Göztepe Soroptimist Club is one of the shareholders of “OUR HOUSE” Project initiated by the sponsors and volunteers of “Gündoğdu Contemporary Community Volunteers Association“ (Gündoğdu Çağdaş Toplum Gönüllüleri Derneği).
The project aims at realizing the following objectives:
- Integration and adaptation of Eastern Anatolian migrant families in to the contemporary metropolitan life
- Providing various kinds of assistance for the education of their children
- Facilitating the improvement of the status of the mothers within their families and the community
- Training the new generation as “well educated”, “good citizens” who have an appreciation for arts, good taste, good manners and who value education
- Opening and maintaining as many “homes” as possible in neighborhoods where such service is needed
- Encouraging other NGO”s to do the same, by way of setting a model.
The number of “homes” continues to increase and has now added to seven.
Göztepe Soroptimist Club arranges for educational presentations delivered by its professional members on various recent topics, issues which require awareness and personal action such as “Conflict Resolution in the Family”, “The Dangers of Obesity” and many more.
During the winter holidays children in all “homes” were entertained by films musicals and cartoons. Trips were organized to architectural and various other sites of the city for the adults and children.
Through this project we touch the lives of many people.-200 children, their mothers and fathers, their siblings, relatives and neighbors… That roughly adds up to 1000 people.
Most of the mothers started to work as a sign of an improvement of their status which is one of the goals of the project that has achieved its purpose. Absence of mothers and Covid-19, which spread throughout the country, disrupted the works at homes. The long duration of pandemic and the severe economic conditions yielded to the closure of some houses. Currently, service is provided in five houses in Çeşmealtı, Urla, Naldöken, Karabağlar, Gediz (Buca) districts. On-line education is given to the children of the non existing houses meanwhile relations are maintained by organizing trips and by carrying them to activities such as theater, concerts and exhibitions.
A new application has started in the project. A group was formed with young adults who are educated in these houses years ago. Some of them graduated from the university and started to work while some of them got married. Some of them from this young group contribute to the education of the students at houses.
