They set out with immigrant and local women with the motto ‘Knitters Arm Each Other’. The only thing they believe in this way; It was possible to live together and even work together. Their main goals were to empower women economically and to contribute to social cohesion by working together. They named their project “Knitting For Hope”. Because the knitting they made was not an ordinary knitting. It especially contributed to the hopes of immigrant women for the future. They developed this project with great devotion. Afterwards, they needed institutionalization and SUGDER responded to these institutionalization needs.
This association they opened called SUGDER, namely Social Cohesion and Entrepreneurship; It made its official opening on May 18, 2022 with the participation of valuable names. At the opening; General Director of Compliance and Communication of the Directorate of Migration Management, Dr. Gökçe Ok, Şanlıurfa Provincial Immigration Administration Manager Mr. Fatih Işık, President of Ohana Association operating in Italy Anna Ida Russo, Italian street artist Federico Luvol, Director Tunç Top, Migport founder Berat Kjamili. While cutting the inaugural ribbon, General Manager of Compliance and Communication Gökçe Ok expressed his joy for the opening of the association with the following words:
“The human being, first of all, becomes the addressee of the creator. He gave everyone a soul, gave hands, gave feet, gave eyes. The important thing here is human, that is, the subject of this work is human, there is human in the center. It is the greatest honor as a human being to serve people, especially to the victims and oppressed people, and especially to the refugees. Enough in this world, enough in the hereafter. May God never deprive you of this consciousness. Let there be good works here, touch the hearts here. In other words, our Syrian immigrant brothers and sisters benefit from this place today, and our own citizens also get together in this way, it will be useful in another time period in the future. It’s important to do good work here. It is important to receive hearts, it is important to be able to enter hearts, and of course, it is important to always know the value of our country, nation and state and to preserve its dignity. So I thank you, I congratulate you. May it be beneficial. Bismillah is the beginning of all good.”
He expressed his joy with his words and frequently emphasized the importance of the subject of heartbreak. Italian street artist Federico Luvol on the wall of the association specially for the opening; He has drawn a figure of a migrant child with bright eyes and a hopeful smile, holding his toy in his hand. However, this figure is not an imaginary figure, it is the real figure of a child who lives with his family in Şanlıurfa and has a long migration story. In the following minutes of the opening, guests and participants brought up the activities that the association can do, the importance of its establishment and the increasing hopes in this sense, and one of the active members of the association, Mays Alrim Mamo, had the chance to listen to the story of the painting on migration that she drew for the opening. The opening program ended with a beautiful souvenir photo, and the emphasis of ‘we are a big family’ was repeated by all the participants.
