The Young Girls from Boztepe meet with the City

(National Meeting on Children, City, Environment and Architecture,

November 21-22, 2008 Ankara)

Gülbiye Yenimahalleli Yaşar

The girls, living in squatter’s houses in the shadow of skyscrapers in Ankara, are leading an isolated life from the city. Wealth and poverty go hand in hand. There are schools, but they don’t have support for their education. They have rights, but they both don’t know what are they and aren’t aware of how to gain them. There is mine of information very close to them, but they neither have means to reach them nor know how to reach. Within the scope of “The concept of Urban House”; “Young Girls’ House”, initiated by Fişek Institute and devoted to the young girls who are coming from low-income families and are studying in primary school, has been continuing on its studies in its 5.year. In the context of the this article, the data of the study named “Urban values and Citizenship”,supported by pre-test and post-test, will be shared with the reader and lessons will be tried to be discovered in the light of the findings.

Keywords: Squatter’s house, Urban Value, Citizenship

The project of “Young Girls’ House” of the Fisek Institute Science & Action Foundation for Child Labor is a part of the studies of the Institute aiming to put an end to child labor. There are two dimensions of the studies to put an end to child labor. The first and the most important one is to enable the children to continue their education via putting an end to child labor in the long run. The other one is the protection of the children in the working environment in terms of health and safety during the process to reach the long term goal, namely in the short and middle term. Fisek Institute has been contributing, for a quarter century, with its model studies which serves health and safety in either workplaces or the Apprenticeship Training Centres in order to reach the short term goals. “Young Girls’ House” has been started to be implemented to contribute for the long terms goals of ending the child labor via supporting the young girls’ to continue to the school.

The concept of “Urban House” provide a basis for our “Young Girls’ House” project(1). This conceptualization generally includes the internalization of contemporary urban values rather then conventional values. Within this scope; to keep children out of the work life, to train young girls for their identities and professions, the studies of “life support” for the mothers, to teach to get benefit from the social institutions, the improvement of the sense of organization and organizing are targeted.

In this regard, the main aim of the “Young Girls’ House” is to bring the women and girls to the forefront in dealing with the poverty and internalizing the urban values via increasing the level of educational and social participation of young girls. To help the migrated families for replacing the rural values with the urban values and conforming their behaviours to the urban life and searching solutions for their problems are among the other targets(2).

For that purposes; a four-roomed squatter’s house in Boztepe Neighborhood in Çankaya, Ankara serves both a place to study and technical supports including foods, help for their lessons, library and computers to 70 young girls studying in 4^th to 8^th grade in primary school. The reason of the inclusion of girls in the project is the inequality of opportunity in education. The support on education is supported with the trainings such as creative drama which contributes for their personal development. Moreover, the girls are taken on trips such as more crowded areas of the city, theaters, zoos, museums and are made to believe in that they will be a part of the city as long as they keep on their education. On the other hand; the affection and favour, the young girls experience in the Young Girls’ House, improve their self confidence, enable them to unearth their talents and positively affect them to become a person who are single-minded and have a profession in the end(2).

Devoted to the young girls, this experience keeps them away on one hand from work life in during their young ages and on the other hand from the early marriages. Increasing marriage age will lead to pursue their careers and decrease the number of working children(3).

Within the scope of “life support” directed to the mothers, the mothers of the young girls are also supported. For this purpose; thanks to the handiwork they are given in order to make them take part in production process, they are encouraged to get rid of being unnerved due to inequality of opportunity in work life and thus supported to escape from the world in which they are imprisoned and increase their self-confidence.

Furthermore, they are also supported socially by the trips which enable them to go out of the house and their knowledge level is aimed to be increased with the help of the trainings such as hygiene, family planning, women rights.

The summary of a day which may help you to visualize our daily study;

• After school, the students run breathlessly through short cuts to the Home with great eagerness. Moreover; the group of girls, who come to the Young Girls’ Home on Fridays, ask permission from teachers to deploy closely to the doors on the flag raising ceremony in order to come to the Home earlier. Because of the fact that as it is seen from the answers of the question “Why are you here?” asked in the 6.mount of the Young Girls’ House, the Young Girls’ House is warm and silent, there are library and computers and most importantly they attract great attention.

• Firstly; “feeding time” composed of cake and fruits and talking shortly about the order of the day,

• Then; thanks to our volunteers help, lecture reviews, do tests and examine the false answers,

• If they have time, computers and games(4),

• And, repeated whenever possible, the key issues like human rights and some topics of the agenda of Turkey and the world which are related to them closely.

These are the activities that are organized for young girls and their mothers to get meet to the city;

• Atatürk’s Mousoleum,

• Trip to zoo,

• Going to the theatre,

• Going to Gölbaşı,

• Celebration to March 8, International Women’ Day

• April 23, National Sovereignty and Children’ Day

• Meeting with 10^th President of Turkish Republic Ahmet Necdet Sezer, as the first non-governmental organization, the girls from the Young Girls’ Home on 23 April 2007(5).

If we get back to the concept of “urban home” and the targets of our Young Girls’ House, how we will explain the being from the city and what does ‘living in the city’ mean to the people who migrate from rural to urban areas? When we ask what the young girls understand from being from the city, the first reaction we get was “Will we talk about Boztepe?”. Another girl added “city, city” as we have learned from our book. The other came forward “city and urban are synonyms”. Even this conversation showed us that it’ll not be that easy. Let’s see the answers given by young girls for the question ‘being from the city” (Table 1):

• Among 4^th grades: 21% of them defines it as to be helpful, respectful and tolerant, 18% of them as to obey the rules, other 18% as to be born, grow up and live in the city and the last 11% as to get benefits from the richness of the city: School, hospital, library, post office, market, park, play fields.

• Among 5^th grades: 18% of them defines it as to speak nice and be well-dressed, 14% of them as to obey the rules, other 13% as to be well-educated, intellectual and cultured and educate young girls and the last 13% defines it as to get benefits from the richness of the city.

• Among 6^th grades: 20% of them defines it as to obey the rules, 18% as to protect the environment and being sensitive to the environment, 16% as to be helpful, respectful and tolerant, 11% as to know rights and responsibilities and to exercise them and other 11% as to participate artistic activities such as cinema, theater, concert and cultural activities.

• Among 7^th and 8^th grades,18% of them defines it as to protect the environment and being sensitive to the environment, 18% to know to be someone from the city and to have a city culture, 16% as to obey the rules, other 16% as to be helpful, respectful and tolerant and lastly 11% as to be well-educated, intellectual and cultured and educate young girls

Considering the percentages of the rows, “To know to be someone from the city and to have a city culture” is mentioned by 80% of the 7^th and 8^th grade students, “To participate artistic activities such as cinema, theater, concert and cultural activities” is the definition of 71% of the 6^th grade students, “To be able to make shopping easily: from market, shops” is the definition of 100% of the 5^th grades and “To be free and live in peace” is the definition of 66% of the 4^th grade students.

TABLE 1: What is “being from the city”?

“Being from the city means..	4. Grade (12 person)		5. Grade (15 person)		6. Grade (9 person)		7-8. Grade (12 person)
	Column %	Rows %	Column %	Rows %	Column %	Rows %	Column %	Rows %
1.To protect the Environment, Being sensitive to the Environment.	4	5	7	19	18	38	18	38
2.To read books, be investigative and improve science and technology	–	–	5	43	4	29	4	29
3.To obey the rules (including rules of good manners, traffic rules etc.)	18	18	13	25	20	32	16	25
4.To be well-educated, intellectual and cultured and educate young To speak nice and be well-dressed girls.	7	11	13	39	9	22	11	28
5. To know to be someone from the city and to have a city culture.	4	10	2	10	–	–	18	80
6.To know rights and responsibilities and to exercise them.	4	13	–	–	11	63	4	25
7. To participate artistic activities such as cinema, theatre, concert and cultural activities.	–		4	29	11	71	–	–
8. To get benefits from the richness of the city: School, hospital, library, post office, market, park, play fields	11	21	13	50	9	29	–	–
9.To be helpful, respectful and tolerant	21	21	14	29	16	25	16	25
10. To be able to make shopping easily: from market, shops	–	–	9	100	–	–	–	–
11.To be free and live in peace.	7	66	2	33	–	–	–	–
12. To be born, grow up and live in the city.	18	42	2	8	2	8	11	42
13. To speak nice and be well-dressed	7	15	18	77	–	–	2	8

Then we asked our girls from the Young Girls’ Home “What kind of city you would like to live in?(Table 2):

• 32% of the 4^th grades would like to live in a city which is “Organized, secure, peaceful, clean and green city”, 23% of the 5^th grades would like to live in a city which “Does not experience terror, savageness and natural disasters”, 15% of the 6^th grades would like to live in a city in which “The rules are obeyed” and 30% of the 7^th and 8^th grades would like to live in a city in which is “Organized, secure, peaceful, clean and green city”.

• Considering the percentages of the rows, the desire mentioned by the 43% of 4^th grade students is about the city which “Is composed of citizens who know their rights and responsibilities” and by the 71% of 5^th grades is about a city which “Does not experience terror, savageness and natural disasters”. Moreover, 63% of the 6^th grade students’ desire is about the city in which “Educated, intellectual and sensitive citizens live” and 67% of the 7^th and 8^th grade students’ desire is about the city which “Does not include privileges, differences between rich and poor and financial problems”.

TABLE 2: What kind of city you would like to live in?

I would like to live in a city which..	4. Grade (12 person)		5. Grade (15 person )		6. Grade (9 person)		7-8. Grade (12 person )
	Column %	Rows %	Column %	Rows %	Column %	Rows %	Column %	Rows %
1.Is Organized, secure, peaceful, clean and green city.	32	18	21	31	23	24	30	27
2.Gives importance and opportunity to education.	12	20	8	33	4	13	13	33
3. The rules are obeyed in (including rules of good manners, ban on smoking etc.).	8	14	5	21	15	50	5	14
4.Educated, intellectual and sensitive citizens live in.	–	–	3	25	11	63	3	13
5.Has social opportunities such as school, park, theatre, cinema, sports, hospital and library.	–	–	9	30	15	35	18	35
6.Is respectful for the citizens, environment and animals.	12	14	12	38	11	24	13	24
7.Does not experience terror, savageness and natural disasters.	12	14	23	71	–		8	14
8.Has employment opportunities.	4	17	3	33	4	33	3	17
9. Tolerant and helpful citizens live in.	8	13	11	47	13	40	–	–
10. Is composed of citizens who know their rights and responsibilities.	12	43	3	29	4	29	–	–
11.Does not include privileges, differences between rich and poor and financial problems.	–	–	3	33	–	–	10	67

EVALUATION:

Our young girls mostly attributes “to obey the rules, to be helpful, respectful and tolerant, to protect environment, to be well-educated, intellectual and cultured and to get benefits from the richness of the city” to the concept of “being from the city”.

The answers of the question of “What kind of city you would like to live in?” including; the concept of organized, secure, peaceful, clean and green city, a city which is respectful for the citizens, environment and animals but does not experience terror, savageness and natural disasters, a city which has social opportunities such as school, park, theater, cinema, sports, hospital and library and gives importance and opportunity to education and a city in which the rules are obeyed and tolerant and helpful citizens live, are the desires of our young girls. The reason is their answer to the “Could you find what you would like for a city in Boztepe?”, “No”. This obviously reveals how they are girded by poverty and deprivation and how they live far from the city.

When we look at two tables together, their definition of “being from the city” and “the city they would like to live in” are match up with each other. However, Table 2 also shows some prominent desires bring their poverty, which is created by the our country’s socio-economic structure, to light. These desires are about the city which does not include privileges, differences between rich and poor and financial problems but has employment opportunitie. Apart from the natural disasters, isn’t the desire of the girls about a city without “terror and savageness” also the result of these problems?

CONCLUSION:

We are hopeful for our young girls. During our 5-year experience, we have been observing that they became aware of the importance of education which ensure to break the siege of poverty and deprivation and have already been experiencing it thanks to their increasing success in school.

Bibliography:

1. Fişek, A.Gürhan, ” Kentli Evi Kavramının Kurumsallaştırılması”, Çalışma Ortamı Dergisi, Temmuz Ağustos 2001, Sayı : 57
   s.19.
2. Genç Kız Evi: Kadınlar Eliyle Topluma Sunulan Can Simidi,
   (,
   erişim tarihi Kasım 2008)
3. Fişek, Oya, “Çocuk Emeğinin Sona Erdirilmesi: Genç Kız Evi Deneyimi”, Çalışma Ortamı Dergisi, Eylül-Ekim 2005,
   Sayı : 82, s.21,
   (https://fisek.org.tr/sunum_genckizevi.php, erişim tarihi Kasım 2008)
4. Fişek, A.Gürhan, “Kentli Evi Kavramsallaştırması Temelinde Genç Kız Evi Modeli”, 7. Sokakta çalışan ve Yaşayan
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5. https://fisek.org.tr/genckizevi-haber.php