Charity Project - 2014
The Manisa psychiatric hospital project:
In early January Julica, Ayse and Anja from IWAI visited Manisa psychiatric hospital and the rehabilitation center nearby, to deliver the donated items from our members during the Christmas party and the cafe equipment that was bought with the money we collected. We were glad to see that all the items were much needed and expected and the people were happy to receive them. Unfortunately we could not photograph any of the patients but we met many of them.
The children and teenagers will be happy to do handcrafts, play sports and learn to play music with the items that were donated. Among them were for example, a violin, a baglama, an electric organ, a violin, a badminton set with net, lots of jewelry and wood working materials, and much else! The hospital ward is for 25 children, both boys and girls and the doctors explained to us that it is an "end of the road" treatment center, ie. only the most difficult cases come there. Activating the children by physical activity as well as art and making things by hand is one important element of their treatment, although the hospital's resources are quite limited and the ward and recreation facilities are built in barracs.
The staff and patients at the Diliskar Hatun Hamami were equally delighted to receive the cold unit that was specially ordered for their needs: it can be useds to display home made cakes and pastries, while the other part can be used to store food items like a fridge. Thank you Hatice for your briliand and money saving idea for this! We also delivered a tea maker and a toast machine.
The cafe will be run by the out patients and will be a good way for them to stay active, make social contacts and earn a little money to keep the activities running in the center. Instead of ready made cafe furniture, the wonderfully creative women of the rehabilitation center have come up with a table and chair set that will be made from recycled materials. We will publish pictures later, on this year to show how their fresh ideas are both ecological, save money and look good in a historical environment! Dr Hira Selma Kalkan is also behind many small creative ideas that can be seen around the hamam/rehabilitation center.
In early January Julica, Ayse and Anja from IWAI visited Manisa psychiatric hospital and the rehabilitation center nearby, to deliver the donated items from our members during the Christmas party and the cafe equipment that was bought with the money we collected. We were glad to see that all the items were much needed and expected and the people were happy to receive them. Unfortunately we could not photograph any of the patients but we met many of them.
The children and teenagers will be happy to do handcrafts, play sports and learn to play music with the items that were donated. Among them were for example, a violin, a baglama, an electric organ, a violin, a badminton set with net, lots of jewelry and wood working materials, and much else! The hospital ward is for 25 children, both boys and girls and the doctors explained to us that it is an "end of the road" treatment center, ie. only the most difficult cases come there. Activating the children by physical activity as well as art and making things by hand is one important element of their treatment, although the hospital's resources are quite limited and the ward and recreation facilities are built in barracs.
The staff and patients at the Diliskar Hatun Hamami were equally delighted to receive the cold unit that was specially ordered for their needs: it can be useds to display home made cakes and pastries, while the other part can be used to store food items like a fridge. Thank you Hatice for your briliand and money saving idea for this! We also delivered a tea maker and a toast machine.
The cafe will be run by the out patients and will be a good way for them to stay active, make social contacts and earn a little money to keep the activities running in the center. Instead of ready made cafe furniture, the wonderfully creative women of the rehabilitation center have come up with a table and chair set that will be made from recycled materials. We will publish pictures later, on this year to show how their fresh ideas are both ecological, save money and look good in a historical environment! Dr Hira Selma Kalkan is also behind many small creative ideas that can be seen around the hamam/rehabilitation center.
November-December Project 2014:
After the completion of the school project in Çiğli in September, IWAI has chosen another project for the rest of the year 2014. We will be assisting the women and child patients in the psychiatric hospital in Manisa through two separate endeavours:
Firstly, to provide basic equipment and furniture to start a cafe run by chronic (women) patients at the hospital’s rehabilitation center in Dilişikar Hatun hamamı. This project is still in need of some money so we can buy all the necessities. Hopefully, with our members’ and other friends’ involvement, we can do that after the Christmas party!
Secondly, to provide more activation and enjoyment to the children in the hospital ward by buying needed equipment and materials for their recreation center. Please see the lists (here below) for the children’s ward, to see if you can donate something or to purchase an item by yourself or with a group of friends!
We have divided the items according to their size and value, because the idea is to bring the smaller ones to the IWAI Christmas party gift table! Both small and bigger items will be donated to the hospital with appropriate credits to the donors and documentation through photographs and an article about the donation ceremony.
Thank you for all your interest and support!
IWAI board & charity team
After the completion of the school project in Çiğli in September, IWAI has chosen another project for the rest of the year 2014. We will be assisting the women and child patients in the psychiatric hospital in Manisa through two separate endeavours:
Firstly, to provide basic equipment and furniture to start a cafe run by chronic (women) patients at the hospital’s rehabilitation center in Dilişikar Hatun hamamı. This project is still in need of some money so we can buy all the necessities. Hopefully, with our members’ and other friends’ involvement, we can do that after the Christmas party!
Secondly, to provide more activation and enjoyment to the children in the hospital ward by buying needed equipment and materials for their recreation center. Please see the lists (here below) for the children’s ward, to see if you can donate something or to purchase an item by yourself or with a group of friends!
We have divided the items according to their size and value, because the idea is to bring the smaller ones to the IWAI Christmas party gift table! Both small and bigger items will be donated to the hospital with appropriate credits to the donors and documentation through photographs and an article about the donation ceremony.
Thank you for all your interest and support!
IWAI board & charity team
LISTS OF ITEMS FOR THE NEW YEAR’S GIFT COLLECTION:
"Please contact anja.vainionpaa@hotmail.com for more information or to choose an item/items to buy from the list."
SMALLER ITEMS, NEW TO BE WRAPPED AND BROUGHT TO CHRISTMAS PARTY:
- stained glass equipment & materials
- glass paints & stencils
- ceramic clay
- ceramic clay moulds
- ceramic making tools
- leather for craft making
- other craft items
LARGER AND/OR MORE EXPENSIVE ITEMS, CAN BE SECOND HAND:
- ceramic kiln
- sound system
- microphone, with cables, microphone stand
- burning machine for leather and wood
- sewing machine
- looming machine
- lazer machine for cutting felt
- short handled bağlama (Turkish stringed instrument)
- guitar
- organ
- violin
- pingpong table and rackets
"Please contact anja.vainionpaa@hotmail.com for more information or to choose an item/items to buy from the list."
SMALLER ITEMS, NEW TO BE WRAPPED AND BROUGHT TO CHRISTMAS PARTY:
- stained glass equipment & materials
- glass paints & stencils
- ceramic clay
- ceramic clay moulds
- ceramic making tools
- leather for craft making
- other craft items
LARGER AND/OR MORE EXPENSIVE ITEMS, CAN BE SECOND HAND:
- ceramic kiln
- sound system
- microphone, with cables, microphone stand
- burning machine for leather and wood
- sewing machine
- looming machine
- lazer machine for cutting felt
- short handled bağlama (Turkish stringed instrument)
- guitar
- organ
- violin
- pingpong table and rackets
IWAI STEPS IN TO HELP THE HANDICAPPED SCHOOL CHILDREN IN CIGLI
The IWAI charity team have been working on the main charity project of 2014 through the summer, and finally it is coming to an end. This year we wanted to help handicapped children in the Şehit Cevik Ersin Temel Ilkolu in Evka 2, Çiğli. The children, their parents and teachers were troubled every day by the inconvenient location of the special class. It had been placed on the 1st floor of the school building, with stairs leading up to it. This meant that the parents had to carry the children up and down every day. The students were not able to go out during breaks like other children, due to the time and effort it took to move each student one by one. Going to the bathroom was another major operation each time, as children had to be assisted up another staircase to the 2nd floor. Some children in the school district have not been able to attend at all, due to these restrictions. With the generous donations by our IWAI members and other people who have attended our events during this year, we were able to collect enough money to renovate suitable classroom facilities with their own entrance directly from the schoolyard. This was a space that had not been used as a classroom for a long time, due to its' bad condition. The school did not have any budget to renovate the space themselves. A ramp was built from the schoolyard to the classroom, to enable access with a wheelchair. Also a ramp was built inside, from the corridor to the bathroom. The bathroom was completely renovated from floor to ceiling, to comply with the special requirements for children with disabilities. The classroom, corridor and small study were painted in cheerful colors and the floors in the main classroom were layed with laminate flooring. An awning was built above the entrance to guard off rain and sunshine. There will be an opening ceremony when the school begins again in September. All IWAI members will be invited to the ceremony organized by the school. In addition municipality representatives wil be present at the opening and a commemorative plaque will be placed on the wall to remind all future students, parents and staff of the improvement project IWAI has completed for them. We are all happy knowing the fact that in the future students can function more independently in the renovated classroom, will be able to take part in the breaks outside like all other children, thus becoming more integrated into the whole school community. The school will be able to welcome some new students now that the obstacles have been made significantly smaller for them to move around. |
General Information:
In the beginning of this year IWAI charity team received many contacts from their members and other associated people, suggesting possible charity projects. The team also made their own inquiries and met organizations, to get ideas.
Through an old charity contact at the Izmir Social Services, we became aware that currently in Izmir public schools are often very short of resources and funds. When it comes to facilitating special needs of students, such as the handicapped, the need may be there but the funds are not.
We visited the Şehit Çevik Ersin Temel primary school in the Evka 2 district in Cigli and learned about the special class for the mentally handicapped children, with a maximum capacity of 20 students. The school was not originally built with handicapped students in mind. All the classrooms are upstairs and there are no ramps or handicapped bathrooms.
Most of the children have physical disabilities too, ranging from milder restrictions to being bound in a wheelchairs. Currently the parents of these children are carrying them up the stairs in the morning and down again in the afternoon. They are not able to join the other students on breaks outside, and even going to the toilet requires organizing. Some students are not able to attend the school because of their special needs.
There is a separate classroom unit with an entrance from the outside of the building. The school have been wanting to utilize this space but have not been able to due to lack of resources. IWAI has decided to take the challenge and renovate the classroom to improve the quality of life for these students. This means renovating the bathroom, building ramps, painting the walls. After completion, also those children with more severe disabilities will be able to attend the school. We will need the support of all our members and other friends and contacts to accomplish this goal!
MINI-CHARITIES 2014
For the year 2014 the IWAI charity committee made a decision to have one major project and several so called "mini-charities" along the year.
Mini-charities are a great way to organize collections for books, clothes, toys etc. Besides collections of items, other forms of assistance and fund raising can be employed, depending on what is the most practical way of helping out.
In January-February months a book collection was organized to help the Bergama Anadolu Lisesi start a library.
Starting from February, and continuing throughout the year, IWAI has decided to collect adult size clothes and shoes to the Çiğli 75.yıl meslek lisesi which is a technical trade school with almost 2000 students. The school's board have chosen nearly 200 students who are in especially great need of assistance.
IWAI supports actively the Women’s organization KAMER
In February 2014 we have met representatives of the women's organization Kamer in Diyabakir in East of Turkey.
The trigger of our visit was the following: The media reminds us again and again of the saddening fact that girls are married underage through forced marriages and women are killed in the name of honor not only in the rural areas of East of Turkey.
According to a research carried out by the women’s organization Kamer 1/3 or all women in Turkey are married before the age of 18 with a significant proportion even married under the age of 15.
Kamer’s research also visualizes that there is a direct link between the educational background of women and their probability to become a victim of honour killing. According to the study more than half of the women threatened by honor killing did not attend even elementary school.
Kamer unites women focusing on the improvement of the women’s condition in Turkey and fight for empowerment of women, against violence, child marriage and honor killings. Kamer is one of the biggest grassroots’ women organization in Turkey and conducts numerous activities to raise awareness on gender related issues, public authorities, law enforcement officers, health workers, assistance to women to reach for psychological and legal counselling and post-trauma support.
Most of us were as lucky to grow up in countries where violence and discrimination of women is not a routine and therefore we decided to support the organization Kamer in different ways for example to market their handicraft (beautiful colorful and stylish bags made out of recycled materials: each bag carries a tag with the name of the women who produced it! The women who produces the item receives the entire purchase price!) or in other non-monetary ways like support with the social media and translations.
We are deeply impressed by the great job Kamer is doing and how much their work really impacts the every day life of women in East of Turkey!
In February 2014 we have met representatives of the women's organization Kamer in Diyabakir in East of Turkey.
The trigger of our visit was the following: The media reminds us again and again of the saddening fact that girls are married underage through forced marriages and women are killed in the name of honor not only in the rural areas of East of Turkey.
According to a research carried out by the women’s organization Kamer 1/3 or all women in Turkey are married before the age of 18 with a significant proportion even married under the age of 15.
Kamer’s research also visualizes that there is a direct link between the educational background of women and their probability to become a victim of honour killing. According to the study more than half of the women threatened by honor killing did not attend even elementary school.
Kamer unites women focusing on the improvement of the women’s condition in Turkey and fight for empowerment of women, against violence, child marriage and honor killings. Kamer is one of the biggest grassroots’ women organization in Turkey and conducts numerous activities to raise awareness on gender related issues, public authorities, law enforcement officers, health workers, assistance to women to reach for psychological and legal counselling and post-trauma support.
Most of us were as lucky to grow up in countries where violence and discrimination of women is not a routine and therefore we decided to support the organization Kamer in different ways for example to market their handicraft (beautiful colorful and stylish bags made out of recycled materials: each bag carries a tag with the name of the women who produced it! The women who produces the item receives the entire purchase price!) or in other non-monetary ways like support with the social media and translations.
We are deeply impressed by the great job Kamer is doing and how much their work really impacts the every day life of women in East of Turkey!