Read the first and second part of the article here.
Unfortunately in Turkey people do not make the difference between Down syndrome and other disabilities. The foundation is working hard on this but if I could help them spread the word it would be great. They also help new parents to understand the disability and welcome them with a gift basket, a symbolic gesture to say that the new parents can count of them for whatever they may need.
After such an interesting conversation our stomachs started making a bit of noise and I was kindly invited to have lunch with Emin, Robert and Erden. There was a whole debate about whether we should have a nice slice of pizza or something healthy. As you may already know, people with Down syndrome can be quite stubborn and once they have an idea in their mind they will not let it go. These two gentlemen wanted pizza and Emin and I were trying to convince them for a much more healthy meal… Guess who won? Not us. Emin proposed to go to the mall where we could find different restaurants and there we were, off to the metro station to go to the mall! Robert was our leader and his mission was to take us there, especially to see if he remembered how to go there since the last time they had gone which was about a month ago.
I had a very interesting conversation on the way with Emin who told me a bit more about himself, his background and how he ended up working with such great adults. You could clearly see that it was important to him and that he really wanted Erden and Robert to really make it by themselves. His English was perfect and it was really interesting to hear what he had done in these last few years. I also told him about my sister, about how she lives alone, goes to work alone, meets up with friends by herself, and we both came to the conclusion that, as he said, “sometimes we put the borders in our mind”. I am not going to talk about every single moment where I really wondered how my sister would accomplish many things before realising that I was the one setting borders to her capabilities. However, I think we should ask ourselves if sometimes, in a selfish way, we over protect people with Down syndrome by thinking that they can’t do it.
The cheekiness reminded me so much of my sister and by the time we had to say goodbye the only thing I could do was hug each and every one of them.
At the mall I had a plate of what I guess was a Turkish dish with chicken and pasta and Robert went to have the KFC burger he was craving. It was interesting to see how the turks reacted with people with Down syndrome or how they would look at them as they lifted their arms like a T to cross the road. Safety first! Just like everywhere people would either smile and be helpful and others would not even bother. However, the people in Istanbul are lovely and very helpful. They even helped me with my Turkish and even Erden helped me pick a dish! We were joined later by the other half of the group who had had cooking class. Büşra, the other helper, arrived with Fulya and Emre. Fulya is this smily young woman who just made my afternoon. Apparently very emotional, she couldn’t stop smiling and had transmitted so much good energy that it just made me want to talk to her. People who laugh a lot always make me laugh and I was absolutely amazed by her purple hat with butterflies sticking out!
After the meal we went to have a coffee and I just felt the need to sit next to her. We do not speak the same language but what a laugh we had! Emre was sat on the other side and even though the only words in English he knew were “thank you!” you could clearly see he was interested to talk and learn more expressions! Suddenly they all started taking their phones out and we started taking selfies (I need to ask them to send them to me!). We had a great time and I would’ve stayed a lot more!
Around 4PM we started walking back to the foundation, we also took the metro back, as it was time for everyone to go back home. Emin mentioned that some of them live up to 2 hours away from the foundation but I guess they travel that long because it is worth it! Fulya on the metro pretended her feet were aching so that someone would leave her a seat but we just had one stop. Once we arrived at the station she pretended to fall on the ground to make the other feel bad. Here again she couldn’t stop laughing which automatically made me laugh too. The cheekiness reminded me so much of my sister and by the time we had to say goodbye the only thing I could do was hug each and every one of them.
Down Sendromu Dernegi has a team willing to make things move and who works with the key word of education: inclusion.
Unfortunately I had to leave while they were counting the money they had spent during the day (working towards independence and understanding the value of money) but we managed to take a group photo (unfortunately without Erden). You could see that they had had a good time and hugging them made me feel like Home. Strangely enough I cannot tell if this feeling is selfish or not. But those seconds where you hug and you are hugged by a person who genuinely means it mean the world to me and I really hope I will get to see them soon again. Somehow every single person I met that afternoon means a lot to me now. I guess it is because it was the first foundation, because of the smiles they all had, and that I was nicely invited by Emin who took the time to explain everything to me. Having Down syndrome in Turkey is not like having Down syndrome in France or in Spain. However, Down Sendromu Dernegi has a team willing to make things move and who works with the key word of education: inclusion. After this world tour I would like to gather together all the information of absolutely everything and if I could help Robert, Erden, Fulya, Emre, but also Büşra and Emin accomplish their goals in any way I would be more that happy. This was truly an unforgettable afternoon and I will surely not forget those smiles. Teşekkür ederim!
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