feelings so you can imagine me in the car, crossing to Asia on the Bosphorus bridge, sweating, wondering where I was going. When I got out of the taxi I managed to find the door of the foundation quite quickly and the lady at the door welcomed me in. I was directly saluted by Emin who is one of the helpers who welcomed me in a room where two young adults with Down syndrome were waiting for me.
At first I saluted Erden, this young boy with his big fat blue coat on and his hat. Obviously I do not speak Turkish so at first I had no idea how I was going to communicate with him. However, even if you don’t understand a language facial expressions and hand movements help you understand what the other person wants to say. Next to him there was Robert, also a young man who happened to speak perfect English. He had glasses on and somehow reminded me of my sister. I don’t know if it was the skin colour, the British humour or his purple jumper but something reminded me of Victoria. Emin sat down in front of me and we started talking about these two gentlemen before he asked me about the D2020 World Project. I then asked him to explain a bit more about the foundation and now that I think about it, we sat there for quite a while. I don’t know how long we all stayed there but everything was so interesting and so relatable that I just stopped caring about time and about my flight to India. I was living the moment and they welcomed me so nicely that I almost felt like home. I guess being with someone with Down syndrome reminds me of Home and that automatically calms me down. All those feelings of being nervous and stressed had completely disappeared and we all took the time to talk about ourselves and our hobbies. Erden let me try his glasses that were really cool and made him look like a Hollywood star and Robert showed me pictures of his family, proud of each of his relatives. He also mentioned he liked basket ball like my sister and that he used to play or still plays!
It is important for people with Down syndrome to actually have their own lives as adults.
Down Sendromu Dernegi was founded in 2009 by three Turkish women who had kids with Down syndrome. They had no information about it and did not have any books to inform themselves therefore they decided to start a foundation which now, only a few years after, works a lot with European foundations such as Italy and Greece. They focus on education, giving a voice to people with Down syndrome (the foundation went to Ankara, Turkey’s capital city, claiming their rights as citizens which resulted in the creation of a official group for disabled people’s rights) and also focus on leading these young adults to an independent life. A few years later they had more than 100 people with Down syndrome working and actually taught the government what special needs these people have. Having to help someone with a mental disability is a job and they are working to have it officially recognised as a professional job meaning that people need to get specialised in such an important task.
I was quite surprised to hear that since 2014 they work closely with Italy and follow their program to help their young adults to be independent. It is important for people with Down syndrome to actually have their own lives as adults. My sister would often say to my brothers and I “I want to be like you!” so by giving them independence we are giving them less reasons to see the difference between them and us, and I believe that we would also see less difference. In Madrid I used to go to a Starbucks where there was a young man with Down syndrome called Diego, a Real Madrid fan, who worked there. He used to clean the tables, clean the floor, and help with anything his other team mates needed. I guess he was the first working person with Down syndrome I met and it just confirmed my thought that they can perfectly work surrounded by people who do not have Down syndrome and not necessarily have to work with people who have a handicap. I realize it is not always possible but I think that it is important to know that they can! Being independent also means understanding transport, money, and also being part of different activities such as cooking or dancing. Down Sendromu Dernegi actually helps the young adults every week and proposes many different activities. On that day the other half of the group had cooking class!
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