Fasla Anter Alp Offers a New World for Women in Kızıltepe, Mardin
On 21 March 2010 Sabancı Foundation's "Turkey's Changemakers" program hosts Fasla Anter Alp who established Kızıltepe Support Women Environment Culture and Business-Cooperative in order to support the economic independence of women through revenue-generating activities.
Fasla Anter Alp established Kızıltepe Support Women Environment Culture and Business-Cooperative with 7 women when she was working as a Turkish Folk Dances Instructor in Mardin-Kızıltepe, a town in Southeastern Turkey. The idea of founding a cooperative was shaped by the problems of women in Kızıltepe. Fasla Anter Alp offers a new world to women in Kızıltepe through the Cooperative.
In Kızıltepe Support Women Environment Culture and Business Cooperative, which Fasla Anter Alp is the chair of, courses and seminars on literacy, computer, and entrepreneurship are organized for women in the region. Moreover, there is a small shop in the cooperative which enables women to produce items such as hand-woven coasters, hammocks, lace pillows, cell phone cases, and bake local breads. The products are then sold in a special shop at the Foundation for the Support of Women's Work (FSWW) in Istanbul. FSWW is a non-governmental organization in Istanbul and it aims to support women's efforts to be economically independent and to improve the quality of their lives in urban and rural communities in Turkey. Hitherto, 180 women have been benefitted from the courses and seminars offered by Kızıltepe Support Women Environment Culture and Business Cooperative. Moreover, the activities of the Cooperative are supported by the district governor and the municipality in Kızıltepe, Mardin.
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