Hello, I am a young person and a university graduate who studied engineering. I had dreams when I just graduated. I was going to be an engineer and start a family. I came to Turkey because of the war in my country. I could not find a relevant job for myself since I am Syrian. I started to work in a ready-made garment workshop. I had no work permit, so I was working uninsured and was being paid less then other workers. Working with poor conditions after taking education for years made me quite depressed. But I had nothing and I needed to work in this workshop in order to not starve.

To tell the story of how I have met Refugee Support Center (RSC); there would be inspections in the workplace sometimes, and we would be off duty on those days. One day, they noticed us during the inspection and introduced us to the RSC personnel. They asked us questions and said they would like to know about our job-related problems. I told them that we were earning quite little and working too much. Thereupon, RSC discussed it with the owner of the workshop and helped with my work permit application. I was permitted in such a short time, since my temporary protection identity document allowed me to live in İstanbul. I was still not able to do work in engineering but at least I was being paid fairly. I earn same as other workers and I now have insurance.

When I told RSC that I am an engineer and I would like to do my job, we visited Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM-SGDD) together. They told me that I need to get a certificate of equivalence for my diploma in order for me to work as an engineer in Turkey. We applied for it, I hope I get it soon.

I am participating to free Turkish courses that ASAM provides. I want to improve my Turkish and find a better job. I hope I am going to work thoroughly as an engineer soon.