A group of students supported by the joint project “Every Girl is a Star” of Çağdaş Yaşamı Destekleme Derneği (ÇYDD) and Mercedes-Benz Türk implemented in 2004 came together in İstanbul.

Star Girls met in İstanbul

A group of students supported by the joint project “Every Girl is a Star” of Çağdaş Yaşamı Destekleme Derneği (ÇYDD) and Mercedes-Benz Türk implemented in 2004 came together in İstanbul.

Star Girls met in İstanbul

A group of students supported by the joint project “Every Girl is a Star” of Çağdaş Yaşamı Destekleme Derneği (ÇYDD) and Mercedes-Benz Türk implemented in 2004 came together in İstanbul. With the project in its 13^th year, today a total of 1200 girls in 56 cities receive scholarships, including 200 university scholarships.

FORMER AND PRESENT STUDENTS CAME TOGETHER

A press conference was held in Ortaköy Feriye Restaurant for the “Every Girl is a Star” project implemented in 2004 to give equal social and employment opportunities to women.

Students from Kırklareli, Sinop, Uşak, Burdur and Mersin, Çağdaş Yaşamı Destekleme Derneği President Prof. Dr. Aysel Çelikel, Mercedes-Benz Türk Head of Directors Board Süer Sülün and ÇYDD executives attended the meeting. Scholarship student gave a violin recital to participants. Former Stars Yasemin Güngör and Merve Kula who were employed by Mercedes-Benz Türk after graduation talked about the impact of the project on their personal and professional lives.

PROF. DR. ÇELİKEL: GENDER EQUALITY IS OUR MAIN CONCERN

ÇYDD President Prof. Dr. Aysel Çelikel who talked at the meeting, said “We want the empowerment of women. We want equal opportunities for girls and women. We believe in gender equality. Equality is our main perspective. There are two main conditions to achieve it: first a good education, secondly a good paid job.”

“WE ARE NOW DISCUSSING GENDER EQUALITY, A DAY WILL COME WHEN WE NO LONGER WILL”

Çelikel emphasized the role women play in development of society and said “Educating one girl is equal to educating two families. When we support a girl, we help them secure a place in society. It is the women who support the house, raise children and support the country. We are still discussing gender equality today but a day will come when we no longer will. Projects like “Snowdrops, Contemporary Girls of Contemporary Turkey” “Daddy send me to School” and “I have a Daughter in Anatolia” are all for girls. We have thousands of girls who graduated with support from these projects. We give scholarships every year to about 14-15 thousand girls.”

SÜER SÜLÜN: WE CARE ABOUT ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE

Mercedes-BenzTürk Head of Board of Directors Süer Sülün said that the girls who have graduated with the support of “Every Girl is a Star” project today form about 10\% of the blue color female work force of Mercedes-Benz Türk. He also said “ We started with 200 students. So far we have given scholarships to total of 4500 students. At the moment we have 1200 students. In the beginning we only supported girls from vocational schools; now we also give university scholarships. We care about active participation of women in the workforce. We believe it is very important for the future of our country.”

“I COULD BUY MY VIOLIN THANKS TO MY SCHOLARSHIP

A student of Bolu Fine Arts Highschool Music department Tuğçe Çoşanar who gave a violin recital to participants said “I could buy my violin thanks to my scholarship. I want to study in the Consevatory. I want to become a conductor.” Kırklareli Lüleburgaz TEK Fine Arts Highschool Painting department student Suzan Çırak said she graduated with a degree thanks to her scholarship. Bolu Vocational and Technical Anadolu Highschool  Justice department student Fatma Betül Akbulut said “ I could cover all my expenses at school with my scholarship. I now have more self-confidence and I want to study Law”

1200 SCHOLARSHIPS ARE GIVEN TO GIRLS FROM 56 CITIES.

In the beginning, scholarships were given only for vocational education in the field of motors, electric/electronics, lathing/leveling, machinery design and computers. Nowadays subsidiary industries, dealers and Mercedes-Benz Türk employees also support the project and only 68 \% of scholarships are for vocational highschools.13 \% of scholarships are for art and the remaining 21 \% is given for health studies and other branches.

WITH CURRICULUM VITAE DATA BANK WE KEEP IN CONTACT WITH OUR GRADUATES

So far Mercedes-Benz Türk has provided jobs to 21 of its graduate Star Girls. 13 of the girls are working in Aksaray Truck Factory and 8 are working in Hoşdere Bus Factory. To provide jobs to Star Girls in Mercedes-Benz Türk and its subsidiaries, a curriculum vitae data bank was established in 2016. Through this platform Mercedes-Benz Türk and its subsidiaries can reach the star graduates when job opportunities arise. The curriculum vitae data bank also helps to keep in contact with former scholarship girls.

“Every Girl is a Star”  was awarded “Top” award for  “the best social responsibility project” in 2006 by Platin magazine, “Golden Compass” award  in 2007 by Turkish Public Relations Association(TÜHID) and 2010 Gladiators- social responsibility project of the year award.

Hürriyet  / 27.07.2017