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- We were appointed here in 2000.
It was the year just after the devastating earthquake and everywhere was in ruins.
People had lost their jobs and they were unemployed.
I had children and therefore I was in search of a solution.
In such an environment Selma Demirelli founded the Water Lily Women's Cooperative.
She became the ray of hope for the women
who had lost their way and didn't know where to begin.
The Water Lily Women's Cooperative was established with the support of the Foundation
for the Support of Women's Work and it was first visited
by Sabancı Foundation Turkey's Changemakers Program in 2010.
In those years, the women in the Cooperative were working in a small pre-fabricated container building.
They had a small working area but they held on tight to it.
After the Cooperative was featured on the Sabancı Foundation
Turkey's Changemakers Program in 2011, a new page turned in their new lives.
- I was featured on the Turkey's Changemakers Program.
Like I said million times before, your video is excellent.
That 8-minute opportunity to showcase our work has changed our lives.
After we showed the video to local government authorities,
the Special Provincial Administration of Duzce Governorship wanted to meet us and start a project together.
It was a very important step for us.
That helped us implement the idea of industrial kitchen project.
Two years ago we were working in a small pre-fabricated building which was around 250 square meters in size.
Today we are in a better condition.
We are working in a much bigger space; we have more children
and women in our Cooperative.
We can better plan and organize our activities.
We used to have maximum 18 or 20 children before.
Now our purpose is to reach 40 or even 60 kids.
Both the preschool education services and the preparations for the development
of the industrial kitchen continue at the Water Lily Cooperative.
Until today, approximately 500 children have benefited from the nursery
and 48 women received housing support.
Nearly 2000 women and children were supported in terms of early childhood education and development.
Also, around 250 women had the opportunity to benefit from micro credit programs.
- I used to get up in the mornings and finish the chores in 3 hours.
Then I would visit one of my neighbors or invite my friends for a cup of tea.
Sometimes I would spend hours watching TV or go out shopping.
Today I have a job and I can make a contribution to my family and myself.
I feel like I have my economic freedom.
I get up at 7 o'clock in the morning.
I come to work and we spend great time with the kids here.
We also learn a lot of things. I go home at around 5 o'clock and I do the chores.
I have the pleasure of doing two things at the same time: Not only do I
fulfill my responsibilities at home, but also I work in the Cooperative.
Selma Demirelli was a trainer in the Public Education Center.
After the devastating earthquake in 1999,
she put her own pain aside and started to work for women.
She lended a hand to the women to start a new life from scratch in the Water Lily Women's Cooperative.
As the women started to realize their own value,
Selma Demirelli's efforts became more meaningful.
- When I see these women stand on their own feet,
realize their own value
and set up a business,
that's my gain and biggest happiness.
It makes me so content to see the happy eyes
and smiling faces of these children. This is the most beautiful result.