EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - 'Sister, brother and young children project' in Izmir

'Sister, brother and young children project' in Izmir

Introduction

'Sister, Brother & Young Children’ is an ambitious voluntary project for university students in Izmir. 500 students (so-called ‘sisters’ and ‘brothers’) regularly meet with 300 young children from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, among them Turkish children of Roma or Kurdish ethnicity. The students give training an supervision to the children. The meetings take place in the homes of local families.

Description

The challenge is to provide opportunities for the development of children from disadvantaged neighbourhoods by having the students acting as role models for language, behaviour, hygiene as well as education, formation and literacy. The main aims of the project are:

improving the situation of socio-economically disadvantaged children
sensitising students to living-conditions and problems of certain groups within the city of İzmir and hence raise their consciousness and awareness of the city and their population as a whole

Approach

The children get different training units:

adolescent period and related physical and psychic problems as well as violence and anger management
communication and crime
critical reading
intelligence aspects and different learning styles
study techniques, time management and target orientation.

The students write short reports once a week. Three employees (İzmir Metropolitan Municipality) and 20 volunteers act as consultants for the students in case they need assistance or psychological help. The meetings take place in the children’s neighbourhood: several ‘leader families’ (with or without own children) open their private house for the ‘sisters, brothers and young children project’.

Target group

Children from disadvantaged neighbourhoods, many of them with Roma or Kurdish background. 300 children are selected per project cycle (one year).

Financing

The project receives inhouse funding by the Municipality of Izmir (3 staff positions, rooms in the Kulturpark building). The volunteering students come from two Izmir universities. Students who participate receive fellowships from the city fund. Local mukhtars and families provide space for the meetings.

Contact info

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality
Izmir
Mr Bugra Ozcoban (Project coordinator), tel. +90-232-4458144

Project start date

//2006

Links

For more information, please visit the website of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality (in Turkish)

Download a case study on housing in Izmir by the CLIP network (PDF, Eng, 1.6 MB)

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Community development

Keywords

Support for local groups