Sinem is at the service of the people of Hatay with years of experience…

Sinem continues her parents’ profession as a hairdresser.

Sinem, who lost her parents in the earthquake, rebuilt her business in difficult conditions despite the pain she experienced and serves you in Samandağ under the name Besime Kuaför.

Sinem, whose parents are hairdressers, started working in the hairdresser run by her parents when she was a child. She has been running the business, which was owned by her father, with her family since the age of 16. Sinem, who continued her business after her marriage, has three children.

Sinem, who suffered heavy moral losses in the earthquake, also lost her workplace. However, since the business was in her father’s name, she could not benefit from any support! Despite all the impossibilities, she still continued to work in her profession. Since her house was severely damaged in the earthquake, Sinem first set up the tent distributed to her in their garden and started living in the tent with her husband and children. Since she could not find another tent at that time, she continued her business under the trees in her garden. While she continued her business with a few items she salvaged from the hairdresser’s shop, the constant power cuts caused these electronic materials to break down. It was already difficult to work as a hairdresser in the garden, but with the water shortage and power cuts, everything became even more difficult. She heated water in an electric kettle and boiler to wash her customers’ hair and tried to continue her business with the materials she rescued from the rubble. However, when the power cuts disrupted the materials she saved during the earthquake, she didn’t know what to do anymore. She describes that period as follows:

“Since it was my parents’ profession, I tried to continue my business despite all the unfavorable conditions. I served my customers under the trees in the garden. We have a circle of 30 years, so my customers were coming, but the power cuts and water shortage prevented me from doing my job. When the materials I rescued from the rubble broke down due to power cuts, I was unable to continue my business!”

Just then, her friend saw the Women Build Your Business Project of the MaviKalem Association and they applied for this project. However, since the business was not in her name, she did not expect to receive a response:

“I applied to many organizations and associations after the earthquake, but I didn’t get a response from any of them, so I wasn’t very hopeful when I applied to your project.”

When she applied for the project of MaviKalem Association, she was still trying to continue her work in the garden. Sinem was very happy when the teams at MaviKalem called her and went to meet her, and she requested a generator to continue her work:

“Because there were constant power cuts, I could only serve my customers when there was electricity. Sometimes the power would go out in the middle of the process and this would have a very negative impact on my business. I needed a generator to continue my work.”

Sinem tried to continue her work under the trees in the garden until November, when she procured a tent and started doing her work in it. She explains that she was able to continue her work after MaviKalem provided her with a generator and some basic materials:

“The generator you provided was my savior during a period when the power was constantly cut off, so I was able to continue my work.”

Sinem, who works in a tent because she has a generator but is not affected by power cuts, reopens her business in April 2024. Since most of the materials in her new hairdresser shop are the materials she saved from the earthquake, she wants to renew her materials. With the income she earns from her business, she supports both her household and the education of her children.

Sinem; “Despite all the unfavorable conditions, I did not give up because I inherited this profession from my parents. I want to keep this business with my mother’s name alive as long as I can,” she says.

Sinem announces her reopened hair salon to her old and new customers on social media. In addition, since she has a wide circle, she also has a lot of customers who come by word of mouth. She is waiting for you in her salon.