Education Turkey Project #23636

Lend a Hand and Let's Grow Together

by Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi (Association in Support of Contemporary Living)

Summary

CYDD has given so far scholarships to 61042 economically disadvantaged university students and in 2012 developed the "Mentorship project" by setting up a "one to one" mentorship program . With mentorship project, CYDD aims to prepare university students for the challenges they might face both in their personal and professional lives, support their personal development and enable them to make good decisions. Priority is given to girls for mentee selection.

$35,000
total goal

$18,520
remaining

51
donors

2
monthly donors

8
years

Challenge

In Turkey, there are many disadvantaged youngsters who have either no access to education due to severe poverty or has to interrupt their education for work to support their families financially or has been forced to marry early due to economic and/or social reasons thus keeping them away from education. Not having education and economical impairment indeed feeds each other which turns to be a vicious circle. Furthermore unemployment is high for new university graduates .

Solution

CYDD tries to break this cycle by providing scholarships and with the mentorship project aims to prepare university students for the challenges they might face both in their personal and professional lives, support their personal development and enable them to make good decisions. Priority is given to girls for mentee selection. Mentors are volunteers from CYDD alumni (previous scholars) and also successful professionals that carry a one-to-one relation with university scholars (mentee).

Long-Term Impact

Mentorship project has already been deployed in 60 CYDD branches in 30 cities and reached 3750 pairings of mentees (66% females) and mentors (CYDD alumni and volunteered professionals, 66% females) and developed mentor and mentee trainers to ensure sustainability. Target is to extend project to 4 new cities and CYDD branches and 750 new students every year. So far 1600 volunteers (branch coordinators, menti and metor trainees) took part in the project.