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Our visit to the school showed us the need for proper educational facilities in such regions. When the local government was not able to provide the social need of proper education for the kids, it was the insight of people like Kelly that aided the local people. But there isn't a 'Kelly' in every remote region. Even Kelly herself was in Canakkale by chance. Seeing the need of the people and acting on it, that's what social entrepreneurs are made up of. Sujay Natson
We drive from the ecofarm in Dedetepe to the next town to visit an abandoned village school, renovated and turned into a seasonal workshop space by Zerrin Iren, art history professor at Yildiz Technical University. Zerrin, like many others that we have met on our path, wants to get away from city life and move permanently to Adatepe, and is concerned about preserving the natural fabric of the village. Her method is one of reappropriating and recycling—taking the existing structure of the abandoned school and putting it back to use. The talks and workshops, we are told, focus mostly on arts, history and philosophy. Zerrin contributes to the bigger picture by creating a platform and making it widely available. Leyla Levi
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ÇÖP(M)ADAM BY NEHA GOYAL
“After you start something, and it grows, you have to remember that it’s not always about you”
Meeting Tara was interesting because we actually met the women who worked at cop(m)adam before we were able to meet her. I say this because we were able to hear about the impact of her venture first-hand before we herd her personal story, or obstacles she faced during the creation of her venture. A little background on cop(m)adam: A group of women in Ayvalik work together in this space, creating purses and accessories out of trash, that are later sold at stores such as Harvey Nickels. The social venture aims to empower women by employing them – giving them financial independence from the men in their lives and thereby boosting their selfconfidence. The women working at cop(m)adam seemed to have formed a strong, supportive, working community. Each woman is given some kind of work depending on her comfort level and ability. If a woman wants to make a particular good, another women will teach her how to, and she can move up the ranks in due time. They decide on the price of the goods they create together, eat lunch together, and create together. Some women choose to work from home, as their husbands would prefer that. However, one thing they definitely had in common was a gratefulness and admiration for Tara. Talking to Tara herself, we were then able to gain valuable insight into the questions that arise then trying to actually form a social venture. Social entrepreneurs are inevitably extremely personally invested in their ventures; they speak to a part of their self. This can be both a blessing and a curse. As Tara mentioned, there come a certain point where you have to remember the people whom you set the venture up for, and remember that it’s not all about you. I think this part might have spoken to me because it reminded me of how young we are – there is no way a younger, more zealous, potential social innovator would be able to provide this kind of hindsight. Another interesting piece of advise Tara gave us, was to work within the system. This was especially pertinent given the context of our visit (Gezi
“If you have an idea, you have to go with it” Park) – and the influence of the political framework on social ventures here in Turkey. She was very aware that she would not be able to change the entire framework for women in Turkey, at least not instantly, and she was also well aware that as an outsider, the way she would need to conduct herself differed from that of an insider. An awareness of audience and humbleness in terms of positionality are important attributes in social entrepreneurs. Perhaps this is what makes a ‘successful’ social entrepreneur: an awareness of his/her limitations. She knows that for some women, their dreams are to get married and take care of a family. However at the same time, she wants to show women that there is an alternative life path that can be taken – not trying to change a social fabric, but rather to work within it. In my opinion this is a frustrating, but truly innovative and empathetic path, that is hard not to respect. Finally – we were able to ask Tara for some advise. She told us that if we have an idea, we need to go out and run with it, to ask the questions we want to, so that we can get the right answers. After experiencing a venture such as hers, it’s hard not to feel inspired.
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