March 23, 2022

“I have been working as a blacksmith for 52 years. I began when I was 10 and I am still working. I started in 1969. For 9 years I worked under the supervision of my employer. In 1978, I opened my own factory. In those years, people engaged their children in such works. When we moved from the village to the city, my father brought me to a blacksmith. His name was Ismail. My father handed me over to him and said ‘my son is entrusted to God and entrusted to you’. May God be pleased with him, he loved me very much and taught me blacksmithing. Our work used to be very difficult but the money was good. Our workload decreased by 90 percent after technology advanced and the machines came out. I make axes and billhooks. Mainly villagers around the city are purchasing them. The most important thing of the job is putting the iron in water. Each blacksmith has their own way, some use oil and some use water. I use water. If you don’t use water then it is not iron. Each iron goes into the fire 11 times and then we make axes and billhooks. We had 4 employees but due to the economic situation we are now 3 people. That’s