ASUMAN YILDIZ HOPE

Kindness and charity of the soul must have its place on Earth. Asuman Yildiz’s great sacrifices touched our hearts because she went beyond feeding her mind and pocket.

Asuman is a loving wife and a passionate humanitarian, committed to making a positive impact in her community and beyond. Her selfless dedication to the welfare of children and her unwavering commitment to making a difference in the lives of those around her make her a true inspiration.

Whilst being a mother of 5 children can be a daunting and self-absorbing task for most women, Asuman Yildiz took it upon herself to reach out to children in need. Her 6-year experience as a dedicated foster carer helped her provide a nurturing and supportive environment for all those who came to her. She realised there was no way to be a perfect mother but there are a million ways to be a good one and with her wealth of parenting skills and her deep love for children, she played her role as a carer to the best of her ability.

She believes that every child in this world should have a safe and loving home. However, there are some children who grow up with neither.

These children are then rescued and put with short-term families. The foster care system is a system in which an individual has the honour of loving and caring for a child who has been through an unimaginably difficult time. In Australia, there are organisations such as Barnados Australia that work tirelessly in ensuring children who are neglected or abused are placed into homes that are safe and loving. No child should be forgotten nor their plea for help be neglected.

Today we highlight a selfless individual, one who has been a foster carer for almost 6 years now. We celebrate kindness, love and hope as we walk down memory lane remembering all of Asuman Yildiz’s contributions over the years.It is often said that God uses our greatest pain as the launching pad of our greatest calling. Asuman opens up about losing her very own father at a very young age after which she endured a very difficult life with financial struggles and feeling lost. She described feeling stuck with a sense of hopelessness. In these dark times and in grasping at straws, Asuman discovered the power of Hope. Through discovering hope, she is now - Hope for many children under less hopeful circumstances.

As love and kindness takes centre stage, we ask Asuman to shed some light on foster care and the system that protects children.

What are the qualities that make a good foster caretaker?

Asuman tells us that patience is of utmost importance as a foster parent. A deeper level of understanding is needed to process these children’s unconventional backgrounds and the reasons behind their behaviour. In being patient, you may be lucky enough to regain a child’s trust. Being patient means being repetitive until the child understands. You may need to handhold for a while until the child can walk by himself or herself. They may need to unlearn and relearn many things. Most important of all, is to be able to provide honest and unconditional love. Honest love can thaw the coldest of hearts and fix the most broken of souls.

Despite having biological children of her own, Asuman refers to these foster children as her own. She describes the most rewarding part of being a foster parent as the changes she sees within each child. “The changes in their eyes... they instantly

What is the most rewarding part of being a foster parent?

brighten!,” says Asuman. The changes are both physically noticeable as well as you get to witness the changes in their nature as well. When placed in a safe and loving environment, children blossom and become the best version of themselves. Asuman also shared about one young boy that she cared for and how he transformed in the presence of a kind male figure (Asuman’s husband).

What is the biggest challenge that you faced during fostering?

Separation. Asuman Yildiz explains that the foster care system acts as a short-term facility and therefore separation is inevitable. As Asuman recalls the names of the wonderful

A quote comes to mind, “You May Not Have My Eyes or Smiles, But From that First Moment You Had My Heart” children who have been under her care, a sense of loss fills the room. The separation from children you have raised and loved undoubtedly can weigh heavily on the heart. Asuman goes on to describe the wailing of one of her children after raising her from the age of 7 days old to a 1-year-old as a painful moment in her life. She had raised the child for over 3 years under her care till she was finally adopted. She describes this loss as a bleeding wound to date. This sort of ache stems from a place of unconditional love and a bond so very deep. Her love for her “children” pulls at your heartstrings.

How has fostering children changed you as a person?

According to Asuman, she has always dreamt of being a foster parent. In order to make this dream a reality, she had to rid herself of selfdoubt and had to develop a can-do attitude. Asuman goes on to say,” it changes you as a person when you realise that you have the ability to change a life. You develop a deeper level of selflessness when you realise it is not about you, but the child that is under your care.”

The foster care system is changing children’s lives. No child deserves to feel unsafe, unloved and most of all unworthy. If this is something that you have always wanted to do, remember Asuman Yildiz, remember that you can be Asuman Yildiz if you open your heart and fulfil your calling. May we together as a society raise children that are loved, nurtured and cared for.

Asuman left us with a personal quote that inspired all of us in the room during this interview