Caunos

The center by the name of Dekamer, known as the turtle hospital in Turkey, is where us DukeEngage students spend the majority of our time. Because the center is a twenty-minute ride from the nearest town of Dalyan, most of the people we interact with are tourists who stop by the center to learn about the sea turtles. The people who come to Iztuzu beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe, tell us about where they are from and how long they are in Turkey as we educate them on the dangers of propellers and fishing hooks that threaten sea turtles. Although the tours are fun and interesting to interact with people from all over the world, we also take every chance we can get to go to Dalyan to experience more of the Turkish culture.

A few days ago, a group of six of the Duke students as well as our new Turkish friend, Merve, planned to take our usual trip to Dalyan to get a couple of snacks, eat lunch, and get Turkish coffee before heading back to the center. While we were walking along the sidewalk along the river looking for a place to eat, we walked past some old tombs carved in the cliffs across the Dalyan River, so we made a split second decision to check out some more of the old ruins about which we had heard. Instead of eating, we hopped on a boat for 10 Turkish Lira, or $3.50, and about 15 minutes later, we were dropped off at a dock away from the rest of Dalyan. After walking for another 15 minutes along a road that went further and further from people, we made our way to the ancient town of Caunos.

Tucked behind Dalyan were these beautiful remains from 4th century B.C. Roman rule that one would not be able to see beyond the hills that separate the ancient city from the modern town of Dalyan. Since Caunos is relatively hidden, you can imagine my surprise when we came across a beautiful archaeological site where only a handful of people decide to spend their time. As we walked around the remains of the church and the beautiful flooring, climbed the steps of the amphitheater, walked through the old marketplace, and looked at the beautiful views from above the hills near Dalyan, it was a pinch-me kind of moment. Getting on the bus to Dalyan that day, I did not expect to have the surreal feeling that I had knowing that someone walked where I was standing 2,500 years ago.

The tombs of the Lycıan on the Dalyan Rıver

The tombs of the Lycıan on the Dalyan Rıver

It was a last minute decision to visit Caunos, and my biggest regret was that we didn’t plan our trip there ahead of time so we could have had more time exploring the historical site. We were only able to spend about an hour in Caunos, so weren’t able to hike up to the Roman baths and the rest of the city that was located at the top of the hill. I made my girl Erin take a couple hundred pictures to remember the experience by, and the day ended with at least a feeling of satisfaction that we were able to stumble across a little piece of Turkey we never even knew existed.

Panorama of the amphıtheater

Panorama of the amphıtheater

 

Erın candıdly lookıng at the ruıns

Erın candıdly lookıng at the ruıns

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First weeks in Turkey!

A few months ago, I received the notification of my acceptance into the DukeEngage Turkey program, and needless to say, I was ecstatic. I would have the opportunity to travel to Turkey, develop relationships and work with a handful of other passionate Duke students, and protect loggerhead sea turtles! I attempted to contain my excitement, and constantly tried to maintain realistic expectations. Luckily, my experiences during the first couple weeks here have surpassed even the wildest of my dreams— I am allowed to have a much larger impact on loggerhead sea turtles than I originally expected. Every night, a team is sent to patrol the 4.5 kilometer Iztuzu Beach in order to locate new sea turtle nests and protect them through the installation of cages. Also, I occasionally assist faculty members during operations on deceased or ill sea turtles. I am fortunate to have such a hands-on experience and am learning new information about turtles every day.

The group of students and faculty are exceptional and make the work even more exciting. Specifically, I have become close to Ahmet, a Turkish PhD candidate working at DEKAMER. At first, Ahmet seemed pretty strict. He enforced rules so that the Duke students understood our roles in the center and did not slack off. In addition, he made sure that we had a clear understanding of our impact on the sea turtles— all of our actions directly effect the turtle population, so we must be meticulous in our work and attentive to detail. However, over the past few weeks, Ahmet has become more relaxed as we have become accustomed to our roles. And, as he opens up more, I realized that Ahmet is actually a baby at heart. He loves to engage in pranks and tickle fights. On the field, his sense of humor and love for turtles make the patrols a highlight of my time in Turkey. Furthermore, Ahmet’s work ethic is inspiring— during the loggerhead nesting season he survives with only 1 – 2 hours of sleep every night in order to care for and protect the turtles. I am moved by his dedication to the center and love working with him.

He is also very photogenic :)

Ahmet relaxing after a long night of beach patrols!

These have been a great few first weeks in Dalyan, Turkey and I can’t wait to see what is in store for the next five weeks!

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What is life?

Everyday, several times a day, I have moments where I am completely bewildered by my surroundings.  Nina and I will look at each other at 3:45 in the morning as we are basically on top of our fourth sea turtle of the night, which is coated in wet sand and smelling like rotten fish, and give each other a half pained smile. We are both thinking, “what is life?”  I’m in Turkey, living about 100 steps away from one of the world’s most beautiful beaches (Iztuzu Beach), handling/working with sea turtles everyday, and hanging out with some of the coolest kids anyone could meet.  I’m also living on the world’s strangest sleep schedule (more on this later).

View from DEKAMER.

View from DEKAMER.

We get our water by filling up 20 L (5 gallon) jugs from the public water source, which comes from an underground spring, and appears as a hole in this random wall on the side of the road. We are brought fresh food (tomatoes, these long skinny peppers, oranges, apples, snap pea looking things, LOTS of eggplant, etc.) every few days from Turkish people who grow it in the Daylan area (where we are located).  It’s the norm to shower (a rustic outdoor shower, consisting of a corrugated tin shack with a hose connected to a giant bucket full of water that is heated by the sun) once every three days, because of course swimming in the ocean counts as taking a bath.  If you wear the same outfit a few days in a row, no one blinks an eye.  The bathroom is a little bit of a walk (5 min) from where we sleep so its totally acceptable to pee in the woods.

Today, as I’m sitting here writing this blog, is the most work intensive day for Team 1, consisting of me, Nina, and Nick, now named Esra, Fatma, and Tunahan (our Turkish names that we all respond to).  Our team also goes by other names: T-rex, Team 4, Team Hunna, Team Hunna-one.  We like to change our team name every time we get in an argument…as a fresh start to life.  The other two teams are Team 2 and Team 3, but obviously, our team is the best.

Team 1, plus Connie and Ahmet. Best team.

Team 1, plus Connie and Ahmet. Best team.

Today we woke up at 8am and helped Halime prepare breakfast, which starts at 9am for all the volunteers at the center (currently there are about 17 people here).  We also take care of clean up and washing the dishes before starting our long day of tours from 10 am to 6 pm.

A pretty typical breakfast.  We have bread, olives, cheese, tomatoes, and jam everyday, along with eggs or something else.

A pretty typical breakfast. We have bread, olives, cheese, tomatoes, and jam everyday, along with eggs or something else.

During the tours we escort visitors and show them the injured Loggerhead sea turtles that are currently here (currently 8), and answer their questions to the best of our ability.  Around 6pm, we helped Halime prepare dinner, mostly by cutting up vegetables or other things, and set the table.  These are really funny times with her because she speaks little English and we speak little Turkish, so we laugh and act out things with charades and crazy body movements.  We have all learned some funny words and our Turkish conversations revolve around calling each other “crazy” or “the worst.  At 7pm we all eat dinner, then we do the dishes.

Me and a turtle.  Pretty unusual to see one nesting during the day!

Me and a turtle. Pretty unusual to see one nesting during the day!

Finally, around 9:30pm we go on night patrol, meaning we walk up and down the three-mile-long beach looking for sea turtles, tracks, or nests until about 5am the next day. I always chug about three cups of coffee first.  While on patrol, we tag and measure the turtles that we see, cage in (to protect the eggs from foxes) and record the coordinates of all the nests, and measure all the false crawls.  It sounds like a long night, and it is, but walking underneath the clear sky, where you can see millions of stars, the Milky Way, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn, and at least 10 shooting stars a night is pretty cool.

Checking to see if the nesting turtle has a tag.

Checking to see if the nesting turtle has a tag.

After patrol we all pass out, only waking up for breakfast at 9am, before sleeping again until about 1 or 2 pm.  Luckily, after night patrol we then have the rest of the day off to do whatever we want.  We often will take the bus (20 min ride through the mountains) to Dalyan.  In town we get lunch, drink Turkish coffee, or just walk around and shop.  Eventually we plan on going to the spa, getting henna, taking mud baths, renting row boats, visiting the Saturday market several more times, and hopefully traveling to other nearby cities as a group.  If we don’t go to town we will spend the day at the beach, playing volleyball, swimming, snorkeling, or just hanging out.  At night we hang out with the other team that is not on night patrol, playing cards, board games (Settlers of Catan – the only game we have that we now kinda hate), singing Disney songs, or watching movies.  It’s pretty great.  The 9 of us in the Engage program are all like one giant family at this point.  Nina even told me she would date me if I was a boy.

Me and Nina: My teammate and best bud :')

Me and Nina: My teammate and best bud :’)

Nina: at the Saturday market.

Nina: at the Saturday market.

(across) Nina, Alex, Jake, (down) Nick, Michael, and me.

(across) Nina, Alex, Jake, (down) Nick, Michael, and me.

The next day we have to wake up at 5am to go on morning patrol, meaning caging any nests from turtles that laid eggs after the night patrol team passed that section of the beach or recording any false crawls.  We also will relocate any nests that were laid too close to the water or too close to the sun beds to minimize contact with humans.  Morning patrol usually lasts about 5 hours, until 10 am.  We then come back, eat a late breakfast, and nap for a few hours before waking up to hang out with last night’s night patrol team, who now has their day off, as we also have the rest of the day off.

Michael, Alex, and Jason lookin cute at our group meal in Dalyan.

Michael, Alex, and Jason lookin cute at our group meal in Dalyan.

Unfortunately, there are few hours of the day where all 9 of us are not working and can all hang out, but once a week we all go into town for a meal together or take advantage of the time after dinner and before night patrol to play games on the beach.   Alex and Nick made up a game called S.O.S. (Stones of Steal) where we throw a rock at a soccer ball and someone has to catch it until there is only 1 person remaining (you have 3 lives).  It’s a really silly game, but I really like it.  It has all sorts of dumb rules. This game was made up after 3 days of no wifi so it’s pretty clear we were desperate for entertainment.

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Abbi: the dog we rescued. We bought her dog food. She was named after the most adorable little tourist who came to DEKAMER.

So for now, our lives rotate by this three day schedule.  Basically you work hard when you work, sleep when you can, and spend the rest of the time laughing, because our group is absolutely hilarious.  Our personalities mesh well, no one is a COMPLETE jerk 😉 and everyone pulls their own weight.  Though things are always changing around here, and new volunteers have started to come and join our group.  Two new Turkish girls just arrived a few days back and have moved into our tiny cabin (about half the size of a typical dorm room at Duke), so there are now seven of us in there.  We also share DEKAMER with two cats (both of which have given me pretty bad scratches), two kittens, lots of goats, and for a few days, a dog named Abbi that I rescued from the beach before she was taken to a shelter.  Life is really good 🙂

Helping with a sea turtle necropsy.

Helping with a sea turtle necropsy.

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Ekmek Mekmek

It’s 11 am on Monday the 30th in Turkey today, and we are just finishing up our second week at Dekamer Conservation center. Today our group is responsible for education, telling the tourists about each individual turtle at our center and the injuries that brought them into the center, but this morning has been rather slow. Halfway across the world and Mondays are still Mondays, most of the Turkish visitors are at work.

View of Iztuzu Beach,where we patrol every night:

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Without as many tourists to inform we turn to Halime, the leader of all amazing meals at Dekemar. We ask her “Yardım?” (Help), in our elementary Turkish to see if there is anything we can do to assist with our next meal, but she often is says no- she has it under control. After much prodding, eventually she will let us into the kitchen. This is where it all happens – the magic of Halime’s cooking.

Getting to eat Halime’s foods and watch her cook has been my favorite part of DukeEngage so far. She spent one of the days making Gözleme (as mentioned by Jess), zucchini and tomatoes filled Turkish “pancakes” on a large circular griddle. Another afternoon was spent making Bişi – a light fried dough that resembles a less dense donut.

Halime Making Bişi:

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A few days ago we decided to share some of our own “traditions” with our hosts. My group and I started off our day by preparing a full American breakfast with banana chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. We thought American pancakes would be particularly suitable given the delicious Turkish pancakes (Gözleme) we had been having throughout the stay. From about 10 am until noon we mixed and flipped cakes, trying to prepare a worthy meal for 15 very hungry people. It was wonderful getting complete control over the kitchen, though the experience gave us great respect for Halime. She is able to make delicious meals for our giant group in such little time every day, while we were struggling through completing just one meal. I’m so excited as the trip goes on to learn more and more about cooking, of all sorts.

Jason and I making Banana Chocolate-Chip Pancakes:

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From the Mediterranean to DEKAMER

Time really flies at DEKAMER. For the past two weeks, we have rotated between morning patrols, night patrols, and informational tours for the visitors. The tours have allowed us to truly understand our eight resident loggerhead sea turtles.13342438_10208862891952249_1865932300_n

 

Injured sea turtles are typically spotted by the coast guard or by fishermen. Injured turtles can be identified by their reluctance to dive or just by simply noticing a wound on their carapace. Once somebody identifies an injured turtle, they will typically notify the Ministry of Environment, an agency of the Turkish government. The Ministry will forward the information to DEKAMER, since it is the only major sea turtle rehabilitation center in Turkey. If the turtle is close to Dalyan, we will go pick up the turtle ourselves. Otherwise, we will meet a ministry official halfway and pick up the turtle at the halfway point.When the turtles arrive, the staff takes X-rays to find any broken bones or fishing hooks in their GI tract. They are scrubbed and cleaned with hydrogen peroxide, and then placed into their tanks.

 

Tabiat – female loggerhead with fractured skull

The turtles can arrive with a multitude of injuries. Four of the turtles had their carapaces cut by boat propellers. Treatment duration for these injuries varies depending on the size of the cut. For cuts that only slice a narrow layer of the carapace, the staff will fill the cut in with plaster to prevent any infection, and then we just have to wait for the carapace to heal. For deeper wounds that penetrate the skin, we have to allow the skin to heal before placing the plaster in the wound, so these turtles will remain in rehabilitation for a longer period of time.

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Baja – 5-10 year old loggerhead, swallowed fishing hook

 

Two turtles arrived after swallowing fishing hooks. The fishing hooks can get lodged in their throat, caught in their GI tract, or, if they are lucky, can simply pass through their system. Both of our turtles had hooks lodged in their throat. The procedure to remove hooks from the throat is quite simple. We essentially go into their mouths with really, really long pliers, dislodge the hook, and pull it out.

 

We have two turtles that have suffered some brain damage from their injuries. The first turtle, Tabiat, was entangled in a fisher’s net. The fisher decided to hit Tabiat in the head for reasons unbeknownst to us, and fractured her skull. When she arrived at the center, she had a hole in her skull about the size of a 2-euro coin. The staff covered the hole with beeswax to prevent infection, and we are now just waiting for the bone and skin to fully heal. The other turtle, Bilge, was hit in the head by a boat propeller. She suffered severe neurological damage, and has little sense of direction. She is also unable to dive. She spends most of her time swimming at the surface or unsuccessfully trying to dive to the bottom.

 

Hopefully, the time flies as quickly for these turtles as it has for us so that they can be released back into the Mediterranean soon.@Jason Dinh-0635

View from Iztuzu Beach, a 5 minute walk from DEKAMER

 

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Night Patrols 101

One of the most interesting parts of our duke engage program are the night

View from base camp

View from base camp

patrols. We get to walk up and down one of the most beautiful beaches in the world- and that’s not even the best part. On the way we track loggerhead sea turtles, gigantic reptiles that come from the sea to nest on the beach. If left unprotected, foxes and other animals would dig the eggs up from the nest and eat them. It is our job to protect them.

The task begins at 9:30 every night. We start at one end of the beach and walk along the water looking for turtle tracks. If we find tracks, we follow them to see if a nest has been laid. If it looks like one has been laid, we carefully dig to verify that there is a nest. Once the location is determined, it is reburied and a cage is constructed around it to prevent predation.

View from the beach at night

View from the beach at night

We then bury the cage and destroy the path the turtle made to get there. We mark the location and continue on. If no nest has been laid (false crawl), we still mark the location but nothing more. If the team sees a turtle on the way to nest, they hide until it has begun nesting. At this point it is all right to approach from behind. We allow the turtle to finish nesting then check to see if it is tagged. If it isn’t we will give it a new tag. Measurements are taken of the turtles length and width and then the normal caging process is performed on the nest. If the turtle is on the way back then we simply run up and do the tagging portion. The job finishes up around 4am but varies depending on the number of nests found.

The back of a Sea Turtle during nesting

The back of a sea turtle during nesting

I have really enjoyed this part of the program because we are making an immediate difference in the lives of the turtles. Loggerhead sea turtles are a species at risk and predation of nests can be extremely common. A nest usually contains around 120 eggs and we usually cage around 6 a night. Around .5% of hatchlings reach adulthood. Given this, it is cool to think that sea turtles will be swimming in the Mediterranean that wouldn’t exist without our help. I also enjoy the group bonding that occurs on these walks. Everyone looks out for one another and no one is left behind. There are so many amazing aspects to this trip and this is just one I tried to put in words. I am extremely grateful to be here and really excited for the next two months.

The top night patrol team at Dekamer, "Team hunna 1" hard at work.

The top night patrol team at Dekamer, “Team hunna 1”, hard at work.

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First Days in Turkey

Our first week in Turkey has been a crazy mix of learning Turkish words, trying new foods, meeting people, and doing everything sea turtle related. We were thrown into things as soon as we arrived at the DEKAMER center, going out at 1 AM that night to walk the beach and participate in an abbreviated night patrol. We also wandered around the center with our headlamps’ red light setting on, catching our first glimpses of the eight loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta, that the center’s visitors can see.

Our days rotate between shifts of night patrol, morning patrol, and giving tours, as well as time participating in other fun activities as they pop up.

The other day, I got to pass the couple of hours before dinnertime sitting with Halime in the kitchen, watching her make gözleme. Halime is one of the key people at the center, always energetic, happy, and ready to practice Turkish with us. As I sat with her in the kitchen, she taught me the words for onion (soğan) and squash (kabak). In return, I taught her the ingredients’ English names. Halime prepares all the food for us at the center and is an amazing cook. Gözleme has probably been our favorite meal so far. While the dish is called Turkish pancakes in English, it is really more of a large pocket of naan-like bread filled with various different ingredients. This time she filled it with slivers of squash, tomato, and onion. Each piece of gözleme was massive, spilling out over the edges of our plates on either side, but still we managed to eat at least one each (most of us more).

Halime making gözleme

Halime making gözleme

Night patrols are the most surreal experiences here. We walk about five minutes down to Iztuzu Beach, a long flat stretch cradled by tall mountains at either end. We walk along the side that touches the Mediterranean, while the other side of the beach runs up to a lake, beyond which is the town of Dalyan. We patrol the beach from about 9 PM – 4 AM, looking for turtle tracks. Between our treks out and back along the three-mile long beach, we tend to find about 15-20 tracks. Most of these are false crawls, where a turtle came out onto the beach and for whatever reason, deciding not to lay her eggs, turned around and went back to the water. However, several times a night, the peaks of the tracks end in nests – visibly seen as a body pit, a lowered section where the turtle turned around, adjacent to an area of slightly raised, kicked up dirt. Somewhere under that raised camouflage area sits the turtle’s nest. Locating these nests and protecting them is the main goal of our nightly excursions.

Iztuzu Beach

Iztuzu Beach

It feels like we have already learned so much during our first week. We are becoming more efficient on patrols, have learned some basic Turkish, and are able to give tours to visitors, sharing information about loggerhead turtles and the particular individuals being cared for at the center. I’m excited to see what the rest of our weeks bring!

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Snapshots of Turkey

While working hard with the sea turtles at DEKAMER, our group has also been immersed in the vibrant culture of Turkey. In a place where the people, animals, and environment are so closely intertwined, the past five weeks in Dalyan have held valuable lessons in every experience, from seeing how stray animals are cared for on the streets to seeing peoples faces when a sea turtle pops up for air right in front of them. The following photos are just a few snapshots of our animal encounters and cultural experiences.

Turkey CollageFrom left to right: (1) Tour boats in the city of Dalyan await visitors in front of the Lycian tombs. (2) The city center holds a Caretta caretta fountain, a testament to the sea turtles that nest just twenty minutes away. (3) The fresh fruits and vegetables at the Saturday bazaar beat the even the best American grocery store produce. (4) Turkish coffee (Türk kahvesi) is served with water, Turkish delight, and traditional cups and saucers. (5) Local farm animals such as cows and goats often find their way to Iztuzu Beach, where they can graze on the grasses that grow along the mountains and lakeside. (6) Tabiat, a female sea turtle with a skull fracture. (7) The view of the lake and sea from DEKAMER. (8) Bilge, a young female turtle with a skull fracture. (9) Umbrellas line only two small sections of the 5 km beach, leaving plenty of room in between for sea turtle nests. (10) The pools of Pamukkale, part of the Hierapolis-Pamukkale World Heritage Site. (11) The Evil Eye, a protective talisman, is featured throughout Turkey. (12) The archaeological site of Laodikeia. (13) Turtle tracks running from the lakeside toward the sea. (14) Abnormal sea turtle eggs found in a nest that had to be relocated. (15) Cats and dogs freely roam restaurants and the city streets. (16) After sleeping at the far end of the beach following a long night patrol, a 5:30 AM sunrise is our reward.

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DukeEngage and Cultural Enrichment

One important aspect of the Duke Engage program is developing a better understanding of the community in which we serve, and going into the surrounding area is a great way of doing that. By living here for an extended period of time, interacting with the locals, and taking trips into the surrounding areas, we can get a better idea of culture and history of the area.

Recently, we were able to take a trip to Pamukkale and see the National Park and Laodicea, the former of which is quite unique and interesting and the latter an important part of the number of ruins across the country. These are just a few of the many geographic and historical features in this region.

Pamukkale is Turkish for “cotton castle”, as the limestone deposits and travertines are white in color. There are also hot springs that contribute to the pools on the “castle”. It has been said that Cleopatra would wash with the water as she believed it would improve her health.

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Part of the group at Laodicea, an ancient city of religious and historical significance.

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As a result of staying for eight weeks, we can do stuff that we otherwise would not be able to do if we were just travelling through the area. A bit over a week ago, we were invited to attend part of a Turkish wedding ceremony (and went), as the couple knew Halime and Süleyman (two of our staff) through mutual friends.  Turkish weddings generally have a lot of invitees. This was rather different from a wedding back home in style and customs, and was quite an interesting experience that just shows a small part of their diverse culture.

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Even common tasks such as going into town for groceries and other items was quite interesting, as their markets and other stores are so different from ours.

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Understanding the area in and around which we serve contributes an integral part to our Duke Engage experience. Our service is and should be the main focus, but it is just as important to interact with and develop a better idea of the community, especially if our project does not directly involve much host community interaction.

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The Duke Difference

Despite a constantly changing “program,” I think we’ve all gotten pretty comfortable here. We rotate between a night patrol, an off day, helping with meals and the dishes, and education in what’s become routine. People ask us how long we’ve worked here, and we can reply with “a few weeks.” We have our spaces, our beds, and a favorite spot at the table. DEKAMER is home.

In the same vein, getting too comfortable means it’s easy to feel like you’re here, part of the DEKAMER team, and forget that you’re here because of Duke. Duke is more than just a school. It sent us 5,590 miles across the Atlantic to do good, and it opens doors to so many other amazing opportunities. I don’t think there could have been any better reminder of this than a special visit last week from a group of Duke Alumni. It’s pretty surreal to be so far from home and yet run into a group of people who share the Duke experience with us.  Of course, we gave them the tour of the center and answered questions just like we would for any other visitors, but we were also able to share stories and knowledge and prove the worth of this program.

Raising awareness for sea turtle conservation through the stories of our patients was just a piece of what I think, and what I hope, we conveyed; I think we showed them a widely diverse group of students passionate about a cause and doing something about it. What’s more, I think we proved how incredibly important Duke’s role in that is. I hope that our alumni were not only impassioned about our project, but proud of today’s Duke. It’s only with continued support that projects like ours and those happening around the world can be in place. So, I want to say thank you – to Duke, and to our alumni, for helping us to be here with DEKAMER and sharing this experience with us. This place has a huge impact and I’m glad I get to be a part of it.

Here’s to future years of DukeEngage Turkey, and many more pictures like these showing just how far-reaching the “Duke difference” is.

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