Techfugees Turkey hosted Ramadan Iftar as a launch event with invitees from 10 countries – technology enthusiasts, media and supporting partners (U.S. Department of State, Borderless Hack, Istanbul & I) adn to mark World Refugee Day.
On this special occasion, we shared refugee stories, raised awareness about Techfugees & Basefugees with the focus of how technology can serve to refugee problems.
We opened the event with a networking session, followed by welcome speeches by Turkey chapter founders of Techfugees; Niels Van Der Linden(Patica), Canay Atalay (Patica), Mujde Esin (Kizcode). We also hosted refugee community members to be a part of Basefugees Program. They shared with us their journey and their new life in Turkey.
Good food served by sponsor partner Yum! Restaurants ınternational, in Impact Hub Istanbul.
Some impressions from attendees:
Dave Levin/ Founder & Executive Director of Refugee open Ware:
‘A beautiful, warm and auspicious beginning for Techfugees in Turkey’
Semih Boyacı/ Co-founder of Impact Hub Istanbul:
“On Monday evening, as part of the launch of Techfugees Turkey, we hosted a great inspiring group of international volunteers who are ready to contribute their knowledge and technical skills to make a positive change in refugee challenges.
It was a great pleasure to host such an innovative event which has been the first of its kind in Turkey in terms of bringing a highly skilled, social mission oriented IT community together. We look forward to seeing Techfugees Turkey movement progress and witness the solutions they become part of. As our missions are highly compatible, we will be happy to collaborate with Techfugees in their upcoming events and support their cause whenever needed.”
Techfugees Turkey, launched this month, aims initially to create a collaboration between tech volunteers and NGO’s for an atmosphere where refugees are welcomed in Turkey with open arms. Our events are entirely non-profit, designed to bring together tech engineers, entrepreneurs, startups together with NGOs and other agencies in order to address the refugees needs in ways where the technology world can bring its considerable firepower.
Contact us to become a tech volunteer or join the movement as an NGO.