The Türkiye Youth and Education Service Foundation (TÜRGEV) has introduced its visionary Beautiful Works Factory (GIF) project to the youth of the Silopi district in southeastern Şırnak province.
Established in 2022 by TÜRGEV to help young people discover and develop their academic, social, cultural and artistic skills, the GIF already has branches in Istanbul and Ankara.
The launch of the program in Silopi was attended by TÜRGEV's Board Chairperson Fatmanur Altun, Deputy Governor Mehmet Fatih Kılıç, Cizre District Governor Nazlı Demir, Provincial Director of National Education İzzettin Aydın, students, parents and local residents.
During the introduction, Altun noted that their field research in Silopi revealed that the local youth particularly needed a support center to enhance their academic skills.
Altun explained that TÜRGEV prioritized this area and its specific needs to open an educational campus to nurture young people according to their interests and talents, particularly focusing on female students in Silopi.
Altun emphasized that the project is about providing a space to study and the idea that young people need to connect.
"As TÜRGEV, we have always shaped our activities according to the needs, real issues and demands of society. In this framework, while running dormitory activities for 28 years, we now have more than 40,000 alumni. In our dormitories, we not only provide accommodation services. We also offer a second university service through education," Altun explained.
Altun added that their dormitories have workshops and offer various seminars, bringing students together with various thinkers in Türkiye so that when students graduate, they leave the dormitories as if they have completed a second university education.
Highlighting that the GIF operates student-centered activities 24/7, Altun said: "We want to create an environment that the students like, one where they produce and are active participants. We see them as the owners of this place, and we tell them that. When our students see themselves as active participants, they take ownership of the place."
Mother-daughter workshops
"In fact, on this journey, we embarked on for the youth, we realized that the mothers of our girls also want to be part of the activities and improve themselves in certain areas. After seeing this, we said that mothers should come with their daughters too. A beautiful atmosphere has formed here. The program has become a community and a home for them as well. This environment gives us even more hope. Some 1,500 people come here every month and participate in our activities. We hope that our GIF will expand even more and provide services in more places. With our projects aimed at educating and training qualified women leaders in the long term, we are announcing the good news of a generation that is sensitive to the current problems of humanity and produces solutions," Altun explained.
The TÜRGEV chairman visited the stands where paintings, marbling and handicraft products prepared by students were exhibited in the garden and received information from the students about their works.
In the program, painting workshop students presented Altun with a painting of the Dome of the Rock, and GIF Silopi students recited the poem "I Saw the Dome of the Rock in My Dream."
The program ended with a piano recital by the students.
Aimed at providing young and adult students with a free, accessible and comfortable learning environment, TÜRGEV offers free, accessible and comfortable working environments to young and adult students.
The program provides a healthy working environment, basic resources and educational support in all four of its current locations with studying and activity centers for high school, university, master's and doctoral students.
The GIF project also aims to provide facilities for academic, professional or personal studies.