From Loss to Hope: A Story for the Unseen

From Loss to Hope: A Story for the Unseen

The day my brother died, I didn’t just lose him I lost my right to grieve.

My name is Eylem. I want to tell you a story. My story is a little different. I was born in Kars, one of the most beautiful cities in the eastern part of Turkey. Access to education, a safe childhood, or the ability to dream… These were distant things for children like me growing up there. Even encountering education at an early age was a struggle for me as a girl. But now, that little girl who started life in a small village in Kars has rewritten her destiny I am pursuing my master’s degree at a public university in Germany. However, the real breaking point that brought me here that gave me the courage to write these words was losing my brother. He was my closest friend, my confidant, the one I shared the most beautiful moments of my childhood with. His sudden death brought my life to a complete halt. The indescribable emptiness I experienced during my grieving process, and the way social pressure didn’t allow me to fully feel or express my grief, became my moment of awakening. Throughout that heavy and painful process, I kept growing a version of myself inside one that silenced her own voice, feared healing, postponed standing up and engaging with life, and didn’t believe in herself.

Then one day, the unnecessary and harsh reaction from relatives to my mourning brought me back to myself. And on that day, someone entirely new woke up inside me: fragile but determined, tired but hopeful. That’s the day I started to return to myself. Yes, I had lost my playmate. Yes, I was going to continue my life without him.But I had to do something for him. I wanted to keep my brother’s memory alive to create meaning out of his absence. And that meaning had to inspire others others who were grieving, others going through difficult times. It had to offer both inspiration and a real way to touch other people’s lives. That’s why I founded a community to support children facing financial hardship. Through this community, I met thousands of “Fırats” children who helped heal the grief I carried for my brother. One day, through our community, we met a little girl whose family did not want her to continue her education simply because she was a girl. She was told that school was not meant for her, that dreaming was unnecessary, that her place was already decided. But we saw something different in her. We saw curiosity. We saw courage. We saw a future trying to speak. Together with my community, we supported her education. We became a step on the road to her dreams not by carrying her, but by making sure the path existed. Last year, that little girl passed one of the most competitive exams in the country and was accepted into a science high school. Today, she is thriving. She is successful. And most importantly, she believes she belongs there. She did not climb those steps alone. But she climbed them herself. And every step she took reminded me why this journey matters.

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On this journey, these children became the remedy to my pain and the voice of my conscience. At the eighth library I built with my community, I realized something profound: My brother’s loss no longer hurt me. The same weight I had carried in my heart no longer crushed me. When I decided not to hide the place where I had broken, that was the moment I truly began to heal. Because this is not just my story this is also the story of the invisible children whose voices are never heard.

What Do I Want to Share in This Talk?

I want to share how my personal grieving process turned into a social movement, how trauma can have a transformative power, and how each individual carries the potential to make an impact. Because sometimes, our darkest moments are where our brightest light is born.

Why Do I Want to Give This Talk?

Because I was able to transform my pain. And I know that by stepping onto the stage and telling this story, I can reach not only my past self, but also someone else’s future. This is a story about how grief can turn into action, how we can rediscover the strength within ourselves, and how to generate hope even in the most hopeless times. This talk will not only honor my brother’s memory, but also carry a message for the unseen, the forgotten, those who struggle that even the question “What can I do all by myself?” can lead to something powerful. Because; transformation is not the war we imagine it is a kind of surrender.

Target Audience

Anyone who has experienced loss, individuals who care about social justice and equality, young people, educators, and civil society actors. And above all, anyone who has ever asked themselves: “But what can I really do?”