Hundreds of orphans from Konya, Karaman and Seydişehir in addition to orphans coming from Albania, Palestine, Tanzania and Chechnya and supported by AYDER through the “Sponsor Family System,” came together at the Karaaslan Hadimi Park.

Konya IHH President Hidayet Yılmaz who delivered a speech at the event said since the day of its establishment, IHH-AYDER has been offering a helping hand to orphans hit by wars, occupation, natural disasters and poverty.

Yılmaz said they were very happy to host orphans in Konya who come from different parts of Turkey and the world.

Orphans offered their thanks to the sponsor families, Turkish people and IHH- AYDER for developing extensive projects for them. IHH organizes international get together programs for orphans to bring orphans who live in various parts of the world together with their sponsor families, raise awareness about orphans in Turkey, introduce Turkish culture to the world and help different cultures get to know each other. 

‘165 million orphans, all of them your brothers and sisters’

Noting that there are around 165 million orphans or children without a family who are in need of help in the world, Yılmaz said IHH’s approach to orphan relief work is best summarized with the motto of, “165 million orphans, all of them your brothers and sisters.”

Yılmaz said IHH makes a monthly donation of TL90 (around 35 Euros) to each of the orphans supported by the Sponsor Family System, which he said is used to meet the orphans’ expenses for accommodation, nourishment, healthcare and education. Yılmaz said the Sponsor Family System prepares a better future for the orphans.

Yılmaz also noted that 20-25 million children are orphaned every year, two million of them are kidnapped and most of these children are from Islamic regions.

During the program, the orphans performed their local dances. Participants of the event were moved by a poem recited by a Palestinian orphan. There were also contests among the children which were a big fun for them. The audience burst into laughter seeing the expression on the faces of the children who were playing rope puling game and the rope broke.

Receiving gifts, children went to an amusement park where they had a lot of fun. Perhaps, it was the first time that those children had such a happy time in a day.

The program in Konya ended with the taking of souvenir photos.