JINHA

AMED – The Hevser Gardens, which have a charming nature with its beauty and fertility, give thousands of tons of products to the region. The women, who work in tandem with soil in the Hevser, live with the peace of soil.

Hevsel Gardens, are the seven hundred hectares fertile lands near Tigris shore, between the Diyarbakır Fortress and the river. The gardens added to UNESCO tentative list in 2013.It became a World Heritage Site in 2015, along with Diyarbakır Fortress. The gardens produce tons of vegetables and fruits for the region. The women, who work in the gardens as workers or the female owners of the lands, say they become one with the lands.

Gülşah Çelikbilek has worked in the Hevser Garden for 10 years and she has been responsible with production and works in the gardens for five years. Gülşah stated she was like sister with women. She said, “We don’t have a relationship like employee-owner. I will work here until I die. I love Hevser. It is like my home and I cannot leave these lands.”

Gülşah is collecting lettuce in the gardens now. She also knows all women, who work in the gardens. Gülşah said they woke up at 5 a.m. and continued to work by the end of the day (the hours can be changed due to their works). Gülşah also said, “We joke with one another when we work. We sing songs because the lands give us energy.”

Women gather and sign songs when they finish their work and they live a communal life.

Gülşah told us where the vegetables and fruits collected by them are sent; “We put the vegetables and fruits in the transfer vehicles and these vehicles take them to wholesale market halls in Mardin, Van, Dersim, Elazığ, Batman, Malatya and Diyarbakır. We begin to collect the products when the vehicles take the other products to the cities. The vegetables and fruits collected by us are delivered to all homes and knowing that makes us happy.”

50-year-old Havva Gezici also works in the gardens. She said she passed almost all of her life on those lands. Havva said, “I don’t see myself as a worker here. I come here to work with my three daughters. We are getting tired but we are also happy. There is a peaceful atmosphere here.”

(md/gc/gd)