Refugees in Istanbul

One demographic that I had not anticipated meeting was that of refugees living in Istanbul. Turkey's borders are porous-- coming in. Getting out, however, is supposedly more like the living version of "Hotel California"-- in this case where you can check in any time you like, but can never leave.

I've begun volunteering as an art teacher for refugee children living in Istanbul. Their school is run out of an Anglican Church, and the students are primarily from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, and Sri Lanka. Most of the students have been attending school here for a couple of years, a necessary solution to lack of access to education, for these paperless refugees cannot attend public school in Turkey.















The series of events that led to these children living in Turkey is varied, and the result is a classroom that is mixed in age, language, behavior, and skill level. Some of the kids come from countries such as Iran or Iraq where they had been raised with a strong educational infrastructure. These students have classroom discipline and many of them have had excellent art instruction in the past. Conversely, some students have never had a stable education and lack the discipline and skills that come with that upbringing. This makes for a VERY interesting and challenging classroom dynamic. I've included a picture that highlights this: guess which picture is drawn by a 6 year-old and which by a 16 year-old. (the exercise was to draw objects that were on the table. One is a bowling pin, the other a racquet.)

Who are these refugees? Recently, many have been coming from Iraq-- both Iraqis as well as Iranians who had been taking refuge in Iraq until the U.S. entered in 2003. I'm hoping to learn my students' stories and pass them along as reminders that disasters, both natural and man-made, have enduring consequences.