Children coming from Palestine as well as Chechen children living in Turkey attended the event. The children who stayed in Bursa for two days visited the historical and cultural sites in the city. Palestinian children who saw snow for the first time in their lives during a visit to Uludağ on the second day of the program were unable to hide their surprise.
Winning paintings of a painting contest which was jointly organized by the IHH and Palestinian Education Ministry were also exhibited at the event. Presents were given to the children with the best paintings. Those paintings will also be exhibited at the Ördekli Culture Center on the occasion of the IHH’s Orphan Week between March 27 and April 1.
Palestinian and Chechen children performed local dances at the event while the orphans cared by the IHH in Bursa also made a theater performance.
Delivering a speech at the event, IHH Chairman Bülent Yıldırım said that the IHH Bursa branch has made significant work since its establishment.
“After Israel attacked the Mavi Marmara, it arrested and interrogated us. None of us including the women and the children on board the ship had any fears. They thought we would be very afraid and beg them for our release and that would show this to the entire world. Israel cannot defeat us,” said Yıldırım.
Dwelling on the death of two IHH volunteers, Bahattin Yıldız and Faruk Aktaş, in a plane crash as they were travelling to Afghanistan for the construction of an orphanage there, he said: “The goal of our brothers Bahattin Yıldız and Faruk Aktaş was to help the construction of an orphanage in Afghanistan. They became martyrs while working to achieve this goal. Only an orphan knows what it means to be an orphan, the orphans here are entrusted to us.”
Explaining that everyone in the hall can take care of an orphan, Yıldırım said Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was also an orphan and we need to take care of more orphans as his ummah.
Head of the IHH’s Bursa branch Hüseyin Kaptan noted that activities they launched on the occasion of the IHH’s Orphan Week will be organized every year.
Kaptan said the IHH’s Bursa branch cares for 1.000 orphans abroad while it provides assistance to 125 orphans in Bursa.
Noting that it is possible to extend a helping hand to an orphan by paying TL 70 monthly through the IHH’s Family Sponsor Family System, Kaptan said: “We do not carry out only orphan relief activities but we also provide aid to many parts of the world. A housing construction project we launched for flood victims in Pakistan who lost their houses in the disaster that hit the country last year is about to be completed. We aim to reach out to more people in the world. “
The event ended with a concert from musician Ömer Karaoğlu after Yıldırım presented a painting to Kaptan for his work.
