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The result was that 30,000 Kurdish people died--and 7,000 Turkish soldiers were killed. This is 9 times the American death toll of the Iraq war so far. In a country of 70 million people, it was a huge tragedy and nearly everyone in the country was touched by the violence in one way or another. The refugees from those villages went to live with their relatives in other cities which produced overcrowding and many children who fell through the cracks where their education is concerned. Going to school becomes a luxury when a family is in survival mode and worries about whether they will have enough to eat.

Before this war, Adalet Budak was a young woman who covered her hair and strictly obeyed all Islamic rules. Her name "Adalet" means "justice" and she grew to have a strong personality and incredible will power. Her father told her she would not be allowed to go to high school because no one would ever marry her if she got "too educated."

The truth is that her father was simply following age-old cultural norms. But he was right--men in that area disliked women who were too sure of themselves. Women were for childbearing and raising children and doing the back-breaking work of the house or farm. Men knew they could not control a woman who could read or write. She would "want too much" and she would "eat his life". In Turkish, these characteristics were very strongly warned against for women.

43% of women in this area of Turkey are physically beaten by their husbands. Literacy is very low and there is generally no way out of a marriage unless a woman is willing to leave her children behind. Suicides are common. Honor killings are common. Life for women is very difficult and many die at a very young age.

But Adalet wanted to know about the world, so when the new womens' center opened in her neighborhood, she was one of the first to take advantage of the on-line high school classes. In a few years, she had her high school diploma. Then she passed her college exams. In Turkey, if you pass the entrance exams, the government will pay your way through college and graduate school. Adalet majored in Social Work and went to work for the agency who funded the women's centers. She also got grants to learn English in America and has recently started to work on her master's degree.

Because of her example, her sisters all became teachers. Other girls in the neighborhood wanted to do what Adalet had done. Their mothers approached Adalet about helping their daughters go to school. They wanted something more for their daughters than they had themselves.

Adalet began to speak to organizations around Turkey about the need for education for women. Money began to pour in. Adalet set up private bank accounts that could only be accessed by the mothers. This allowed the women to have some power in their family and keep their daughters in school.

Today, 1,070 girls have gone through Adalet's program. 300 of those girls have gone on to college. The girls have become teachers, doctors, village mayors, and politicians. The older women in this area have hope again. They know, even if it's too late for them, they can help their daughters break the cycle of domestic abuse and illiteracy.

Just $60 a month can keep a girl in school. That amount wouldn't accomplish much in the United States, but it is a fortune in southeast Turkey!

One of the many happy endings to this story is that Adalet met a wonderful man named Ibrahim. They are now married and he supports her work on behalf of the girls 100%.

Adalet has become a shining light in her community. If you see her on the streets of Urfa, she will have her finger in one ear and a cell phone pressed to the other one talking a mile a minute to someone who might be able to help the girls in her program. She pays her cell phone bill herself and it costs a lot of her small government salary each month. She talks to people all over Turkey and in other countries asking for scholarship funds and keeping in touch with the girls in her program. 100% of all donations sent to Adalet go directly to the girls. She never takes a dime for her own costs.

Just as her name suggests, Adalet is doing her part to achieve justice for women. She never lets up and never takes "no" for an answer. If you ask her why she works so hard day and night, she will say, "I do it for my girls." Then she will stick her finger in her ear, turn her back, and answer another cell phone call that just might change another girl's life.
Article by Jeni Grossman, Tiny Peaces

Article submitted by Naomi DeGroff, RSE Blue College Student.

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