Nun Hatune Doğan (51), who immigrated to Germany with her family at the age of 15 from the Midyat district of Mardin, received awards from many institutions, including the United Nations (UN) for her 22 books she wrote and the charity activities she carried out, returned to her hometown of İzbırak.
The Doğan family, living in the İzbırak village of the Midyat district, joined the caravan of migration to European countries that started in the region in 1985. The couple, İsa and Nisane Doğan, went to Germany with their 10 children, including 6 girls, 4 boys, by locking the door of their house in the village. Hatune Doğan, the 14-year-old daughter of the Doğan family who started to live here, grew up with a longing for the motherland. Hatune Doğan, who learned 12 more languages besides Turkish and Syriac in time, became a nun, traveled to more than 40 countries with her humanitarian aid activities, extended a helping hand to the poor, the sick, the homeless, students and orphans, has 22 books she wrote in Syriac and German. Doğan received awards from many institutions, including the UN, for his humanitarian aid activities and the books he wrote.
Doğan decided to return to the village after his father said, “I wish I could see their empty villages as full as before” before he passed away at the age of 78. While Sister Doğan was repairing and restoring their old houses in the village, she also built a new house. Doğan also broke new ground and had a swimming pool built for children and young people who would come to the village with their families from Europe. A borehole was dug to fill the pool with water. Seeing that Doğan was returning to the village and repairing her house, 13 more Assyrian families built new houses in the village. Doğan said that she has now started preparations to open various courses for Syriac girls in the surrounding villages and to develop their professional skills.
“Old Life Will Come Back”
After repairing and restoring the old houses in the village where she returned after 36 years, the nun built a swimming pool for the children who will come to the village from Europe with their families, and plans to open various courses for the youth.
Seeing that Sister Doğan returned to the village and repaired her house, 13 Assyrian families also built new houses in the village. The nun said, “I am the first to return to the village. This is our old house. I was born here. I renovated the house, I extracted groundwater. I built a pool for the young people to love the village and come. We love our homeland. Our grandfathers, our people died here, they shed their blood here. These fields were always made by their hands. They prepared it for us. We want to return. This is our homeland” she said. (DHA)
