“I can never accept any handouts. Not money, not food, nothing. What kind of a man would I be if I fed my family with that I have not earned myself?” His children needed shoes and his wife, like himself, was looking for a job. His words struck me, especially considering the resources available in the U.S. for those who need assistance.
I wanted to know what he wanted from his new life on this dream land. He said, “mücadele hakki.” His hands seemed impatient wanting to start the work, any work. “I am learning every day, but, you don’t need to speak English to win the right to struggle.”
“The right to struggle?” Such a concise of way saying so much, so effectively.
*****
It was around the time the uneducated, uninformed but highly opinionated minds created an unwelcome atmosphere for all refugees that had finally found a home and a hope in the United States after the wars and conflict forced them out of their beloved homes that I met my sisters and brothers known as Ahiska Turks, whose existence was unknown to me and most of my Turkish friends. Some call them the ‘Russian Turks,” as they are able to speak both Turkish and Russian, and come from various regions in the former Soviet Union after years of abuse, homelessness and forced deportations. The Ahiska Turks seem to have preserved their language, customs and culture much better than most others I know. They work hard, respect and love family, and pride themselves in being able to “squeeze the stones to find water.”
Their elderly continue to have the highest honors and respect in each family, their women are the best caregivers and mothers, and their men work tirelessly each day to bring home the bread. They have built businesses, own, lease and drive commercial trucks, and buy and renovate homes improving even the most distressed neighborhoods no matter where their new home is in the United States.
The Ahiska Turks typically live in close proximity to one another and create beautiful neighborhoods decorated by the most colorful flowers and tasteful architecture. Despite what appears to be a religious and political division recently created in their communities by the Turkish power chasers, the sense of community among the Ahiska Turks is almost impeccable. When one has an ill family member, everyone else is a caregiver; if there is a wedding, everyone comes bearing gifts, good wishes, laughter and celebration; and, if someone needs help, it is the community’s goal to solve it without any “outside” assistance. If someone has a truck, everyone has a job and food on the table. If someone has a business, she makes sure to hire her brothers and sisters and to teach them new skills.
The young, the elderly, the educated or the less fortunate: everyone works, lives, laughs and cries together in the Ahiska Turk communities. There are plenty of passionate arguments, disagreements and differences of opinion among them. But, they always seem to find a way back to each other and their unity to reach their common goal: to live a dignified life and to fight hard so as to achieve “the right to struggle” no matter where home is… because they know when (not if) they achieve that right, they will WIN that struggle.
****
When I spoke with Engin, a young father in Dayton, Ohio, he was looking for the same “right to struggle.” There was so much said in those two words:
that the assumption that struggle and opportunity is a right to be won…
that the realization that struggle is the only way to live a dignified life, especially when you have to find a new home, leaving behind everything you know, you have, and you love…
that once you have worked hard enough to win the right to struggle, it is just a matter of time for your hard work to pay off…
What I did not immediately consider came from Engin himself:
“When you struggle, it is not always about the money you make, the food you can put on the table, or the new businesses you can start from nothing.These are all good things, of course. But that struggle opens more doors for you. You meet new people every day, you learn how to handle new challenges. You get up every day, realize you are fully alive and that you are capable of managing whatever is in the books for you for that day. Every new person you meet, every challenge you overcome, every relationship you build during that struggle can change your life, the life of your children and their children. …and that is why, for us, ‘America’ is so great!”
*****
Since then Engin has successfully earned his Commercial Driver’s License and is working for a company owned and operated by another Ahiska Turk. Engin and his wife are well into their way to save for and buy their own commercial truck.
On this beautiful Memorial Day Weekend, I introduce you to the honorable Ahiska Turks and their American story. You do the math.