A Valentine from Van

By Servet Harunoğlu
Hisar Anadolu Destek Derneği

I was in Van for 3 days last week and returned back on Saturday. The situation in Van is worse than I expected. I did not realize that the problem was so large. Most of the buildings in the city are damaged and they are waiting for demolition. The people have either left Van or they are living in tents. The temperature was -6 degrees last week. The government has put up container villages, but the people prefer to live in make shift tents near their homes.

Make shift tents

The people had been through a trauma which will last sometime for them to get over. I think the good weather in the spring will raise their morale and they will start returning to their normal lives.

Enver Bey has setup office in one of the containers that we have sent and he is organizing the relief efforts. He has formed groups of four girls in each ghetto that we work. These girls locate the families that needs support, make a list of what they need and report to Enver Bey. Next day the help is sent to the families. The number of families that are receiving help from us has reached 350. All the people that I have met asked me to relay their thanks to all the good people that are helping them.

Helping a family of 7 whose tent was burned the day before.

We have started work in two of our workshops. The other three are damaged and the girls are reluctant to go in them. The girls in operating workshops are very happy to attend a workshop where they socialize in a warm environment, have decent lunch and make some money. We are trying to set up two prefabricated workshops instead of the ones that are damaged. We hope to have them up and running in March. The Governor of Van has congratulated us for organizing the operation of two workshops, and indicated that such success stories are necessary for uplifting of morale in the city.

In the Haci Bekir atelier

It is cold in Van.

We feel that we have and are helping these people and we could not have done this without the help of our friends.

On behalf of all the families and the girls in Van that we work with we wish to thank Turkish Philanthropy Funds for all they have done and hope that their support continues.

Fighting for Gender Equality: TPF’s Twitter Chat

By Elmira Bayrasli

Engaging men, focusing on childcare options and educating women were some of the suggestions made during our Twitter chat on empowering Turkish girls and closing Turkey’s gender gap. The chat kicked off Turkish Philanthropy Funds’s month-long campaign on empowering teen girls.

Istanbul-based journalist Claire Berlinski participated and, subsequently, had questions about the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap report, released last week, that ranks Turkey 122 out of 183 countries on its Gender Gap index. While that is a startling number, Berlinski noted that she’d

“like to see the data broken down a lot more. Turkey is a big country. What’s happening in Istanbul may have nothing to do with what’s happening in Diyarbakir; within Istanbul alone, Nisantasi (an upscale, wealthy neighborhood) and Sultanbeyli (a poor neighborhood) may as well be different planets.”

Rural Anatolia was a point that Turkish journalist Ahu Ozyurt brought up. She noted: “Girls have to take care of their siblings and help their mothers in rural Turkey. Families rarely afford to send all to school”.

She added that there is also the intense focus about “protecting the morality of the girl,” highlighting the cultural challenges that prevent Turkish girls from fulfilling their talent and potential.

That was something I highlighted in this Turkish Daily News column. My grandmother was illiterate because her parents didn’t see the utility of a girl knowing how to read or write – beyond “writing boys love letters.”

Many agreed that overcoming cultural stereotypes would require increased education. While there is near-universal enrolment of girls in primary school, the numbers start to slide in secondary school and drop further when it comes to higher education. Creating incentives and conditions for girls to stay in school is key.

Another suggestion made by Derya Kaya was to support more female entrepreneur and encourage more Turkish women to engage in start-ups and small business. As a fierce entrepreneurship junkie, I agree.

I also agreed with the points about engaging men into finding a solution to closing the Turkish gender gap. The empowerment of women cannot happen on its own. Men have an equal and important role to play to lift women up in Turkey. Many I know are eager to get engaged. We must hold them up as role models and include them in our fight for gender equality.

It is a fight that we’ll continue here at Turkish Philanthropy Funds for the next several weeks. Follow us on Facebook where we have a contest that will grant $10,000 to a Turkish organization supporting a girls’ empowerment project.

Turkish Girl Power

By Elmira Bayrasli

Turkey may be a rising economic star and emerging leader in the Middle East, but it still has long to go to close the gap on gender equality.

Released this week as the World Economic Forum convenes, the global network reports in its annual Gender Gap report that Turkey, the 16^th largest economy in the world, is 121 out of 135 countries when it comes to male-female disparity. That’s a problem. Problem is that it can’t just stay a problem.

Turkish Philanthropy Funds has been doing a lot to bridge the gap between Turkish men and women. Working with partners such as ACEV (The Mother and Child Education Foundation) and Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi, we’ve been putting girls to school and helping illiterate women learn to read.

Putting girls to school is especially important – and not because the UN Millennium Development Goals says so. Educating girls raises living standards and contributes to a country’s growth. It increases security and democracy. It improves their health (and that of their families) and saves lives. According to Women Deliver, “every year of education delays a girls’ marriage. Girls with secondary schooling are up to six times less likely to be married as children than girls with little or no education.”

Secondary education for girls does so much more than just delay marriage. It improves the lives of the children that they do eventually bare. “Each additional year of schooling for girls reduces infant mortality for their offspring by up to 10%.” These women provide better health care for their children. The children of women that have attended secondary education are more likely to attend secondary school as well and even go onto college. It is a positive cycle of progress that has proven to move communities forward.

But girls drop out of secondary school for a number of reasons:

Expenses: With tuition costs, school uniforms, supplies and books, poor families have to choose which child continues on in school. The child they select is most often a boy.

Puberty: As women start to go through puberty, finding separate facilities for them, or sanitary napkins is a challenge.

Culture: As a girl matures, there is the duel pressure of her to appear chaste and marry.

In Turkey, the number of girls enrolled in secondary school has been on the decrease. According to the World Bank, from 73.29 in 2008 to 71.28 in 2009. That is not a positive trend.

For the next 10 days, TPF will talk about how to improve the enrollment of girls in secondary school as well as empowering adolescent Turkish girls to realize their potential. We’re launching a Twitter campaign under the #gendergap hashtag that will donate $1 for every tweet or RT on empowering girls, up to $10,000. We’ll donate that $10,000 to programs or program supporting young teen girls in Turkey.

On January 31 at 2PM EST/9PM IST we’re hosting a Twitter chat on this topic.

Here is how you can participate:

1) RT @tphilanthropy whenever you see the hashtag #gendergap

2) Provide us information about resources on empowering young girls by using the hashtag #gendergap

3) Point us to an expert working on empowering young girls by using the hashtag #gendergap

Social Entrepreneurship on the Rise in Turkey

By Zeynep Meydanoglu and Matthias Scheffelmeier

The last decade has seen the rise of Turkey as a regional and global leader with a dynamic and strong economy. At the same time, Turkey has also been facing critical development and democratization goals with poor track records in human rights, women’s empowerment, its treatment of its minorities and journalists.

Can social entrepreneurship - with its potential to identify the right points of intervention – be just what Turkey needs to become a country where everyone can contribute to social change?

This was the question on the minds of everyone last month when prominent members of the American-Turkish diaspora – business leaders, students, academicians, lawyers, doctors and artists - gathered for a roundtable discussion on the future and potential of social entrepreneurship in Turkey. Contributions of Turkey’s leading social entrepreneurs, Ashoka founder Bill Drayton and Ashoka Fellows Ibrahim Betil and Nasuh Mahruki, declared the answer to be “yes”.

Ibrahim Betil, trained as an industrialist and banker, presented a prime example of how a country like Turkey can leverage its growing capacity in the business and social sectors: invest in its young population. This is what Ibrahim did ten years ago. In 2001, he turned his attention to putting in place opportunities for young adults to contribute to positive social action through their own initiative. He founded TOG- Community Volunteers Foundation of Turkey a leading youth organization touching the lives of thousands of youth in 90 universities across the country.

Nasuh Mahruki, an author, photographer and the first Turk to climb Mount Everest presented AKUT- Search and Rescue Association Turkey’s leading search and rescue organization. AKUT has not only saved countless lives but also has become a symbol promoting volunteerism, leadership, and civic initiative in the country. “We push our volunteers toward the deep realization that ordinary people can and must take ownership of their safety in crisis situations” says Nasuh “and by focusing on safety, an issue that is critical to men and women of all backgrounds, we make a broad change in public conceptions about the roles and responsibilities of citizenship”.

Bill Drayton highlighted that the emergence of these leaders in societies was no coincidence. “By 1980, there was a new generation coming up that was tired of the inefficiencies of the older order," Drayton says. “We could see that the historical moment had come for transformation.” It was a point that was repeated by Ibrahim and Nasuh. They emphasized the importance of social entrepreneurs in encouraging others to become engaged citizens and changemakers. "Each social entrepreneur is a role model. His or her success will encourage many others to stand up, care and organize," remarked Bill Drayton. As 2012 gets underway, it’s a good message to go into the new year with. Let’s get to work.

Van Earthquake Relief Fund Update #3

Happy 2012! Like most people, we at TPF, have been thinking a lot about not only the year ahead, but the year past. For those in Van, Turkey, it was a hard one. The devastating earthquake that struck the Southeastern Turkish city left several hundred dead and thousands homeless. With temperatures below freezing that has become a pressing crisis. TPF is responding.

In just a short time, TPF has raised over $300,000 to help with the city’s relief and rebuilding efforts. TPF’s team held direct meetings with key organizations in Turkey in November 2011 to identify projects that will respond to immediate needs as well as have longer-term impact. Our selection criteria have been, implementation capability, efficiency, financial strength and transparency. Van Earthquake Relief Fund recipients are as follows:

GRANTS DISBURSED
KIZILAY (Turkiye Kizilay Dernegi - Turkish Red Crescent Society) Teams wasted no time in responding to the earthquake. They were on the scene within 2 hours after the first rumbles. The relief items have been deployed from the logistics centers of KIZILAY spread all over Turkey. One hundred one KIZILAY staff and dozens of KIZILAY Volunteers are still working in the disaster area in order to meet the needs of the victims. With support from TPF, KIZILAY provided 15 container houses, with running water, bath, electricity, cooking facility, etc. to the victims. With additional funds coming in earmarked for KIZILAY, we will send a second grant to the organization in the coming days.
Grant Amount: $91,500

HADD (Hisar Anadolu Destekleme Dernegi - Hisar Anatolian Support Society) aims to educate young women of displaced families in Eastern Turkey. HADD activities to date have been focused mainly in the city of Van. The organization runs multiple kilim weaving workshops in Van, two of which were destroyed in the October earthquake. TPF’s assistance will help HADD build a prefabricated workshop to replace the damaged ones.
Grant Amount: $20,000

VAKAD (Van Kadin Dernegi -Van Women's Association) was established in 2004 to address the intersections of gender-‎based violence and women's economic independence in Eastern Turkey. It provides ‎women, primarily survivors of violence and displaced women, with legal and ‎psychological support as well as trainings on women's human rights and health. The organization was one of the first respondents to the earthquake providing food, tents, clothing to the victims. VAKAD continues to respond to basic needs especially of the most vulnerable populations such as disabled and elderly. TPF support provided emergency relief supplies for the victims.
Grant Amount: $12,000

GRANTS APPROVED
KEDV (Kadin Emegini Degerlendirme Vakfi - Foundation for the Support of Women's Work) aims to improve women’s’ economic well-being and quality of life. KEDV has gained vast experience in post disaster efforts during the Marmara Earthquake in 1999. Right after its active involvement in relief efforts, KEDV opened eight Women and Children’s Centers in prefabricated settlements in the disaster region. These centers are still functioning as local grassroots women organizations. TPF will support the establishment of a prefabricated Women and Children Center in Van to provide women and children with a safe, collective space to help them get over the earthquake trauma, and to support women's leadership to recreate their own lives, homes and communities. Grant Amount: $25,000

CYDD (Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi - Association For The Support Of Contemporary Living) aims to contribute to the formation of a contemporary society in Turkey through education. CYDD provides scholarships to students in Van and has been assisting Yuzuncu Yil University to start the Spring 2012 term on time. With support from TPF, CYDD will build a prefabricated building for educational activities on the campus of Van Yuzuncu Yil University. The urgency of the need was a critical factor in TPF’s determination. The buildings will be finished by March 1, 2012 to be ready for the Spring semester.
Grant Amount: $50,000

PROJECTS PENDING APPROVAL
AKUT Search and Rescue Association (AKUT Arama Kurtarma Dernegi), initially designed for mountaineering search and rescue, became well known for its rapid, organized response to the Marmara quake in 1999, an effort that saved hundreds of lives and showed that AKUT's disciplined approach to citizen volunteering was effective across a broad range of terrains. AKUT's response to the October 2011 Van earthquake has also been remarkable. TPF will help AKUT to purchase equipment that are used during search and rescue efforts.

ACEV (Anne Cocuk Egitim Vakfi - Mother Child Education Foundation) serves communities in need with carefully designed early childhood and adult education programs in Turkey. The organization not only provides an alternative education model to those who do not have access to formal education but also supports existing preschool activities, and develops programs that strengthen the relationship between school and family. ACEV was one of the first organizations out-of-town that responded to the earthquake in Van. TPF support will contribute to ACEV’s efforts in building a Family Rehabilitation Center. The goal is to provide long-term solution to the needs of the families in Van.

We would like to recognize GlobalGiving, The American Turkish Society, Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, Assembly of Turkish-American Association, Bridges of Hope Project, Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce, Turkish-American Business Forum, Turkish American Cultural Association of Michigan, Turkish-American Association of Arizona, Turkish-American Association of California, Turkish-American Cultural Association of Washington, American Turkish Association Houston, Turkish American Student Association, Turkish American Association of Minnesota, Turkish-American Ladies League, Association of Turkish- Americans of Southern California, Turkish Cultural Association in State University of New York, Binghamton, North Florida Turkish-American Cultural Association and all the more than 500 individuals, who have donated from $2 to $22,000, for supporting TPF's Van Earthquake Relief Fund.

“Happy New Year” shouldn’t just be something uttered at the stroke of midnight at the end of December. It should be something to strive for the next 365 days. Through our project partners, we have seen glimmers of change in Van. When we look to the future we can imagine the glimmers growing brighter. For our part, the TPF team will do everything to disburse the Van Earthquake Relief Fund to make the most impact in the region. That will go towards our efforts to make it a truly happy new year.

Overview of and Approaches to Teachers’ In-Service Trainings

By Kayhan Karli

Turkey has a long-standing tradition of educating teachers. However, it is not possible to say the same thing about their professional development, which has not been a priority in Turkey. Teacher training is defined in two major areas: pre-service training and in-service professional development for teachers. Regarded as a professional occupation, teaching requires a special training. Teacher training system is provided in three dimensions - field knowledge, professional knowledge for teachers, general knowledge - requires a well-planned and programmed educational process. Pre-service teachers or candidates (trainee teachers) receive education at Universities regulated by Higher Education Commission (YÖK) in cooperation with Ministry of National Education (MONE). In-service teacher training or professional development for teachers is regulated and directed by MONE. Half of all teachers in Turkey have never attended a training program during their professional careers. In our time, professional development of teachers is not only important but also a necessity in the future of learning because:

Globalization. It’s more than economics. Globalization is social. As we witness massive migration from underdeveloped cities/countries to more developed cities/countries, people who go through various social changes have difficulties in adapting and continuing their living habits. Learning becomes important and will occur in a multicultural setting.

Technology. Planning learning environments where learners are independent of technology is impossible. The new millennium’s student is defined as “knowledge builder, multimedia creator, collaborative learner, inquirer, experimental learner through real life and simulations, and an individual who can learn for everyone and for the sake of his/her own needs.” We have to ask “How can our teachers be efficient and competent in an environment where especially Web 2.0 technology is used widely?” Teachers won’t disappear. But they do need to use technology efficiently and design learning and its environment according to the structure of the new millennium. In other words we need teachers, who have web sites and write blogs; who can use social media tools like Facebook, Twitter etc. as a learning tool; and who can transform mobile phones into a learning tool, instead of dismissing them. Today, in an environment where even Presidents are using Twitter and conveying information firsthand; teachers who do not use new technology will stay behind of their students.

As TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey) results show, in Turkey, about three quarter of teachers are under 40 years old; they are the children of the digital age and they can adapt easily. This is Turkey’s competitive advantage over developed countries. In the last years, Turkish Ministry of National Education has provided all schools with Internet connection and even some village schools have computers now. Teachers, who can own the digital transformation in in-service trainings, will also be able to transform learning.

Brain and intelligence research. There are 79 faculty of education and 64 school of medicine in Turkey. But, none focus on brain and learning research. In the last quarter of the 20th century we tried to understand brain with experimental studies on mice. With the advancements in technology amazing discoveries have been made and experiments on animals have been replaced with new imaging techniques like fMRI. These discoveries showed that every individual has a unique way of learning. It is not hard to foresee that the answer to the question “How are we going to learn?” may change a lot as we learn more about our brains in the near future.

While we evaluate learning in the light of these three factors, the most important questions are: “Who is the learner? Is learning only for students or for everyone? For teachers to catch up with the new era should they concentrate on life-long learning?”

My father knew radio very well. He used television widely. He has encountered with computer recently and has been trying to comprehend it. Advancement in technology has changed how even the radio and television are used. Today, he needs the help of his grandson, my son, to be able to use the first two. My father is still learning in his 70s. But, the interesting part is he is learning from today’s children. In the figure below, which defines teaching very well, teaching as a profession is evaluated. The world is getting “smaller and more complex” so teaching has to be redefined as life-long learning as well as personal development.

Figure: A Framework for Understanding Teaching and Learning, Darling-Hammond & Bransford (2005, p. 11)

How do we do that? As Howard Gardner mentions in his new work “Five Minds for the Future”, we have to work on a learner’s profile. We have to teach individuals to master a discipline, use creative thinking, and infer strategy via synthesizing. New era’s teachers should be able to think differently, respect to differences in every sense, and behave ethically. Without forgetting that the teaching profession is a clinical one, we have to create a sustainable, hybrid, and a replicable model that will support master-apprentice, supervision, and mentoring relationships. Ogretmen Akademisi Vakfi has been training teachers from all around Turkey with this vision in mind. The goal is to establish an education system where all parties involved think critically and analyze skillfully.

Words To Inspire

By Dicle Kortantamer

“Why didn’t you go to work for Google?” someone asked after I graduated from computer engineering. I had gone into banking. When I graduated in 1998, Google was just being incorporated as a private company and technology talent primarily existed in the West. In 2011 that’s different, and that’s a good thing. Many new career opportunities are created every day. Technology isn’t confined to Silicon Valley. People from Turkey and around the World are inventing solutions to solve global problems. It is a tremendous opportunity. And, it all starts with education.

The education of future generations is so important. Randomly, we leave behind a whole group of children, whose talents are wasted and dreams are unrealized because they do not have equal access to quality education. Underutilisation of human potential is extremely costly. For individuals, this has a direct and serious impact on their lives: they are more likely to drop out of school, be unemployed or earn a dramatically lower income during their lifetime. For the world, the cost is not only to the economy. It is also in terms of missed opportunities, great inventions, entrepreneurs and leaders.

So, how do we prepare all children for an unpredictable future with the skills that will enable them to fulfill their potential? Passing on mere facts isn’t helpful. Creativity, critical thinking and collaboration become key to effectively recognizing and solving problems. It is a bit like learning to think like an entrepreneur or an inventor.

What if every child had the chance to learn these skills? What if we engaged the most skilled to help accomplish this? Those thoughts are what inspired me to leave a career in banking and become a social entrepreneur. I am the founder of 'Words to Inspire'Words to Inspire, an educational charity based in the UK. We envisage a world in which all children and young people have access to quality education and are inspired towards achieving their dreams. We believe that engaging skilled individuals in solving the most difficult problems in their community can be powerful and it can be done sustainably by creating a win-win situation for everyone involved.

I have a passion to give back to the community that educated me, so Turkey became our first country of operation. Although Turkey has made significant progress, many children are still falling behind. Only 7% of the lowest socioeconomic quartile has a chance to go to a school that provides world class education. Furthermore, half of the 15 year-old have not acquired critical life skills due to drop outs or achievement gap.

Our vision with our first project ‘Develop to Learn’ is to establish a free, world class, interactive digital library. We engage local university students through their final year projects in developing digital games that advance children’s ability to imagine, experiment and collaborate. Given the major initiative by the government to give every student a tablet computer within the next three years, this digital library has the potential to reach and transform the lives of 16 million children in K-12 education. Additionally, the project advances university students employability skills through engagement in a real project.

Human talent is extraordinary when it is nurtured. It is true that immediate needs like food and shelter are critical to a child’s well-being. We need, however, to aim higher and provide all children with equal opportunity to uncover their full potential. That will empower us to create a future full of hope for all of us. All we need is a small action from each individual to start the ripple effect. Let’s get it started...