YOUNG THINKER
Children living in a socio-economically low region have limited access to tools to improve their vision. This creates a barrier that can affect both their future academic success and social engagement. Within the scope of this phenomenon, our club conducted an education on book discussions and education on age-appropriate philosopy concepts in order to ensure their intellectual development.
10 children were selected for this project. As project coordinators, club members Özge Yılmaz and Duygu Yurtseven held meetings with these children once a month; during which, these children were educated on philosophy concepts appropriate for their age or a book was discussed.
At each meeting, a philosophy concept was chosen which was discussed with the children or a book with a theme of protection of nature or social values, that was handed out beforehand, was discussed with them to increase their capacity to comprehend what they read.
During the five meetings held between October 2,2019 and February 26,2020, the concepts of “Success and Failure” and “Justice and Injustice” were discussed through the book ‘Crispy Crispy Philosophy’ series and Isabel Allende’s books ‘Kingdom of the Golden Dragon’ and ‘City of Beasts’ were discussed. We tried to contribute to their reading and comprehension practice by asking questions from the books.
It was a question of increasing participation by determining the appropriate time for children. It was a problem for the children to get used to comment in meetings. The group dynamics are affected negatively when some of them participate the meeting without reading the book.
The participation problem was solved by a mother of a child from the region who provided the communication. A warm environment was created and the project coordinators’ dialogues were encouraging for the children to express their opinions. A discussion was held for the children who didn’t finish reading the books; why they did not finish and how we can help them in this regard. It was decided to take their opinion into consideration in the selection of books and to give sufficient time.
Children expressed their willingness to continue the meetings and it was observed in each new meeting that they became more eager for the participation.
SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION
Our aim is to support the education of the girls who attend high school and university and have financial difficulties both for living and in access to education, in the scope of ensuring them as educated individuals to contribute to the empowerment of women in society. The scholarship period covers the period between October 1,2019 and June 30,2020.
All of the students continued to receive scholarship grant as well as last year. Considering the cost of living, we increased the scholarship fee received each month. We paid close attention to dealt with their problems and helped them find an internship in business life. During the term break we visited an exhibition all together. One of the students’ expenses was covered by the Club as she participated the Coaching Course organized by Turkish Union.
Since some of our scholars studied outside of Izmir, we could not gather together with them as much as we wanted. We were just able to meet during the semester break, however we continued our communication through the WhatsApp group.
In addition to financial contribution, we enabled them to recognize Soroptimism and see our members as role models. We think that we will see our graduate scholars as Soroptimists in the future.
PREPARATION FOR THE EXAMS
Turkish and Mathematics training sessions were held for 2-hours per week to 8th grade students in Eşrefpaşa home in order to prepare them for the High School Entrance Exam (LGS).
The training, which is initiated to increase the students’ success in school and in exams, started on October 1,2019 and continued until June 10,2020.
Volunteer Turkish and Mathematics teachers lectured regularly and prepared tests every week. During the Corona period, students’ education continued on-line.
The students succeeded in the exams. They entered Anadolu High School and Vocational High Schools. 15 students benefited from this training.
KNITTING CARNIVAL IN MEVLANA HOUSE
Our club provided training on business skills to support the development of small businesses run by women and empower women economically. Under the leadership of Club member Duygu Yurtseven, women who did not know how to knit were taught to make different products of sales value with crochet and needles. It was taken into consideration that women can contribute to the family budget by using and selling the products they produce as well as improving their manual skills.
Women living in the Mevlana District and without knowledge of handicraft were reached through Gündoğdu Contemporary Community Volunteers Association. The collective training at the training house started on October 22,2019 and ended on February 4,2020 as 3 hours on Tuesdays for 8 weeks. 10 women benefited from the training.
The problem of material supply was solved through joint purchases with the Göztepe Soroptimist Club and Gündoğdu Contemporary Community Volunteers Ass
