Seasonal Migrant Workers Youth Program Successfully Completed!

TPF Grantee Dr. Zeynep Simsek's project "Seasonal Migrant Workers Youth Program" supported through the Sabanci Foundation Grant Program of the UN Joint Program to Promote and Protect Human Rights of Women and Girls has recently been completed. The purpose of the project was to reduce social exclusion of seasonal migrant workers from the rest of society through the training of 25 peer leaders in a five-day workshop. The participants in the training were then asked to relay the information they have learned to at least 25 other peers in their communities so as to create a multiplier effect.

The project was successfully completed and here are some remarks the participants had to say about the program and how it impacted their lives:

"In the morning when I saw the bus that would take us to the training my excitement doubled. I had never entered into a university before. The trainers met us, some of the students were looking around in awe. I asked myself, "What am I doing here?" When I met the trainers, my shyness and anxiety went away with their attention and interaction with us. They gave us so much value that I was beginning to see myself valued as well. Until now I had been a shy person. After this training I have become more sociable. Today is the last day, everything will be different from now on."

"This training has increased my self-confidence. We learned side by side the things men and women need to know. The boys and girls, we got along so well. We spoke about the things we couldn't even tell our doctors. We learned."

"If I had known studying would be this beneficial for me, I would have never dropped out of school. It is never too late to turn back."

"I didn’t know half the things we learned in this training, now I know. 25 people means 25 generations."

"When we first came on the first day all the boys and girls sat apart from each other like we were enemies. How could I have known that mixing up with them would have been a good feeling. Living together like brother and sister is a great thing."

"We didn't get training in this program, we became a family and learned about respect, love and brotherhood. How did all of this happen in five days? On the first day I didn't know anything and I was afraid to speak or hear but now I am telling others. My friends started telling me "Songul, where did you learn all these things! Oh my god!" and I replied "I learned and taught you, now you tell others: for you to be healthy, your environment must be healthy". These days were my best days ever."

"The biggest problem of Sanliurfa is family planning. No one knows about it. My sister has 5 children, all girls. She gets pregnant before she stops breast feeding the newborn so that she can have a boy. It's all ignorance. I wish everyone could go through this kind of training. I understand girls better now."

"We asked my father, why did you have so many children. He said from ignorance, we didn't know what to do and we were embarrassed to ask or talk about it."

"This empty sheet is filled with thousands of girls’ cries for help. When you gave it to me it was clean, and I was sick of everything in life, including myself. When I was little, I wanted to become a teacher but because I was a girl, they allowed only my brother to go to school but he dropped out. I don't want my life to be like my mother's. I expressed my cries for help here, until this day I never told anyone these things before."

"Now I say no to male-female inequality. Man and woman are both humans."

"We learned about our rights in this training. We learned what a man is, what a woman is.We learned enough information to last us a lifetime. I wish the program was not just 5 days but 1 month."

"She was one of the unfortunate women of Southeastern Turkey. In that region, loving someone, running away from home and not listening to your family means death. The things that we live are all ignorance. But we will overcome this ignorance with the help of people like you. The solution is for the tribal system to be gotten rid of. Its not too late for anything."

Read more about the project here.

Scholarship Program with Toplum Gonulluleri Vakfi (TOG)

TPF's Scholarship Program with Toplum Gonullueri Vakfi (TOG) was all about giving back and a need to level the playing field.


Nick Porcaro's speech inspired guests and showed that "everyone can be a philanthropist." Nick said:

"Through a friend I met Ibrahim Betil who had built the ENKA School in Adapazari and who offered to introduce me to the Sakarya Governor. After that fateful visit Caykisla never left my focus. However, completion of the funding was still the issue and it was not progressing as planned. I started to think that we should put this project on the shelf until the economic crisis passes or we should aim at a lesser target. Certainly 2008 - 2009 were not the best years to be seeking funds to build a school. But the sparkle my wife Ayse and I saw in the eyes of the children of Caykisla during that visit in July 2008 would not let go nor would the thought of these children spending another ten years in their expired temporary school structure. We needed to make it happen."

Nick & Ayse Porcaro's dedication and commitment show that "DAMLAYA DAMLAYA GOL OLUR." That is the way Caykisla got built. From the student who could only donate $5, a company who gave $130,000 and from all the drops and the cups and the pales in between, slowly a realization happened. And, as of February 8, 2010 first classes took place at the new CAYKISLA School.

Yusuf Guvenc and Burcu Haylaz from Toplum Gonulluleri Vakfi (TOG) showed us all how we must teach the younger generations by word and deed. Rhetoric will not make the changes happen. And, that we must lead by example. Their examples show us that TOG Scholarships have been making a difference in the lives of young people. Watch what scholarship recipients have to say about their experiences.

Caykisla Okulyap Project Completed!

Good News From Caykisla! The Porcaro Education Fund's Okulyap Project has been completed and accepted by the Turkish Ministry of Education. The children of Caykisla, Adapazari will welcome the new semester in February in their new school. The official dedication for the school is expected to take place in May 17, 2010.

Nick and Ayse Porcaro and Asli and Nesli Basgoz, the pioneers of the project, thank all donors for their involvement and commitment to the project.

For latest news and pictures on the school, please visit www.okulyap.org.

TPF First Annual Report

It is our pleasure to share our first Annual Report, covering the period July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009.

Touching Lives

“Çalışmak çok güzeldi. Sorumluluk duygusu... Beğenilmek...”

1978’de ikiz olarak dünyaya geldim. Çiftçi aynı zamanda esnaf bir babanın çocuğuyum. 11 kardeştik. Çok mutlu bir çocukluğum olmadı. Ortaokul çok uzaktı, bu nedenle ilkokuldan sonrasını okuyamadım. 4 ablam da hiç okula gitmedi. Dayımın oğlu askerdeyken beni istediler. Aile arasında nişan yaptık. Nişan yüzüğünü takıp ona telefon açıp “biz nişanlandık” dedim. 17 yaşında kendimi evlenmiş buldum. İnsan küçükken evlenmemeli. Evlendikten sonra evliliğin ne olduğunu fark ettim. İnsan küçükken evlenince çok eziliyor. Bir keresinde, köyde ekmek pişirdiğimiz soba evin dışındaydı, ekmeği pişirdim ama çok bekletmişim yaktım. Bir şey diyecekler diye çok korktum. Ekmeği tarlaya attım. Sonra kaynatam gördü ekmeği, kızmadılar ama insan korkuyor küçük olunca.

Çok anlayışlı bir kişiyle evlendim. Hep beni korurdu. Mesela İstanbul’da yaşadığımız zamanlarda arkadaşları yemeğe gelirdi. Ben köyde büyüdüğüm için şehir yemeklerini bilmezdim. Yemekleri eşim yapardı ama ne onu ne beni küçümsemesinler diye benim yaptığımı söylerdik. Birbirimize karşı çok anlayışlıydık. İki çocuğum oldu. Hayal edemeyeceğiniz kadar güzel bir evlilik yaşıyordum. 17 Ağustos depremine kadar. Depremden sonra eşim iflas etti. Yeni işlere girmeyi denedi ama bir türlü eskisi gibi olamadı. Sonra ailesi bize destek olabileceklerini söyleyerek bizi memlekete çağırdılar. Bir süre sonra Trabzon’a döndük ve burada yaşamaya başladık.

Bir gün göğsümde bir şey hissettim. Doktora gittim tahlil yapıp eve yolladılar. Beni gören ağlıyordu. Oruç tutma sen dediler bana. Ne olduğunu anlamadım ama kocam yüzüme bakamıyordu üzüntüden. Sonra görümcem kanser olduğumu söyledi. O zaman 26 yaşımdaydım. Hemen ameliyat edilmem gerekiyordu ama yeşil kartım da yoktu. Paramız da… İnsanlardan aldığımız ramazan fitreleriyle ameliyat oldum. Ameliyat sonrasında gördüğüm tedavilerle iyileştim.

Kriz yüzünden eşimin işleri kötüye gitti. Trabzon’da çalıştığı dükkânı kapattıktan sonra 6 ay işsiz kaldı. O süreçte Sabancı Vakfı Hibe Programı kapsamında Türk Filantropi Fonu tarafından desteklenen ‘Kaşık Tutan Elden Para Tutan Ele Projesi’ aşçılık kursundan haberdar oldum. Önce insanlar laf etti, “sen yemek yapmayı bilmiyor musun, ne işin var o kursta” diye. Ama kurs sonunda iş vereceklerini söylediler. Eğer işin yoksa bekliyorsun ki birisi para versin de çocuklara bir şeyler alabil! Kocam da başta gitmemi istemedi ama yine de gittim.

Kursa başladığımda yazmakta zorluk çektim. İlkokula kadar okumuştum. Gittiğim okulda 1. 2. ve 3. sınıflar hep bir sınıfta okurduk. O yüzden okumam yazmam çok iyi değildir. Zor olduğu için kurstan çıkmak istedim. Bu sefer de kocam istemedi. “Madem başladın devam et” diye beni cesaretlendirdi.
Ben de sonuna kadar devam ettim. Kursta her şey çok güzeldi. İyi ki girmişim. Ortam çok farklıydı. İnsanlar da farklıydı. Herkes neşeliydi. Hep güldük. Komşuların farklı bakışları oluyor, herkes dedikodu yapıyor, insanı küçümsüyorlar fakat kurstakiler başkaydı. Gerçek bir paylaşım ve mutluluk vardı. Kurs bitince bir otelde staja gittim. Şimdi bir sertifikam var. O sertifikadan sonra bir de köfte sertifikası aldım.

Kurs bittikten sonra Tülay Hanım bana iş buldu. Bir lokantada çalışmaya başladım. O zaman da ailede büyük baskı oldu. Saniye çalışamaz diye. Ama bunu diyenin kendi kızlarının hepsi çalışıyor. Hemşire, mimar olarak ama benim çalışmamı namus meselesi yaptı. Eşim çalıştığım yeri gelip görmedi bile. Güveniyor bana.

Çalışmak çok güzeldi. Sabah kalkıp o sorumluluğu almak çok farklı bir duygu. Yaptığın yemeklerin beğenilmesi, onlara bir şeyler veriyorsun ve o insanlar seni beğeniyorlar. Bu çok güzel bir duygu. En çok kursta öğrendiğim Meksika salatası beğenildi. Evde de bir sorumluluk var ama bu başka. Eğer o kursa gitmemiş olsaydım bu duyguyu hiç bilmeyecektim. Pek çok hocayı, arkadaşımı tanıyamayacaktım.

Eşitlik bence herkesin istediği gibi davranabilmesi, toplum baskısı hissetmeden istediğini yapmasıdır. İnsan istediğini yapamıyor ki. Mesela ablam bizle aynı köyde oturuyor ama ablama gitmeme ya da kalmama izin vermiyor kaynatam. Kadın erkek eşit olmalı. Kadın isterse her şeyi yapabiliyor. Hatta bazen erkekten daha zeki bile oluyor. Kadın erkek eşitsizliği kadının hayatını engelliyor, herkes kadınların sahibiymiş gibi davranıyor.

Saniye Civan, "Kasik Tutan Elden Para Tutan Ele" Program participant

Read more about "Kasik Tutan Elden Para Tutan Ele" Program


* The interview is edited into a story by Inanc Misirlioglu, Program Coordinator at Sabanci Foundation. The story is published in a book with stories from other projects by Sabanci Foundation.

An Estate Gift Becomes A Scholarship for A Medical Student

TPF Chairman Haldun Tashman, Scholarship Recipient Onur Can, and TOG Scholarship Coordinator Gozde Duranay

Onur Can is the first recipient of a scholarship named in memory of the late Dr. Sevket Turgut Nese at his alma mater, Istanbul University Cerrahpasa School of Medicine.

Dr. Nese has lived most of his life in the United States but wanted to give back to his homeland, Turkey. To honor this generous gentleman's memory for decades to come, TPF partnered with Toplum Gönüllüleri Vakfi (TOG) to start a scholarship fund under his name.

Onur Can graduated at the top of his class from Samsun Atatürk Anadolu Lisesi. Given his family's limited financial means he was unsure if he would be able to continue his education. But, Onur believes that people make their own destiny. So, when he learned about a scholarship program at TOG supported by TPF, he applied right away. He was selected out of a pool of 4000 applications! Onur Can says his inspiration is Dr. Mehmet Oz and he wishes to live up to his standards one day. “I will work hard to turn my dreams into reality. And, I know I will make things happen.”

TOG provides scholarships to support promising students who are in need and are committing to participate in social responsibility projects. This year, Onur is one of the 518 university students receiving scholarship funds of 200TL/month to assist with living expenses.

For more information on how to contribute to a scholarship fund, click here.

Adopt-a-Project Program

TPF's new website offers new tools and benefits. You can now search and browse for your own project; personalize your project page with photos, videos, and blog posts; send emails directly to friends and family; post status updates and messages on Facebook and Twitter; and much more. Read more.