How we Make a Difference
COMMUNITY
Visitors are encouraged to support the pre-school unit in the village. Donations have been made as a result of the home stay scheme, and the unit is well on its way to being fully equipped. Other schemes include book donations for the school library in Hilvan, and a tree planting scheme which it is hoped will benefit all the villagers of Yuvacali. Full details of current schemes and how you can help will be given at the time of your visit.
All money left by visitors to the village goes directly into local households, providing much-needed extra income in an environment where people live of less than a dollar a day. All tours organized benefit the local economy directly, especially since many of the sites visited are off the normal tourist route.
Visits to nomadic tribes benefit all of the tribe directly since part of the fee paid by visitors for the trip is used to present the tribe with essential goods such as sugar, oil, and tea.
All families taking part in the home stay scheme are local, and on low incomes. Training is given to the women of the families with regards to serving guests. All produce is home-grown or locally bought.
ENVIRONMENT
Heating in winter is provided by cow dung stoves. Cooking and bread making takes place over dung fires as much as is possible. All water is provided from local wells which are fed by rainwater. No pesticides or fertilisers whatsoever are used to cultivate the crops from which the food is sourced. Everything from the rice to the jam is organic and home produced. The organization is run from a home office on a paper free basis.
There is abundant wildlife in the area including foxes, owls, reptiles, and occasional wolves. There is also a rich birdlife present with many birds using the village on migration routes. Resident birds include large numbers of hoopoes. The local economy is based totally on small-scale agriculture, and where the interests of wildlife do not clash with those of the farmer, wildlife is not only undisturbed, it is actively encouraged.
All bedding and seating cushions are produced by women in the village using their own wool.
We strongly urge visitors to observe local customs, especially with regards to dress. We aim to keep the culture of the Kurdish tribes with whom we stay intact. A cultural guideline is provided at the time of booking.
September’s donations and campaigns
Kathy Murphy donated the wheelchair to Nesat in memory of her late husband Peter
Wheelchair donation
Nesat was just learning to crawl as a baby when he had an accident which left him unable to use his legs. Now aged 25, Nesat has always relied on family members to physically carry him from place to place. When Leeann Murphy visited Yuvacali with Intrepid Travel in July and heard Nesat’s story she decided to do something to help and contacted her family and friends in Australia to see what they could do. When Leeann’s mother, Kathy Murphy became aware of the campaign, she was personally moved to help.
Kathy said,
“When I heard Nesat’s story I was touched. I was a carer for my husband when he was confined to a wheelchair for four years with PSP - a neurological illness. I decided to donate a wheelchair to make life more comfortable and easier for Nesat and his family. The donation is in honour of my late husband, Peter.”
This week, Nesat was presented with the wheelchair, kindly donated by Kathy Murphy. Nesat’s family were both touched and surprised, and couldn’t express their gratitude enough. The wheelchair will make a huge difference to both Nesa’s lifet and to that of his chief carer, his mother, who is in her 50s.
All at Nomad would like to join Nesat’s family in expressing a heartfelt thank you to Kathy, to Leeann, and to all our other visitors who decide to make a difference.
Aylin wearing one of Julie Maloney’s lovely creations
Clothes for the festivities
Ramadan is drawing to a close, and in the three-day festivities, which mark the end of the fasting, every child in Turkey will be expecting a new set of clothes. Like Christmas in the West, this is a very difficult time for the poor and needy. Thanks to the efforts of Don and Julie Maloney from New South Wales, there will be many young girls delighted with new clothes this holiday period.
Julie Maloney decided to make lots of pretty clothes at home in Australia and send them out to Yuvacali in time for the festivities:
“In May this year my husband and I, along with a group of friends had the opportunity to have a home stay in the village of Yuvacali. What a wonderful experience! We were all so warmly received that I felt I should say thank you in a different kind of way, and decided that some of the little girls in the village and outlying areas might like some new clothing. What young woman doesn't like a new dress? So, on our return to Australia I searched out my old sewing machine and set to work making a few very colourful long skirts for some of the girls. My sewing machine and I have spent many happy hours together. I enjoy my sewing and I also take great delight in the fact that I can also be helping people at the same time.”
Nomad will be distributing Julie’s wonderful skirts on the last day of Ramadan in the poor and underdeveloped Karaca Mountain region. In the meantime, Aylin, aged 10, has been happy to model the beautiful outfits
Yuvacali Kids by Portuguese travel writer and photographer, Filipe Gomes
How you can help..
Dental hygiene is nonexistent in the area, and with school about to open, Nomad Tours is focusing its efforts on providing every child in Yuvacali with a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste.
The teachers in Yuvacali have agreed to implement a dental hygiene program at school as soon as Nomad can come up with enough supplies for 100 children. If you would like to help make a difference, please contact us using the form on this page.
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