T.I.M.E. Comenius Istanbul

Design and layout by Meri-Tuuli Pahkala with Marleena Maliniemi, Anna Kronqvist, Janika Silvola

ISTANBUL (25-29 November 2013) Following the great success that was the fourth Comenius project meeting in Puchov (Slovakia), the bar was set high for our fifth meeting that would take place in Istanbul (Turkey) from 25th to 29th of November 2013. During the Istanbul visit, participating students worked on social entrepreneurship and Photojournalism There were 52 students and 25 teachers from six different European cultures (Finland, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Italy and Turkey ) All the students were made to feel welcome by host families while the teachers stayed in a local hotel in Kadıköy- İstanbul. The journey began on Monday 25th November. Having had long journeys the students and teachers arrived tired but in good spirits. The evening was a chance to relax and prepare for the cultural melting pot that would be the week ahead.

Tuesday 26th of November was a day of meet and greet which certainly proved a test for the Umraniye Vocational High School. All the students and teachers welcomed in the conference hall of the school and following the introduction of the program that lay ahead, the students and teachers were taken on a guided tour of the school’s facilities. This was perhaps the first insight for everybody into the character of the Turkish educational system in terms of vocational schools. Following a quick walk back to conference hall, everyone involved and participated in presentation by Berma Sutug AYDIN from AJNA agency about entrepreneurship. The day continued with a concert from the school band. A lively afternoon was started with the songs of our school band and it was very impressive and spectacle. Many students and teachers got in the spirit and joined it. The rest of the afternoon was spent with a training session about photo journalism and tomorrow’s work plan. A colorful and vibrant presentation by Gültekin TETİK concluded with fruitful information about the details of being a photojournalist.

On Wednesday 27th of November the Comenius group divided into five groups and visited different places about photojournalism. Finnish group teachers and students went to Grand Bazaar, Romanian team to Sabah Daily News Paper, Polish Team to Kadıköy Craft Bazaar, Italian team to AKUT research and rescue center and Slovakian team visited Tohum Foundation. In each location groups experienced and learnt ideas about social entrepreneurship and tried to get as much information as possible to prepare their own photo reportages. Then the groups gathered in Kabataş to start their tour in Bosporus. It was a chance for everyone to see everything through glamorous Bosporus. In the afternoon the groups visited Sait Çiftçi Primary School for having their lunch and finishing their jobs for the fifth issue of the T.I.M.E newspaper. The students were divided into five groups and were asked to complete their photo reportages by using the data that they collected throughout their visits in the morning. The teachers in the meantime arranged some of the plans for the project visit to Poland scheduled to take place in February 2014. After the students’ concluding their products, certificates were handed out and group photos were taken.

On Thursday 28th of November it rained a lot.

Scheduled was a trip to historical peninsula for seeing the many touristic attractions Istanbul has to offer. For example, Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia Museum, Blue Mosque and the exotic shops of Grand Bazaar. This was quite an eye opener with regards to the rich history of the city. Next day groups returned their homes with good thoughts feelings and positive comments. Many group pictures were taken as everyone said their goodbyes and expressed their hopes of meeting once again in the future.

Autistic Children What is autism?

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Autism is a disease that can be transmitted neurologically, genetically, or be caused by enviromental factors.

This disease causes the sickened person to not be able to comunnicate with others, grants them the inability to maintain eye contact and sometimes this people can have agressive impulses.

The causes or origins of autism being either unknown or impossible to proove, there is no known chemical, biological or scientifical ways to cure it.

Autistic Children • •

This illness usually appeares at an early age - from birth untill 3-4 years of ageThe affected kids loose all social contacts unless helped; they are unable to maintain the normal distance while trying to communicate, meaning that they either stay too far or too close.

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They like routines, any change leading to agressive behaviour. A good exemple of this is the changing of routes to school, or the changing of the items they use daily.

Today, 27.11.2013, we had the opportunity to visit one of the best facilities that tries to combat this problem, a problem that becomes more and more vsible as time passes. From 1997 untill now, the number of autistic children increased dramatically, due to the sudden evolution of technology, from 1 autistic child every 2500 kids to an incredible 1 child in every 88 kids, that being almost 20 times more than 8 years ago.

We feel obliged to offer our thanks to the manager back at Tohum, who gave us a complete tour, thus presenting us all the children hosted there.

The building itself was brought up in 1985, however it became a school only recently, in 2003, 15 April to be precise. The whole idea was to help the early diagnosis of autism, and to offer a cosy place for all those suffering of this disease.

Before being offered a tour, we were invited to see a presentation about autism and the techinques used by the fundation in order to try to cure these innocent kids.

This is a good example of the work the teachers do. There is a so-called "motivation system" used to keep these children busy.

Here is how it works: wenever a child does something good, or succesfully answers a question correctly, they receive a point. when they manage to earn enough points, they receive a prize.

To our joy, we heard that almost 40% of all the kids who ever visited this school managed to graduate, becoming almost cured, gaining the ability to continue their life by themselves.

During our visit to the tohum foundations we ended up with many different impressions, so we’d like to share some of them with our readers.

"I believe that this school is doing something noble, helping those who need it most" "I personally respect what these people are trying to achieve, granting some helpless people a second chance to joining society" "I now know that autism is not a blockadge, a dead end; it can be cured by light harted, patient and loving people" As a final touch, we present to you our redaction team!

T.I.M.E IN Grand Bazaar is a very important, historical place. It´s in the heart of Beyazit, a place full of surprises.

EXPLOSION OF COLOURS The Turkish cuisine is an explosion of tastes and colours. Juicy, sweet fruits are to be seen and offerend all around Grand Bazaar.

N BAZAAR

OLD AGE Carpet-sellers are the most common sights in Grand Bazaar, many of whom do it for their living.

LIGHT STAIRS You can see amazing things when you walk downs the labyrinths of Grand Bazaar; Handmade lights, scents and food give pleasure to all of your senses.

The City is Full of Colours The people color the city Kadıköy is a place where we can buy lots of traditional Turkish food, for example, vegetables, fruits, fish, spices etc.

This woman is making some traditional Turkish meal called ‘Mantı’ in her own restaurant. It’s a kind of pasta. The meal tastes delicious.

You can also try and enjoy ‘Simit’ which can usually be found at the street shops.

You can find them almost everywhere.

“Welcome to Arts Street”

This is people’s form of protest against the government’s decisions.

It’s not a typical protest because people decided to add color to the city.

These people don’t earn so much money but they have huge satisfaction because they do what people need them to do.

ISTANBUL – From ‘Sabah’ till midnight

Thanks to Comenius project students from several countries had the chance to see the wonderful city of Istanbul. After getting there the feelings were various, because the city is huge and of course stunning.

From all directions, you can hear different noises and see all kinds of people. Everybody was looking forward to see what this city can offer and honestly it was surprising in the best way.

Sabah is the biggest newspaper company which is publishing one of the best selling newspapers in Turkey.

Sabah has something for everyone! Each department has its own specialization, from economy to sports.

Also, there’s an office based on commercials.

The journalists at Sabah are highly qualified professionals.

Everybody was willing to answer all of the questions asked, being really nice and open.

AKUT is the most reliable comunity in Turkey.

Team 1 Finland Atilla Can Başaran Mehmet Aydoğdu Paivi Lyytinen Janne Taanila Ukko Pekka Lehto Marleena Maliniemi Stefano Morelli Ana Maria Bucată Cristina Discultu Team 3 Poland Ebru Yılmaz Gökçe Uysal-Zeynep Işık Małgorzata Krasowska Joanna Maria Reksc Ronja Nyberg Janika Silvola Zuzana Mikova Aleksandra Kaminska Diana Ursuleanu

Team 5 Slovakia Ozan Can Cuyar İbrahim Berk Akbulut Emel Gökdelen Lubomira Brtisova Maria Jakubekova Anna CHladecka Jarmila Meliskova Petri Jaakkola Andrea Mazzoli Martin Jancik Andrei Ududoiu Miron Bogdan Karolina Janiszewska

Team 2 Romania Osman Hatipoğlu Kazım Atun Ionela Neagoe Mariana Nicolaescu Tauno Rajaniemi Sampo Lepistö Anna Kronqvist Simona Lihocka Magdalena Bilska Anreea Simion Irina Mafteuță Simona

Team 4 Italy Taha Demirtaş Bedri Atik Marco De Carolis Andrea Angelucci Riccardo Rossini Paola Cornacchini Caterina Angelucci Bernardo Angelucci Paola Rossini Aleksi Tervo Joele Montagna Martin Trnik Andreea Barbu Diana Aldea

Saving lives since

1996