Support to Education Projects

Preschool and Playground Equipment:

Studies on preschool education show that children that start elementary school directly have more adaptation difficulties than children that first go to preschool. Studies also show that preschool children are more successful later in school. Taking these studies into account, our association implemented a “Preschool and Playground Equipment” project in 1997.

Within the scope of the project, we have since supplied 769 preschool classroom equipment and 558 playground equipment with the support of individual and corporate sponsors. 500 of these were supplied to schools in various parts of Turkey during 2004-2009 with the collaboration of Danone and the Ministry of National Education .

Building of Schools and Dormitories

Thousands of students are studying in schools built by ÇYDD with donations from  supporters.

Hundreds of girls are accommodated in dormitories built with donations from ÇYDD supporters and thus can continue their education.

The schools and dormitories built by ÇYDD are turned over to the Ministry of Education and to universities; only 3 dormitories are run by ÇYDD branches.

Schools and dormitories built by individual and corporate donations:

36 dormitories; 7 of which are in university campuses

24 elementary schools

36 village schools

30 classrooms (temporary classrooms built for the Marmara earthquake victims)

6 preschools

2 high schools

1 university education unit (built after the Van earthquake)

Equipment support to schools:

With the project “There is a School out there”, we aim to supply better conditions for education to the students.

Our association receives various requests from schools all over Turkey every school year. With various corporate and individual donations to our “There is a School out there” project, we try to meet these demands which vary from blackboards, computers, photocopy machines, televisions to clothing and boots for needy students and maintenance of school buildings. Since 2005 we have met various needs of 500 schools.

Library Projects, Book Campaigns:

We receive hundreds of requests from students, parents and teachers for books and libraries for schools. We believe books play an important part in children’s development and have started a book project called “Let thousand flowers bloom and thousand ideas grow”.

We have so far supplied about 5 million books to 3.454 institutions (village schools, elementary and high schools, local boarding schools, public libraries and even prisons).We have also delivered  fully equipped libraries to 25 schools.

With the “TNT Express Carries Knowledge” book campaign which was  part of the project, thousands of used and new books were collected  and sent to schools in rural areas especially in East and Southeastern Anatolia with no libraries or few books in their libraries between 2000-2012.

Development of Public Boarding Schools (YIBO)

YIBOs are government schools which have been built in rural areas to create an opportunity for children who were previously unable to go to school due to geographical and weather conditions in Turkey.  Most of the 150,000 students who go to YIBOs come from crowded families with many children and most of them are poor.

Since 2003, CYDD has been working hard on the “YIBO development” project, trying to provide contemporary education conditions both for students who are educated at YIBOs and for the teachers working at YIBOs.  Responding to hundreds of requests coming from YIBO’s , 115 YIBO buildings have been renovated, including restaurants, dormitories, bathrooms, laundries and classrooms.. New facilities have also been created in some schools, including social areas, libraries, laboratories, teachers’ accommodation and dormitories. Furniture, educational equipment and clothing for the student have also been provided with this project.

Educational and Cultural Centers

Our association has been carrying out projects designed for adults for some time. These projects started with literacy courses for adults and continued with collective civil weddings for couples who only had religious marriages that caused great problems.

After the 1999 Marmara Earthquake, CYDD established and opened 17 rehabilitation and community centers. Since then, these centers have helped thousands of people; some continue to serve many more and some that have completed their mission were closed. In these community centers, many training programs and other opportunities have been created for women and children. These include training in handicrafts, rehabilitation opportunities for women and consulting services for children and young people. As a continuation of these rehabilitation centers, a new project “educational and Cultural Centers” was put into practice.

At the 2012 ÇYDD branch meeting in Yalova, priority was given to this project. The already existing  centers and the centers to be opened are planned to have a common  coordinated program. Libraries are opened in every center and projects which further the education of students, increase their interest in art, bring out their talent are implemented. Programs that allow children to think, question and be free individuals respecting peace, democracy and justice are carried out. Scholarships are given to successful students. Choruses, musical groups and ballet groups trained in the centers perform at the year-end activities.

Similar programs are planned for youth and women; personal development seminars and art activities are carried out regularly. “Me and my family” and “Life workshop” are some of the projects designed especially for women and carried out in many of these centers. Educational and Cultural Centers are local centers run by ÇYDD volunteers, are free to students, their parents and families The center are usually named after their sponsors.