Empower 1000 Rural Students Every School Year

"A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others."

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Following a school year interrupted so many times due to  the Covid-19 pandemic, a new school year is starting in Turkey on September 6, 2021. Rural area teachers need our support more than ever in these challenging times. The importance of a good teacher in education of the next generation is described perfectly in the above quote by Ataturk, who is the founder of Turkish Republic and democracy in Turkey, rural area teachers do truly consume themselves to light the way for their students. Their job is hard but can be rewarding and inspiring if they are provided with classroom materials and if their students can start school with much needed school supplies. 

Let's just hope every student is happy, confident, excited and looking forward to a new semester. In rural and economically disadvantaged areas, it may not always be the case for all of the students. That is why Bridge to Turkiye Fund was established back in 2003 as a volunteer non-profit organization...That is why all the volunteers at BTF are collaborating with each other to reach those kids somewhere in Turkey who are as smart as their fortunate peers but do not have the resources to have their dreams come true...

In 2020-2021 school year, with your support, we sent  12 sets of kindergarten level story books (960 books) to twelve classrooms, 19 sets of books4kids, elementary level story books(2,565 books) to 19 classrooms, 589 school bags, 755 personal english-turkish-turkish-english dictionaries,14 sets of educational toys(420 pieces) to 14 classrooms, 16 sets of art4kids sets (5,440 pieces) to 16 classrooms, 28 science4kids sets(2856 pieces) to 28 classrooms, 24 music4kids sets(648 pieces) to 24 classrooms, 28 math4kids sets(2100 pieces) to 28 classrooms.

Thank you so much for all the support that you have given to these rural area students and their teachers over the years. Thank you for your trust in Bridge to Turkiye Fund.

We hope your support continues in this coming school year...

Have a healthy rest of the summer...

Links:

• https://medium.com/building-bridges/changing-lives-of-rural-school-kids-through-backpacks-b93ae6b13388
• http://www.btfmap4good.com
• https://medium.com/building-bridges/2020-2021-btf-educational-projects-d1f252ba77be

April 23rd is celebrated as a holiday in Turkey as it is a National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Not only it is celebrated nationwide as National Holiday but also by tradition kids receive gifts in celebration of this day. BTF volunteers decided to start a campaign to make this day extra special for the school kids who live in underprivileged areas in Turkey; and as a result 23NisanGifts4Kids have come to life!

Covid-19 has affected school age children everywhere in the world and rural school students in Turkey have been dealing with more problems since remote education was not an option for many of them due to either lack of virtual education or their families simply cannot afford electronic devices.

School children were hit harder in rural areas during the pandemic, they need lifting up and be motivated more than ever. BTF volunteers and rural area school teachers are in constant communication via e-mail, phone conversations and whatsapp messages in order to better understand what they need most and to arrange the delivery of educational sets to schools.

We put together some of our 4Kids sets to help motivate the children after being away from school for so long. Our sets are Art4Kids, Backpacks4Kids filled with school supplies, Dictionaries4Kids, Kindergarten and Elementary level story books, EducationalToys4Kids, and Music4Kids. With the support of our donors, we already started having them sent to schools.

Below are the projects which we brought together to send to schools as 23NisanGifts4Kids:

Art4Kids — $250 Each Set (350 pieces of different arts and crafts supplies for a class)

Backbacks4Kids with school supplies— $15 Each (34 Pieces of different school supplies in each backpack)

Books4Kids — Kindergarten Set $200 (80 story picture books)

Books4Kids — Elementary Level Set $300 (135 story picture books)

Dictionaries4Kids — $3 Each (Turkish to English - English to Turkish)

Educational Toys4Kids — Kindergarten Set $500 (30 pieces of toys)

Music4Kids — $500 Each Set (64 pieces of different music and rhythm instruments for a class)

Thank you so much for investing in the education of rural school kids.

“When you educate one person you can change a life, when you educate many you can change the world.” Shai Resef

Links:

• https://www.bridgetoturkiye.org/
• https://medium.com/building-bridges/changing-lives-of-rural-school-kids-through-backpacks-b93ae6b13388
• http://www.btfmap4good.com