Who are the African students in Turkey? 

These last ten years, Turkey has been developing its relations with Africa at various levels. As part of cooperation with these countries, Turkey provides scholarships to many students: at present, nearly 6,000 of them benefit of these. Coming from almost all countries of the continent, Muslims or Christians, they are scattered throughout the country for bachelor, master or doctorate programs. Upon arrival, they must first spend a year studying the Turkish language before starting their studies, be it medicine, forestry, journalism or engineering, and many other disciplines too, mostly in that language.

For many of them it is their first time outside their countries, and the challenges are many, starting with the language, culture shock and loneliness. Moreover, while Turkey has just opened to Africa, they feel sometimes viewed as strange animals, especially in small towns. If they are not Muslims, the distance is even greater. To help each other, they have slowly begun to organise themselves into national groups, organising activities for their members scattered throughout Turkey.

For Christians, the church is also an important meeting place, for support and training, at least for those who have the chance to study in a city where there is one. Many students are in search of places where they can pray and celebrate, but also be accompanied and trained, in parallel to their studies. When they return they will be part of the elite of their country, which is why it is indeed important for them to find places where they can think about their future and what they want to do with their life, and prepare to return home under different circumstances from those they meet in Turkey.

A session on leadership, on the island of Büyükada

In Ankara, around thirty young people attend the Catholic Church on a regular basis. They formed a "Youth Group" whose leading team organises various activities with the help of the Jesuit community. It is with this group that a five days session on leadership was organised in late July, with the help of a Congolese colleague, Jean Nyembo, coming from the CEPAS (Kinshasa), at the Franciscan Sisters of Büyükada. With the uncertainties of the coup attempt, there were many cancellations, which is why news were spreading the country and that we were joined by young people coming from different cities, twenty-six in all, including some Muslims, from a dozen countries, speaking various languages, all of them understanding English.

The mornings were devoted to presentations on the foundations of leadership in an African context, while the early afternoon was devoted to relaxation. By late afternoon, group reflections and sharing were taking place before the celebration of a festive Eucharist. And meals, were able to satiate the appetites of these young people sparkling with vitality. The evaluation of the session was unanimous: to be continued!