Duygu Bayramoglu is a STELP partner with her company INTO X. She discovered the aid organization through social media. She was particularly impressed by STELP founder Serkan Eren’s direct reporting during the earthquake in her family’s home region in Turkey. Given her privilege, she now feels called to give something back to those less fortunate.
Interview
STELP: Before we start, what was your first point of contact with STELP?
Duygu Bayramoglu: I found out about STELP through social media. In Karo Kauer’s stories, in Paul Ripke’s podcast and in a public service interview with Serkan. Until I started following his stories myself last year, mainly because of the earthquake in Turkey, which was right in my parents’ home country. We hardly had any contact with our relatives and acquaintances ourselves. My parents’ home is right in the center of the earthquake. Serkan was able to provide us with first-hand information, took us along with him and that simply did us good at the time. I even showed the stories and live reports to my parents, who were constantly thinking about their siblings, aunts and relatives. It gave us the feeling that the help was really getting through.
STELP: What makes the STELP team stand out for you?
Duygu: Doing. Just do it. And that’s really the hardest part, especially if you want to help. There are often many obstacles in the way. Bureaucracy, lots of people who know how to do things and big promises – with STELP, you get the feeling that despite all the bad situations and crises we are confronted with, there is still a lot of hope and something is moving. That one person can bring about change and that every person counts. And most importantly: STELP can celebrate!
STELP: Where does your motivation to support STELP come from?
Duygu: I want to use my privileges and the coincidences of life in a positive way. Everyone has an impact, whether it’s positive or negative is up to us. And I want to make a contribution across all my activities and, if you like, if everything goes down the drain, I want to be on the right side of history. I myself was in the war zone in 2014 as a journalist with an aid organization from Stuttgart – when IS was killing on the Syrian-Turkish border at the time, we brought two trucks with aid supplies to the region. Initially confiscated by the government, it was a struggle to get our donations to distribute them locally. In the camps, I saw for the first time how people have to live, the losses they have suffered and how real the war is. Only 10 km away from us we saw the explosions and only one thing made the difference between the young women there and me: My birthplace. I see it as my duty to recognize this privilege and make use of it.
STELP: In brief – what does STELP stand for to you?
Duygu: For me, STELP stands for hope. In Turkish we say: “iyilik iyidir”, which means “doing good is good”. And for me, that describes STELP very aptly. There are people who simply want to do good. So rare and therefore important!
Have we sparked your interest in our partner program? More info and the registration form can be found here.
