...MY FRIEND!
Perihan is grateful every day for her long-time friend Resvan At 83, Resvan Sills should be putting her feet up and letting someone else start taking care of her. But there’s simply no stopping the retired community support worker. “Life is too boring when you slow down,” says Resvan from her home on Sydney’s lower North Shore.
Resvan’s nonstop approach to helping others is what prompted her friend for more than 25 years Perihan Bozkurt to nominate her. “She’s a real trouper,” says Perihan, 47.
“Resvan has helped so many people. She really does go all out for other people. She’s a local hero.”
She felt Resvan deserved thanks not just for her decades of social work and volunteering but her day-to-day support of friends and the community. “She’s always very kind and supportive, and she’s not judgemental,” says Perihan. “She’s the first person I call with a problem.”
The pair met in 1995 when they were both working as welfare officers at The Smith Family and hit it off straight away. With neither of them having much family in Australia, they “adopted” each other and their friendship has continued to grow over the years. “She always makes me feel welcome and I feel comfortable in her presence” Perihan smiles.
Resvan says, “I’m quite shy and quite private and when I heard that I’d won, I thought, “Perihan, what have you done... it’s a wonderful compliment!”