The following are projects carried out by the participants and
alumni of Common Purpose in Turkey after meeting on our
courses:
Mersin's Light of Hope Choir's concernt in Istanbul
With the cooperation of many alumni from Istanbul (including
participants from the Pera Museum, Gemini Tourism, Era Education
Consultancy, SOGUYEV and Sisli Municipality) the singers of Light
of Hope Choir in Mersin flew to Istanbul to spend two full days in
the city. Accomodation, transportation and all expenses were
covered by these organisations. The Light of Hope Choir consists of
forty children, all members of families that have a very low
income. During these 2 days, children visited different sites and
historical places in Istanbul and gave a music performance at the
Pera Museum.
"As a result of intense work pressure, I hardly had enough
time for my family and work. Until I met Common Purpose, I eased my
conscience by giving financial support to social projects I
believed in, but this time everything was different, everything was
real. There were lots of sparkling children here and we tried to do
something for them. I was filled with so much emotion; seeing these
kids' reactions when they first visited places in İstanbul - their
exclamations, amazement on their faces, all the love and happiness.
There is no way to describe this experience..."
Serpil Kiliboz, graduate of the third Istanbul
Meridian
"Kids of Hope Association" come second in Urban Age
Contest"
The Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award aims to reward the innovative
solutions designed to solve the problems of urban cities where half
of the earth population is actually living in.
Thanks to Common purpose Turkey, Kids of Hope came 2nd in the
contest with their Bakırköy Teenager House project. The house
serves as a safe and clean shelter for kids older than 18 years old
and who are abondaned to living on the streets. The habitants of
the house that prefer to stay permanently; receive social support
and trainings to improve their skills and they are - especially
substance addicts - mending nicely.
Meridian alumni also collected donations for the
association.
Dutch Visitors Programme
The Dutch Visitors Programme organised by the
Netherlands Ministry of Economy for young
entrepreneurs and managers sends people to Holland for
co-operation every year from various countries. One of
the 30 people sent to the Netherlands this year
was a Meridian participant from Istanbul. As a result
of this programme our graduate became the Istanbul
representative of PUM systems, where free advice is given by
experienced Dutch experts to employees of small and medium
enterprises all over the world.
"What could be more precious than a child's life?"
Kadıköy Şifa Health Services Group and LÖSEV (Cancer Foundation)
co-operated for this project. Kadıköy Health Services Group started
promoting Spinach Products instead of flowers. Spinach Products are
products of LÖSEV; all the revenue generated from the sales are
used to support the foundation's services. The project first
started on 2010 in Kadıköy Hospital and since October 2010 it also
started to be applied in the Group's new hospital; Ataşehir
Hospital.
BP and AKUT are "Hand in Hand in 2011"
BP have been covering all the gasoline needs of the Search and
Rescue Association (AKUT) all over Turkey during 2011.
Mentally challenged children continue to take their classes
thanks to Gemini Tourism
Gemini Tourism contributed a brand new school bus to the
Istanbul Foundation of Education and Support for
Mentally Challenged People" (IZEV). Thanks to this, mentally
challenged children now have the chance to go to sports and other
activities.
Wheelchair lift for the Soguyev bus service
Borusan Holding contributed a wheel chair lift for the service
bus of Social Secure Life Education And Health Association for
their disabled members.
"Almost every single day, I receive calls from many disabled
people who remain at home. Dreams of physically disabled children
waiting by their windows to come to our center are coming
true."
Hatice Eser, SOGUYEV Deputy Director
