Our mission
To keep children and young people at risk of leaving education because of financial hardship in school, and to remove the barriers in front of their education by meeting their families' basic needs.
Our vision
A Turkey where no child leaves school because of poverty, where donors can see their impact first-hand and where social solidarity becomes a lasting culture.
Our principles
- Equal opportunity: Applications are assessed on need and achievement alone, regardless of religion, language, gender or political views.
- Transparency: Each year we publish our income and expenditure, our independent audit report and the share of our administration costs.
- Dignity: The identity and photographs of people we support are never shared without consent, and no campaign uses distressing images of children.
- Continuity: We favour support that lasts until graduation over one-off aid.
- Local partnership: We work with village headmen, parent-teacher associations and local teachers, and assess needs in the field.
How do our principles work in practice?
Every scholarship application is scored by at least two volunteer assessors with identity details masked. In campaign photographs, children's faces are used only with the guardian's written permission. When we select a local partner for each project we obtain at least three quotes and submit the reasons for our choice to the audit board. Donors' preferences are binding: a donation made to a particular project is not used for another item.
Who do we work with?
Our work is carried out in partnership with village headmen's offices, parent-teacher associations, local teachers, professional chambers and other civil society organisations. We have no institutional ties to any political party, association or religious body; this independence lets everyone reach people in need at equal distance.