A PENRHYNDEUDRAETH woman, who adopted an orphaned baby boy from Turkey, has launched an appeal to help create special hampers for refugees who have moved into the county.

After years of trying for her own baby, Carren Lewis and her husband, Vahap, adopted their son, Bedri, from a children’s orphanage in Turkey 10 years ago.

Carren was living in Turkey at the time after heading out there to work for a holiday company when she was 27 years old.

At the time she was married to a Turkish man and, after several attempts to conceive through IVF with no success it began to put a strain on their marriage, she said.

She said: “We wanted children over the years but it never happened.”

Carren decided to head to Diyarbakir, a part of Turkey into which she had never ventured before, which lies on the south-east of the country on the border of Syria, an area where there is extreme poverty and many children living on the streets.

This led to her heading to an orphanage in Diyarbakir where she found Bedri, who was only five months old at the time.

Carren said: “When my mum, husband and I visited the orphanage some months later, one of the carers at the orphanage placed Bedri, who at the time was named Muhammed, in my mum’s arms and they said he was the happiest, sweetest, baby there.

“He was covered in chicken pox spots, had a gunky green nose, both eyes crossed but when we looked at him he smiled the most beautiful smile and our hearts melted and the connection was instant!”

Sadly Carren and her husband later separated and when Bedri was five years old they returned to Wales.

“I wanted to come back to Wales and I wanted Bedri to be brought up in a Welsh community with the family around us, a family that loved him,” she said.

Bedri is now considered as one of the ‘Penrhyn boys’ and will be joining Ysgol Uwchradd Ardudwy next year.

The proud mother says he calls himself a ‘Welsh Turk’ and takes an interest in his homeland.

“As he grows up he will start asking me questions so I want to prepare him for that, I want him to know his special story, it’s important.”

The mother and son are now hoping the community will help them fill three hampers to provide as gifts to the three refugee families which have moved into the area of north Gwynedd this year.

If you would like to contribute to the gift hampers you can contact Carren on [email protected]