ESSN storytelling project
Through the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN), we supported Syrian refugees living in Türkiye to tell their stories about the realities and issues that matter to them. This page is dedicated to showcasing the stories of Ahmed, Asmaa, Noor, Alaa, Farouk, Abdurrezak, Luai and Malak in their own words.
About the storytelling project
Participants of the ESSN storytelling project gather together at a workshop to learn new communications and storytelling skills
Photo: The Everyday Projects
The IFRC and Turkish Red Crescent worked with refugees who were passionate about telling and sharing stories in different ways. We supported them to learn the skills, knowledge and tools to share their voices in their own way.
Partnering with The Everyday Projects, storytellers received hands-on training in photography, videography, social media and storytelling best practices.
We paired each storyteller with a leading professional in the field who mentored and coached them through their communication goals, and helped them improve their social media and storytelling tactics.
Unique voices, powerful stories
Meet our storytellers
Abdurrezak Attar, the photographer
Ahmed Daho, the foodie traveller
Alaa Hourani, the chef
Asmaa Alsawaf, the advocate
Farouk Akbik, the comedian
Luai Hamade, the adventure storyteller
Malak Hamami, the artist
Noor Adien Baker, the history buff
Why is storytelling so important?
Alaa and Farouk, two participants of the ESSN storytelling project, take part in a communications skills workshop and talk in depth about their preferred methods of storytelling
Photo: The Everyday Projects
This innovative initiative sprang from our work under the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN), funded by the European Union, which provided cash assistance to more than 1.5 million refugees in Türkiye. The programme was all about making sure refugees had the freedom and dignity to choose for themselves how to recover and rebuild their life after fleeing conflict.
We had the same opportunity to empower the refugees we supported to share their own voices and reshape the way the media and others cover them—as people with resilience, passion, and dreams for the future. Their voices are critical to helping us better respond as a humanitarian sector and to making meaningful policy change at the local and global level on issues that matter.
Photo exhibition
Related links
This web page covers humanitarian aid activities implemented with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of the European Union, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.