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The road ahead

Becoming literate has inspired Yüzay to set her sights on bigger goals. She’d like to attend middle school and high school and maybe study a vocation, such as accounting.

“My brother is an accountant,” she says. “And I like math.”

Her drive is admirable given her living conditions. Since 1987, her family has lived in Sultanbeyli, a crowded Istanbul shantytown, mostly of squatters who migrated from rural Anatolia. The construction of their three-story apartment building is sloppy and dangerous, and the family’s coal-burning stove dulls their white walls with a film of ash. Her parents’ living room doubles as a bedroom, which Yüzay shares with Yusaf Alí. Every day, her father commutes more than two hours to his job as a cook for a small company. Though he’d like to retire, he can’t: He and Yüzay’s older brother Kadir are the only members of the 15-person family who have jobs.

Living off so little, the family holds only dim hopes that Yüzay will ever lead a normal life. When she was young, they thought they’d someday be able to buy her prosthetic arms, but they still can’t afford them. The family has received several donation offers from people who have met Yüzay, but all have fallen through.

Her mother’s heart still breaks when she helps Yüzay with her hair.

“She has the most beautiful hair – you can’t even imagine,” Zahide says. “I tried to get her to cut it once, but she wouldn’t do it.” Each day, Yüzay carefully brushes her long, dark locks but needs help tying them back. “I would really like to be able to tie my hair myself,” she adds softly.

But Yüzay tries to keep a positive attitude. She points out that there are really only a few things she can’t do, such as wash dishes or cook food. She can’t type on a keyboard but recently heard about a government-sponsored computer class for the disabled and wants to attend.

Her dream is that she’ll someday work in business. And her family backs her up. “We’re uneducated, but we’re not conservative,” Zahide says. “[If my daughter had arms], we would have made a doctor or an engineer out of her. I just want her to get a chance.”

RI presidents have emphasized literacy since 1986.

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