Gülbeden Bal: A Quarter-Century of Hope Seeping Through the Needle’s Eye
Gülbeden Bal is 60 years old and a hardworking woman who has spent a large part of her life at the sewing machine, supporting her family. After losing her husband, she raised her two children alone and also took care of her mother. For Gülbeden, tailoring became more than just a profession; it was the sharpest tool in her struggle to survive. Although she never had a shop of her own, she became her family’s strongest pillar by creating miracles with old machines in a corner of her home.
26 Years of Silent Struggle: From an Old Machine to a New Life
Gülbeden’s story is one of years spent “struggling on her own” with second-hand and frequently malfunctioning machines. Although she had to stay outside the city for a while after the February 6th earthquakes, she returned to her hometown of Hatay to take on her responsibilities. In a life she shared with her grandchildren, children, and mother, her greatest test was having her broken machine repaired and trying to sew again. However, technical limitations stood as the biggest obstacle to receiving regular orders and growing her business.
MaviKalem: A Helping Hand beyond Imagination
Gülbeden’s application, made with the hesitation of someone who had never received support from any institution before, became a turning point in her life. The astonishment she felt when the MaviKalem team knocked on her door gave way to tears of joy as she received her new sewing machine. This support enabled Gülbeden to receive not only a machine, but also the feeling of being “noticed” and “supported” that she had waited for her entire life. With professional equipment, the doors were now wide open for her to produce much faster and flawlessly.
From Container to Mass Production for Companies
With the support provided, Gülbeden Bal established her own small but powerful workshop in a container. Now she can take on large orders that she used to turn down due to the malfunctions of her old machine, and she carries out regular and mass production by making agreements with companies. With her income becoming more predictable, Gülbeden has finally begun to receive the true reward for her hard work after 26 years. Today, not only fabrics but also a woman’s renewed self-confidence and dreams for the future are being sewn in that container.
“For 26 years I was struggling on my own, for the first time someone reached out and supported me; now I’m not just sewing at that machine, I’m building a brand new future for my family.”
