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PROJECTS The initial step towards an everlasting gift of education and the encouragement for the love of reading is to put a book in the hands of a child. Many rural and underdeveloped provinces throughout Turkey are in desperate need of resources to educate their own children. In some cases, not a single book is available in their primary schools to support intellectual interest, independent learning, and a lifelong passion for reading. Teachers do not have the expertise and the available funds to establish libraries. Having a library and books is fundamental to increasing the quality of education in every school. It is a motivating fact for learning and expanding a child's world. Books teach new ideas and provide our children with critical life skills. Reading influences imagination and leads to the ability to innovate. It gives our children the chance to creatively influence our world in the future. Creativity and innovation are abilities that are most important in today's competitive world. Having access to books and being able to read increases our children's knowledge of the world, their vocabulary, their fluency with written language and their interest in reading. Books are the answer to better preparing our kids for the future. Bridges of Hope Project seeks to raise funds to establish libraries in Elementary Level Public Schools (Ilkogretim Okulu) and Elementary Level Rural Public Boarding Schools (YIBO -Yatili Ilkogretim Bolge Okulu) throughout underdeveloped provinces of Turkey by supporting its grantee ILKYAR (Ilkogretim Okullarina Yardim Vakfi), a Turkish NGO, dedicated to enhancing primary education for disadvantaged students. We aim to give hope and provide the opportunity for Turkish children to pursue their education and realize their potential. We are particularly interested in supporting efforts that assist students in disadvantaged regions of Turkey. We seek programs that provide equal opportunities to boys and girls and have a significant, concentrated impact in the lives of a large number of students in a particular village, neighborhood, or school. We have invited nonprofits in Turkey to submit proposals to be considered for a grant by the Bridges of Hope Project. We reviewed them based on pre-determined selection criteria such as strong leadership and governance, commitment to financial and programmatic accountability, and cost effectiveness of the proposed project. At the end of this selection process, we have decided to support ILKYAR's rural public boarding schools project. We believe that this was a wise decision, since in a very short time frame - slightly over a period of one year - Bridges of Hope Project has established 22 libraries and has transferred additional available funds to establish 5 more libraries in the upcoming year. Thanks to the libraries established with our local partner, ILKYAR, hundreds of children in Turkey now can hope for a better education. We have sparked the joy of learning in the hearts of wonderful children who are each a potential scientist, artist, teacher, doctor or lawyer. They have also felt the joy of love and recognition from thousands of miles away from their new friends in the United States. Additionally, BOHP is participating in a very innovative educational initiative for YIBOs: Your contributions have also made it possible to pay for one large server that will link all YIBOs and their websites, allowing the creation of a "Virtual Library" and providing a platform for students and teachers to work together on educational projects, sharing ideas and resources. Moreover, it will enable teachers to find out about each other's skills and educational challenges, as they seek to develop their teaching methodologies. Finally, this network will help create a bridge between all YIBOs supported by BOHP and ILKYAR and the "outside" world, linking them not only to each other, but also to other educators, mentors and NGOs in Turkey and abroad. Clearly, the returns on this investment will be many times over the actual amount of sums donated to this major project. Dr. Metin Taskin and Ms. Asuman Taskin have contributed half of the amount of the total funds required for the "Virtual Library" project. We are deeply thankful for their generosity. The other half of the funds has been contributed by friends of the Bridges of Hope Project. click here: "Asuman Taskin is Reporting from Kavak-Samsun"
UPCOMING PROJECTS: - CITY: Corum Province: Mecitozu - CITY: Tokat Province: Almus Province: Almus Province: Turhal Province: Zile
CURRENT AND COMPLETED PROJECTS: - CITY: Cankiri Province: Kursunlu - CITY: Kastamonu Province: Tosya - CITY: Denizli Province: Kale - CITY: Agri Province: Merkez Province: Hamur - CITY: Bingol Province: Yedisu Province: Merkez Province: Adakli - CITY: Erzurum Province: Karayazi Province: Hinis - CITY: Mus Province: Varto - CITY: Amasya Province: Goynucek - CITY: Mersin Province: Gulnar Province: Tarsus Province: Anamur - CITY: Samsun Province: Kavak Province: Kavak - CITY: Sinop Province: Duragan - CITY: Diyarbakir Province: Kulp - CITY: Tokat Province: Yesilyurt - CITY: Adiyaman Province: Merkez Province: Celikhan
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