Izmit School Update by Vega Sankur

ATASC Board Member Vega Sankur has written the following update on the ATASC School in Izmit, Turkey:

Dear ATASC Community,

I arrived in Turkey and immediately went to Izmit to be at the ATASC school during the April 23 celebrations. The PTA is quite active and the head of PTA (Ebru Ozgur) hosted me for the evening. Next morning we went to the school for the ceremonies. I was very happy and proud that the celebrations were very well prepared fitting to the name ATASC. Moreover the speeches, poems, Ataturk's 10 year nutuk, etc were very much in line with the ideals of Ataturk and the republic. I am attaching a couple of pictures to give you the idea. I will have a more detailed show when I come back.

In addition to the poor students, the school has a lot of needs. There are still some basics that are missing - of course the school is a new school starting from zero and the government lacks the resources to furnish even the basics. The PTA tries to close some gaps, but they are not that well off either. I will go back to school next week and get more details.

Again, this is our school, they are trying with their limited resources to educate young minds, we can help.

Back to happy news - pictures from the celebration. The PTA paid for the folk dance costumes for the poor kids - very wisely- so all the children could participate in the events. I saw the very poor and covered up parents become so very proud of their children. Way to win hearts and minds.

Selam from Turkey
Vega Sankur