‘Extraordinary reader’ turns village into ecotourism hub
Ece Çelik - BİLECİK
The northwestern province of Bilecik’s Kurşunlu village welcomes 500 tourists a month, thanks to ecotourism that started in 2012 under the leadership of Bedriye Berber Engin, who was awarded the title of “extraordinary reader” by the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
She started to think about ecotourism, which she learned from books, and she turned Kurşunlu into an “ecovillage” with the participation of the women in the village, she says.
The village became the focal point of nature lovers with its natural beauties, and it became a frequent destination for local and foreign tourists.
Entertainment such as dough rolling workshops, fruit picking activities, walking tours and henna nights are organized for visitors.
After deciding to bring the ecotourism she learned from the books to the village, she invited experts, she said. “They did fieldwork and said the village could fit into ecotourism both in terms of beauty and cleanliness.”
“I introduced our village in the television programs I participated as a ‘reader.’ Then we opened a website to sell the products we produce. Then we set up a tent camp, consisting of 12 tents, which hosted the first group of 27 people.”
“We chat with the guests staying in our houses and talk about the village’s culture,” Engin said.
The village hosts an average of 500 guests per month, she added.
Engin was also named as the “adult who reads the most books” by the governor’s office as she has read hundreds of books so far.
“In the past, the teachers in the village got tired of me as I used to want books from them all the time,” she said.
“After I had three children, they became members of the municipality’s library. This made it easier for me to find a book. I was telling them the book I wanted, my children were bringing it to me.”
