There are few organizations I admire as much as Turkish Philanthropy Funds. This is an organization that convenes leaders and dreamers, people determined to make a difference – people like us – and gets them to make great things happen.

Since its inception in 2007, TPF has granted nearly $12 million for 112 worthy causes ranging from education and health to women’s empowerment in Turkey. Its extensive network (42 partner NGOs in Turkey alone) and its professionalism enabled countless donors to make effective philanthropic choices and reach their goals sooner.

I am a proud supporter of the work of TPF. TPF founders, trustees, and I built our careers in very different professions, but as humanitarians, we share a core belief: that the work we do each day should make the world a little better. That’s why we come together under TPF. The organization’s unwavering commitment to investing in positive social change in Turkey continues to inspire me. Just take a look at how TPF has impacted thousands of lives in six years:

• Granted over $1 million towards building community philanthropy in Turkey
• Granted over $450,000 towards relief in Van after the 2011 earthquake
• Gave nearly $600,000 in scholarships to students in Turkey in 2013 alone
• Guided donors to give in honor or in memory of loved ones, primarily for

  education

In light of the incidents taking place in Turkey right now the importance of our project as Van Art Project Team become much more evident: In July, we went back to Van, Turkey to plant the seeds for raising a generation that will have an alternative language to violence.

In 2012, The First Annual Van Art Project was designed to respond to the psychological needs of the local women and children after an earthquake hit the area hard. Working in close partnership with a local women’s organization, VAKAD (Van Woman’s Association), the Van Art Project offered daily directive based groups that focused on therapeutic art making and psycho-education throughout the week of July 2-6, 2012.

Although the earthquake’s life altering consequences were evident in the area, another ongoing issue quickly surfaced during the Van Art Project: interfamilial and domestic violence. It appeared that the prior trauma prominent in the area resurfaced and became more apparent with the subsequent trauma of the earthquake.

In July 2013, The Van Art Project returned to Van for a week full of training and workshops. We worked to promote resiliency, provide the participating women and children with sense of safety, self-efficacy, containment and stabilization to help them cope with their everyday lives.

This year, our project took place in Kevenli Kadın ve Çocuk Merkezi (Kevenli Woman and Children Center) in Kevenli, Van. This brand new center is owned by Kadın Emeğini Değerlendirme Vakfı (KEDV) and is being supported by VAKAD (Van Kadın DerneğI / Van Woman’s Association) staff as well in daily management and operations.

The Van Art Project Team began the week by facilitating a day-long training with local professionals in the area at the VAKAD’s (Van Woman Association) main office. The day consisted of an intro of basic art therapy theory as well as hands-on experiential therapeutic art activities. The main goals were to introduce the participants to art therapy, teach skills for working therapeutically with art, and to also offer self-care techniques as these professionals work on the field with traumatized clients and self-care is crucial to their work to prevent burn out.

Activities included wish boxes, a weave of wishes, and an envelope of inspiration. They were able to work individually, in group, and in dyads so they could experience all the ways in which therapeutic art making can be used. We also encouraged them to explore the importance of connection as caregivers in the community.

Overall the workshop was very well received and the participants all verbalized gaining a great deal both professionally and personally and hoped to have us back again for a longer training next year.

The four Van Art Project therapists facilitated five workshops a day -4 with children and 1 with women. Each team of therapists facilitated 2 groups with children and then we all came together to facilitate the women’s group together.

During the first day at the women and children community center, the idea of safety and a safe place was provided with the canvas bags activity. We explored what we carry with us literally and metaphorically. Some responses included “we carry memories of people who have died” and “we carry our emotions.”  Children were given canvas bags to decorate with fabric markers and felt.

For the women’s group in the afternoon, we also explored theme of safe space with bags and container for emotions as well as the group also being a safe space to hold emotions. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy process. They started out all covering their bags in a similar way but through the art process they individualized their bags in their own unique ways. We reflected on this later by discussing the common thread and similarities of being women, but also the individuality that each woman has.

Day 2’s theme in our week of compassion and connection workshop was about group strengths. Identifying individual strengths and bringing them together as a community.

The first activity was to identify a strength that the children and women had. Then to create a mandala(circle) puzzle piece inspired by that strength. The children’s groups included themes of care taking, cleaning, sports, dancing, singing, being a good helper at home, and being a good sibling .  The women’s group was furthering their bonding and trust building on the second day. They were committed to the group even though it was now Ramadan and they were tired from fasting and still were committed to attending.

The third day of the workshop consisted of a theme of self-expression, encouraging participants to extend compassion to themselves by creating a metaphoric object that could represent the “self” in some way and allow for caretaking and compassion through the art making for that object.

We facilitated two separate activities though for the women and children. For children we used the metaphor of animals and for the women we used the metaphor of wish dolls.

The final day of the VAP workshops went beautifully. Of course our theme was termination and we processed with each group our leaving and the meaning it held for them.

We introduced journals as a way to hold their thoughts feelings emotions and memories. They talked about memories actually first when we asked what the journals could hold and then we talked about them being in our memories and hearts and us in theirs. We explored idea that even though we may lose people or miss people or homes or groups that we never lose our imagination and our memories.

Women were encouraged to think of something they wanted to take from the group as well as what they would like to give. We invited them to trace each other’s hands and then decorate each as one to give and one to take something from group.

They seemed to be getting much more comfortable with 2 dimensional materials and really put a lot of effort and creative symbolism into their hands. Then after they cut them out we had them place the one they are giving in a circle around a vase of pipe cleaner flowers with colorful construction paper hands as a base.

To summarize it all : “Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”

-Pema Chodron

By: Ahu Ozyurt

Turkey’s economy has seen a decade of solid growth yet women were the ones that benefited least from this surge.  According to recent research women’s employment level were down to 25 % in 2012. Some experts would argue that this is closely linked to the increase in family income where women opt to stay at home and take care of kids. Others would say completely the opposite.

The current ruling party in Turkey AK Party highlights the domestic role of women  in the house. Ironically Turkish businesses support several initiatives that would take women out of their traditional roles.

Take Ozyegin University for example. Founded by one of Turkey’s most successful entrepreneurs, Husnu Ozyegin, this institution specifically focuses on women who want to run their own businesses. Ozyegin University has partnered with Goldman Sachs to create at least 400 women entrepreneurs in five years. This year the program has 20 graduates. The global scope of this program is to empower at least 10,000 women worldwide. In places like India and South Africa the “10,000 Women” initiative teaches, mentors and also creates a microcredit pool for women.

In Turkey, Ozyegin University and Goldman Sachs help women who already own a business but want to make it bigger and more successful. Finance, accounting, PR, and marketing classes were in full swing in the heat of the summer this year. Participant and recent graduates told me they benefited the learning opportunity as well as the network they belong to now.

Another good story comes from the cellular operator giant, Turkcell. Turkcell paired up with the Institute to Avoid Wasteful Spending (TISVA) and Grameen Bank to create a technology platform for women who would borrow money from “angel investors”. The amount could be as small as 10 TL. The program’s aim was to cut “donation-based” entrepreneurship among businesses and turn them into real businesses who would learn how to manage their money.

Tens of success stories are on the web-page of Turkcell’s www.ekonomiyekadingucu , meaning “women power for economy”. They became artisans, shepherds, handcraft makers, even waste paper collectors. And they are aiming to make their businesses bigger. The next step for these businesses is to  sell their products in markets out of Turkey.

This year I have decided to celebrate Ramadan Bayram by giving a hand to those women who are changing the way we think of what a woman should do. Would you join me? Let us all do something small but powerful for women in Turkey.

Happy Bayram !

Happy Mother’s Day!

I am a big fan of Turkish Philanthropy Funds. I might have a bias since my son, Mustafa Kemal Abadan, is one of the founders and serves on TPF board. But, beyond that, TPF’s commitment to philanthropy has never ceased to amaze and inspire me.

So, I hope you’ll join me in supporting TPF’s girls education initiative for Mother’s Day this year.

I am proud to endorse the work of TPF – supporting education, helping after disasters, giving individuals and communities the chance to succeed and so. But the issue that is dear to my heart is girl’s education. It is dear to my heart because I am who I am because of the educational opportunities given to me by the early Turkish Republic.

I am the first female academician who introduced political science in the curriculum of a pure male School of Administration ( Mektebi Mülkiye-Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi) following a Fulbright scholarship at Minneapolis, MN in 1952-53. I became the first female faculty member of the Political Science Facuty of Ankara University in December of 1953. Then, the first full female professor, the first chair holder of Political Behavior, the first director of the School of Journalism attached to the School of Political Science. I represented Turkey on the Committee of Equality of Women/Men in the Council of Europe, 1978-1993. When I started my academic career I was the only women. Today, in the same institution, which will celebrate its 154th anniversary on December 4, 2013, there will be 41 female faculty members out of 100. I first handedly know how your life can change if you’re given the opportunities to learn.

My grandparents were from Bosnia, Sarajevo. They moved to the Aegean province of İzmir at the end of the 19th century during the Ottoman rule. After my father, an export businessman, married my mother, Baroness Elfriede whom he met in Carlsbad (today Czech Republic), they lived in Vienna and was commuting from İzmir to Hamburg (Germany) where he had an office. I was born in Vienna. We moved to İstanbul in the late 1920s and stayed there until 1931. My father passed away unexpectedly that same year. After his death my mother took me to Budapest where my step-sister was living. I was put into a boarding school. But after a while my mother could’nt find money to send me to school. It was a devastation for me as I loved school and was a very good student.

Fluent in German (my mother tongue), good in  French, later English and Hungarian but not knowing Turkish, at the age of 14, I knocked on the door of the Turkish Embassy in Budapest. I was reading in magazines about the new Turkish Republic and the reforms Atatürk and his colleagues were doing in the country. Due to the sympathy of the portier at the entrance I managed to be admitted to see the Ambassador. I told the Ambassador in French : “My father was exporting dry fruits and hazelnuts to Europe, being permanently away, and my mother having me tutored at home I do not know Turkish. But I want to continue to go to school. My mother says our savings are finished, she can’t send me to school. Please, send me to my relatives in Turkey, perhaps they can help me or send me there to school.” The Ambassador, Behiç Erkin, told me to come back three days later. I went back three days later. The Ambassador gave me a return passport, a third class ticket and some vouchers for meals on the train. My mother and step-sister learned about my decision only after everything was prepared. They hoped I would come back and bring some money to continue my studies. I boarded the train on November 6, 1936 in Budapest. I never saw my mother again – she perished during World War II.

After my arrival in İstanbul, it was the head of the police in Sirkeci who saw to it that I received an accomodation on a boat leaving for İzmir. My unannounced arrival at my uncle’s home caused great commotion. I moved from one relative’s place to the other and then finally settled in İzmir after I was admitted to the İzmir Girls’ Lycée. I worked in the summer of 1939 to save money for boarding school. After completing high school in 1940, I was accepted to the Law School at İstanbul University. I worked as a typist through college. After graduating I became a journalist and moved to Ankara, earning my life with my linguistic knowledge which by now was dominated by Turkish. I married my former professor, Dr.Yavuz Abadan, meanwhile a member of the parliament on May 8, 1946. For the first time, we became a family and I had a home in Turkey.

The rest is history. I’ve always wished all girls in Turkey could have opportunities like me. And, I have worked all my life towards that goal.

Turkish Philanthropy Funds doesn’t just create a temporary solution. It aims to fundamentally alter the way we approach the issue of women empowerment, triggering change that help women and girls build a better future.

Please join me in supporting the remarkable work TPF Team does in providing opportunities to women and girls in Turkey every day.

Make a tax-deductible gift today.

And, also join the online discussion by using the hashtag #thanksmom on twitter and on TPF facebook page by honoring and remembering your own mother.

We’re all in this together – it will take the commitment of you, me and others to face the big challenges of our girls in Turkey.

I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together.

Sincerely,
Nermin Abadan-Unat

Last year, when our daughter Ayla turned three, we went the predictable three-year-old birthday party route. Reluctant to have her twenty friends in our NY apartment, we rented a small children’s party area, had some food delivered, got a cake, prepared games, and bought party favors. It was not an extravagant event by any means, but nonetheless the day cost us well over a thousand dollars.  For her part, Ayla cried through the cake cutting, unhappy with all the attention. Otherwise she, and the other children, ran around like chickens with their heads cut off: with no discernible rhyme or reason. Overall the whole event was chaotic, exhausting and expensive for us, and not too memorable for her.

There had to be a better way.

As Ayla’s fourth birthday loomed on us this year, my husband and I sat and discussed our options. We knew we wanted to celebrate her birth by doing something meaningful, but what? I remembered a conversation I had with Şenay Ataselim Yilmaz, the COO of Turkish Philanthropy Funds, a public charity that specializes in working with budding philanthropists. Şenay had told me that if I ever wanted to start a charity campaign, they would work with me every step of the way. They would collect the donations, thus ensuring that they were tax-deductible. They would also be instrumental once the money had been collected. They would do the due diligence of the non-profit organizations we would ultimately partner with to accomplish our goal.  In short, they would follow the process start to finish.

But what should our campaign be about?

The answer to that question came, appropriately, from Ayla. Our daughter loves to read as much as her parents do. Her room and her life are teeming with books. Nonetheless, when we asked her what gift she wanted for her birthday, she answered without hesitation: More books. It got us thinking.  The world is filled with curious little girls. What happens to the ones who do not have access to books?

I knew that in my home country of Turkey, especially in its eastern-most regions, children’s books are a luxury item, practically unattainable. Let’s put it this way:  According to a 2011 census by the Turkish Statistical Institute, the bottom 20% of Turkish families living in rural areas had about 200 Turkish Lira (TL) as their monthly disposable income.  That income must ultimately shelter, clothe and feed a whole family for an entire month. Imagine that you lived off of that 200 TL (approximately $128). A kilogram of potatoes costs 1 TL. A kilogram of tomatoes costs 3 TL. A t-shirt costs 5 TL. Meanwhile a colorful hardcover children’s book costs up to 15 TL. What would you buy?

Certainly not the children’s book.

Turkish Philanthropy Funds realizes the importance of  investing time and effort to raising a younger generation of philanthropists. Since its inception in September 2011, Young Philanthropists for TPF has been doing just that, creating a new generation of present donors and future philanthropists.

Led by the Junior Board, a group of young professionals passionate about Turkey, philanthropy and TPF, Young Professionals for TPF was created with the mission to raise awareness about TPF, the many projects it supports and philanthropy in general in the younger generations. The Junior Board aims to bring together like-minded young professionals from the Turkish-American community and provide a forum of networking, conversation, new friendships and cultural exchanges while at the same time introducing a specific work or project of TPF.

Among the events organized by the Young Professionals for TPF were house gatherings, rooftop gatherings and wine bar happy hours. Initially, the purpose of these events was to bring young professionals together and introduce them to TPF and philanthropy. Realizing that a strong track record was created with the many events hosted, reaching a unique crowd of young professionals in New York, the Junior Board recently decided to fundraise for specific projects. The first of such events took place at Pera Soho’s rooftop in October 2012 where $4,000 was raised for a girls’ dormitory at 100. Yil University in Van after the anniversary of the devastating 2011 earthquake.

With that momentum, the Junior Board recently hosted a Mardi Gras celebration at Pierre Loti Wine Bar in Chelsea on February 12, 2013. In the company of live jazz music, wine, friends and festive Mardi Gras beads and masks, the Junior Board was joined by more than 40 other Young Professionals to raise awareness about autism and to collect funds for TPF Partner TOHUM (Autism Foundation of Turkey). The event was very successful overall. In only 2 hours, $2,092 was raised to support the Special Education School that will be built in Turkey by TOHUM. More important than the amount raised was the support, excitement and passion in the conversation that could be heard throughout the night. The positivism and energy of the crowd resonated in the conversations that could be heard among small groups. Not only were we able to raise awareness about autism in Turkey and raise much needed funds for a great project but we were also able to make and support the making of new connections and new friendships.

The autism campaign has generated great support not only from the attendees but also other TPF donors. A $10,000 matching campaign was launched in conjunction with the event and project from a generous donor. The campaign will last until April 2, 2012. Even though you may have missed the event, you can still support the campaign with any donation that will be matched 100%.

Join the movement. Join Young Professionals for TPF.

The event was held at the Haliç Kongre Merkezi, an enchanting venue. Held along the shoreline of the Haliç , the huge veranda with the historical skyline as back drop was a sight to behold.  I arrived about a half hour before the appointed time of 7:30 PM but was not alone. Throngs of well-dressed notables, actresses, businessmen and a few ordinaries like me were already checking the lay of the land while offering little resistance to the paparazzi. Since Sayın Başbakan was to hand out the awards the extent of security was a no surprise, including a patrolling police boat in the Haliç .

I reported in at the counter that was headed “Bağışçılar (Donors)” and was assigned table number 38. Once I walked out to the veranda, I thought that 38 was a pretty good number considering the 200 some odd tables adorning the Haliç. Strolling thru the forest of tables I decided that the random numbering must be a result of all that security. Well, the place was filling up quickly so finally upon locating number 38 I settled down to absorb the splendor of the Haliç. It’s now 7:45 PM and the food was already placed on all tables but we still had at least 30 minutes before the ramazan topu went off. A delightful Korean couple to my right had a hard time holding back but after a number of pious chantings, the topwas heard and the sound of knives and folks filled the cooling night air.It was not easy watching that su böreği lie there in-waiting but it did make me reflect on the meaning of Ramazan. The menu was great: a meze plate of hurma, kaşar peyniri, siyah and yeşil zeytin, reçel, elma kurusu, bal and butter; a basket of ramazan pidesi and of course süzme mercimek Çorbası as well as the börek. Then came kuzu tandır (Konya usulü)with  iç pilav and beğendi. Just when you thought you needed no more, out comes my dear favorite fırın sütlâç with sakızlı  and fındıklı dondurma. The extent of the meal however couldn’t outlast the length of the speeches.And just when I thought the speeches were over, Sayın Başbakan rose from table number1 to deliver a rousing 45 minute impromptu speech (no notes or crib sheets). I was surprised to have followed most of it. The 25% I missed was because it contained a preponderance of Arabic and old Turkish words which flew well over my head and landed on the other side of the Halic.It’s was about 10:00 PM when the award roll-call started. Each individual and company name was called and each walked the long walk to the podium; bowed while Sayın Başbakan placed the gold medallion around each neck. A hearty hand shake to each and the next hour was a virtual “who’s who” of Turkey. Since the award call was alphabetic I (TPF) followed close behind Süreyya Ciliv of Turkcell. We all waited until the last name was called for the “photo session.” And, then the entire well-dressed mortals with their gold medallions dangling and who were patiently in-waiting started to stampede to coalesce with Sayın Başbakan. I managed to let the tide ride me in close.  See me slightly to the West of Sayın Başbakanand directly South of Egemen Bağış.

All in all it was a great evening and I was delighted there was recognition for all the good efforts TPF has accomplished last year. We were standing with some very generous and notable firms and personalities.

From New York to the Halic and beyond.

–Nick Porcaro, TPF Board Member

Turkey has a long-standing tradition of educating teachers. However, it is not possible to say the same thing about their professional development, which has not been a priority in Turkey. Teacher training is defined in two major areas: pre-service training and in-service professional development for teachers. Regarded as a professional occupation, teaching requires a special training. Teacher training system is provided in three dimensions – field knowledge, professional knowledge for teachers, general knowledge – requires a well-planned and programmed educational process. Pre-service teachers or candidates (trainee teachers) receive education at Universities regulated by Higher Education Commission (YÖK) in cooperation with Ministry of National Education (MONE). In-service teacher training or professional development for teachers is regulated and directed by MONE. Half of all teachers in Turkey have never attended a training program during their professional careers. In our time, professional development of teachers is not only important but also a necessity in the future of learning because:

Globalization. It’s more than economics. Globalization is social. As we witness massive migration from underdeveloped cities/countries to more developed cities/countries, people who go through various social changes have difficulties in adapting and continuing their living habits. Learning becomes important and will occur in a multicultural setting.

Technology. Planning learning environments where learners are independent of technology is impossible. The new millennium’s student is defined as “knowledge builder, multimedia creator, collaborative learner, inquirer, experimental learner through real life and simulations, and an individual who can learn for everyone and for the sake of his/her own needs.” We have to ask “How can our teachers be efficient and competent in an environment where especially Web 2.0 technology is used widely?” Teachers won’t disappear. But they do need to use technology efficiently and design learning and its environment according to the structure of the new millennium. In other words we need teachers, who have web sites and write blogs; who can use social media tools like Facebook, Twitter etc. as a learning tool; and who can transform mobile phones into a learning tool, instead of dismissing them. Today, in an environment where even Presidents are using Twitter and conveying information firsthand; teachers who do not use new technology will stay behind of their students.

As TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey) results show, in Turkey, about three quarter of teachers are under 40 years old; they are the children of the digital age and they can adapt easily. This is Turkey’s competitive advantage over developed countries. In the last years, Turkish Ministry of National Education has provided all schools with Internet connection and even some village schools have computers now. Teachers, who can own the digital transformation in in-service trainings, will also be able to transform learning.

Brain and intelligence research. There are 79 faculty of education and 64 school of medicine in Turkey. But, none focus on brain and learning research. In the last quarter of the 20th century we tried to understand brain with experimental studies on mice. With the advancements in technology amazing discoveries have been made and experiments on animals have been replaced with new imaging techniques like fMRI. These discoveries showed that every individual has a unique way of learning. It is not hard to foresee that the answer to the question “How are we going to learn?” may change a lot as we learn more about our brains in the near future.

While we evaluate learning in the light of these three factors, the most important questions are: “Who is the learner? Is learning only for students or for everyone? For teachers to catch up with the new era should they concentrate on life-long learning?”

My father knew radio very well. He used television widely. He has encountered with computer recently and has been trying to comprehend it. Advancement in technology has changed how even the radio and television are used. Today, he needs the help of his grandson, my son, to be able to use the first two. My father is still learning in his 70s. But, the interesting part is he is learning from today’s children. In the figure below, which defines teaching very well, teaching as a profession is evaluated. The world is getting “smaller and more complex” so teaching has to be redefined as life-long learning as well as personal development.

Figure: A Framework for Understanding Teaching and Learning, Darling-Hammond & Bransford (2005, p. 11)

How do we do that? As Howard Gardner mentions in his new work “Five Minds for the Future”, we have to work on a learner’s profile. We have to teach individuals to master a discipline, use creative thinking, and infer strategy via synthesizing. New era’s teachers should be able to think differently, respect to differences in every sense, and behave ethically. Without forgetting that the teaching profession is a clinical one, we have to create a sustainable, hybrid, and a replicable model that will support master-apprentice, supervision, and mentoring relationships. Ogretmen Akademisi Vakfi has been training teachers from all around Turkey with this vision in mind. The goal is to establish an education system where all parties involved think critically and analyze skillfully.

By Dicle Kortantamer

“Why didn’t you go to work for Google?” someone asked after I graduated from computer engineering. I had gone into banking. When I graduated in 1998, Google was just being incorporated as a private company and technology talent primarily existed in the West. In 2011 that’s different, and that’s a good thing. Many new career opportunities are created every day. Technology isn’t confined to Silicon Valley. People from Turkey and around the World are inventing solutions to solve global problems. It is a tremendous opportunity. And, it all starts with education.

The education of future generations is so important. Randomly, we leave behind a whole group of children, whose talents are wasted and dreams are unrealized because they do not have equal access to quality education. Underutilisation of human potential is extremely costly. For individuals, this has a direct and serious impact on their lives: they are more likely to drop out of school, be unemployed or earn a dramatically lower income during their lifetime. For the world, the cost is not only to the economy. It is also in terms of missed opportunities, great inventions, entrepreneurs and leaders.

So, how do we prepare all children for an unpredictable future with the skills that will enable them to fulfill their potential? Passing on mere facts isn’t helpful. Creativity, critical thinking and collaboration become key to effectively recognizing and solving problems. It is a bit like learning to think like an entrepreneur or an inventor.

What if every child had the chance to learn these skills? What if we engaged the most skilled to help accomplish this? Those thoughts are what inspired me to leave a career in banking and become a social entrepreneur. I am the founder of ‘Words to Inspire’Words to Inspire, an educational charity based in the UK. We envisage a world in which all children and young people have access to quality education and are inspired towards achieving their dreams. We believe that engaging skilled individuals in solving the most difficult problems in their community can be powerful and it can be done sustainably by creating a win-win situation for everyone involved.

I have a passion to give back to the community that educated me, so Turkey became our first country of operation. Although Turkey has made significant progress, many children are still falling behind. Only 7% of the lowest socioeconomic quartile has a chance to go to a school that provides world class education. Furthermore, half of the 15 year-old have not acquired critical life skills due to drop outs or achievement gap.

Our vision with our first project ‘Develop to Learn’ is to establish a free, world class, interactive digital library. We engage local university students through their final year projects in developing digital games that advance children’s ability to imagine, experiment and collaborate. Given the major initiative by the government to give every student a tablet computer within the next three years, this digital library has the potential to reach and transform the lives of 16 million children in K-12 education. Additionally, the project advances university students employability skills through engagement in a real project.

Human talent is extraordinary when it is nurtured. It is true that immediate needs like food and shelter are critical to a child’s well-being. We need, however, to aim higher and provide all children with equal opportunity to uncover their full potential. That will empower us to create a future full of hope for all of us. All we need is a small action from each individual to start the ripple effect. Let’s get it started…