The Challenged Students were Empowered as ICT Seagulls...

Dear All,
We live a very exciting period. On one side; the primary and secondary school people are going to finalize their term work and trying to be ready for their term holiday which will last until 6th February. On the other side, the university students are very busy with their final exams.
While doing all these things we also try to draw the "Road Maps" of the 6th International ICT Seagulls Projects. This year, for the first time we involved the "challenged students" in our project. This has created a great satisfaction and happiness within us. Today I was at the Vezneciler Deaf Students' School. With their principal and three leading students, eight students have been very much interested in the project. It was my first experience with deaf and mute students and I felt a great hope within me. And I felt pity for not taking such a step six years ago.
I wish good luck to all ICT Seagulls Project circles who participate in from Sivas, Antakya, Burdur, Muğla, Istanbul, Lucknow-India, and Pretoria-SA.
Hayal KÖKSAL

Adding Value to Life

Dear All,
While our lives pass by silently it brings joy and sorrow to us. The secret of the tiny lines on our faces lies behind these feelings. An e-mail I got yesterday shook my body and spirit highly and then I wanted to share it with you, for it was just like a reflection of my feelings and thoughts. I think it is also a good reply to most of the people who feel frustrated due to the recent events in our world. I also would like to share a few lines of mine which spread upon the e-mail I got:

ADDING VALUE TO ...?
Sometimes we own everything at such a selfish manner that,
We seem to have forgotten that they were borrowed ones in fact.
We act as if we were the only owners.
We forget the real foudners and previous contributers,
And we fall into the false well of this thought: "There will be no one after us...."
We thing that we are the only owner!
Whereas, the thing which "makes us unforgattable" is the value we added to it,
A few details we contributed,
The spirit and power we tgave our friends while collaborating,
The wonderful feeling of producing together with İmece...
Not alone, never!

This year 6th. ınternational ICT Seagulls Project has 18 Turkish İmece Circles. We wtill wait for the participation of international Teams. With love and peace...
Hayal Köksal

DO NOT SAY: "MINE" FOR ANYTHING IN LIFE!!!
Never say: "It is mine" for anything!
Only say; "It is with me."
Because; neither gold or land, or sweetheart or death or life or peace stays with you forever
Nor sadness!
(I am grateful to Ö. Onur & A.Yaylı for sharing these lines with me.)

My Reflections for the Mauritius Event

Dear Dosts,

While I was going to Mauritius to participate in the "1st International Convention on Challenged Students Empowerment" which was held on 17-19 December, 2008, I had some questions in my mind: "Why Mauritius? Why not a larger and well-known country?" However, after meeting the Convenor and the other people and also witnessing the care shown to the challenged there, the content of my questions changed a lot. Since that time, I have been asking the following ones: "Why cannot the developed countries internalize "peace"? Why cannot they support and behave to every individual citizen equally? Why cannot we empower the challenged ones and create self-confidence in them as they did in Mauritius?"
In fact, the answer of these questions were given in yesterday's daily Cumhuriyet by our dearest friend Figen Atalay: "There is a multicultural structure in Mauritius and they all leave in peace. Everyone celebrates every religion's holy day. On the island there are Hindu temples, mosques and churches. Once, the war between British and French had been solved through a different method: The wounded commanders of each army had been placed within the same hospital room and all the disagreements had been finalized."
Now a similar approach is on. The richest and the poor people live together in a great harmony. Social security is high; free health care and free education have been provided with the Government. The population is 1,200,000. You might have said that: "Ooo, it is very easy to govern such a small community!". However, in such a country, it must be something extraordinary to be providing everything free and establishing so many NGOs supporting the challenged. It is so much interesting to achieve this at such a country where the freedom was gained in 1968 and the Republic was founded in 1992'. The people in that wonderful country have succeeded in this and got the advantage of being the pioneer one among the other countries organizing the 1st International Convention for the Challenged Students. I especially congratulate my dearest Dost Coco (Mohundas Teeluck), his lovely family and his very hardworking team.
It seems to me that I will never forget that wonderful country. We still get very sincere mails from the island. Coco sends their loves and regards of his family while sending his Reports. If you ask about us; we have had many things to do in the near future. Firstly, we include the challenged students into the 6th International ICT Seagull Project. Every circle is expected to include one challenged student. The CMS Team has already been formed. I congratulate them in advance.
Within my earlier diaries, I had shared some photos from the Mauritius event. As far as I notice; music and swimming are the most popular activities for the challenged students. Art is another one. I will never forget about the Sega music and dance of Mauritius which lasted for hours and hours at the Convention nights. The students used to wear their lovely dresses and then dance for hours. After the presentations and streams, each challenged student got an Award which is a must of the "Quality-Focused Activities". It was a well-managed Convention. I will never forget about the lights of hope within the pupils of their eyes. A similar event was held last year by the TOFD in Istanbul and I had again admired the president Ramazan Baş and his team. My suggestion for the coming years to work and collaborate more effectively for the lovely challenged students.
Our aim is to train new Helen Kellers, Einsteins and Hawkings. But to realize this; the support of the society, the logical and supportive laws of the policitians, the love and support of the families, the knowledge and support of the teachers are the main ingreadients. The challenged students watched and listened to the Convention keynotes from the first raw and I admired their attitude towards the speakers' words. They have influenced me a lot.
Now what we expect from the national and international authorities and NGO leaders is to be sensitive to those lines and to watch the videos and photos we collected from the venue there. We all know that; WE ARE ALL ONE AND WE STAND TOGETHER! Please share your reflections through mailing. Here is my address: hayal@hayalkoksal.com

I would like to send my love and respect to the authorities who held a wonderful meeting in Mauritius. We hope that the obstacles should not be in brains and minds to help each other.

Hayal Köksal