What a difference a year makes - Latest Bozalan visit

[Pi55y]

What a difference a year makes -

As you all know a year ago the 3C’s announced that we hoped to help Bozalan village school, a very poor village school high up on the snow line in the mountains above Saklikent. The school which had a badly leaking roof was in such a state of disrepair that only two of the classrooms could be used and these were wet and unhealthy.  Over the winter the 3C’s paid half the cost of the roof repairs and also had a full central heating system installed which had been donated by a sponsor for our charity to allocate to a suitable school.

Then earlier this year, once the school had dried out,   Keith very kindly announced that he wanted CBF to support a charity in 2012 and chose Bozalan to be the forum’s first charity project, working in tandem with the 3C’s to improve conditions and provide much needed equipment and an enjoyable environment for the youngsters at the school.

That is where all you lovely CBF members joined in and helped to make the project an outstanding success. Thanks to your enormous kindness and generosity in donating money to purchase much needed equipment as well as providing stationery and other items and donating clothing etc, the school has improved beyond recognition.

Many of the newly purchased items were taken to the school during Keith’s visit to Turkey in May, then during the summer closure the 3C’s paid for the school to be painted inside and out, ready for the new carpet, desks and cupboards to be delivered.  The playground equipment had also been installed since our last visit.  All that was left was to take up the new slippers, donated school uniforms, jackets and shoes and stationery - and take pictures. 

Yesterday sixteen 3C’s committee members and charity shop volunteers, made the 100k round trip to the school in a fleet of 3 Mercedes people carriers generously provided free of charge by Fethiye Airport Transfers (thanks Highlander for arranging this). Not only did FAT’s drivers provide our group with very comfortable and safe transport but they also joined in with the children’s games. Dilek Dincer, Director of Fetav and Kadriye and Unal Bey also from Fetav and other dignitaries and press also went on the visit.

Our group were really pleased to see that the school is now using three classrooms and that there is now running water to the toilet block.  This still needs to be renovated but there are plenty of tiles left to reroof the building and make it watertight.

After a tour of the school and watching the children enjoy their new playground equipment - you couldn’t keep them off it long enough to take group photos! -  the committee members, volunteers and children were all invited to lunch at the Managers house in the nearby village.  This was cooked over an open fire in the garden by the village ladies and the local Muhtar and the villagers all attended. 

Summing up the visit Anne (forum member Mercury) said

“I have NEVER seen such a change in any children in any of the schools the 3C’s have visited. At the first visits they were quiet and slightly subdued. They are most definitely NOT like this now. My feelings are that the changes to the buildings and the play things we bought on behalf of CBF members  etc, have really improved their outlook on going to the school now and they are definitely happier. livelier and more confident children....”

The 3C’s cannot thank Keith, CBF members and our supporters enough  in helping with this project as you have really helped to make a difference to the lives of these children  - and now for the photos……………


Before ........










Now..........










Nursery class before..........







Nursery class now.........















Main classroom  before ..........






Main classroom now...........







Third classroom before.........







Third classroom now...........






Corridor before............





Corridor now..........





Playground before .........





Playground now.........














Anne and Barbara (Mercury and Busy Bee deliver the slippers





and the uniforms and jackets





Our fleet of cars courtesy of the lovely drivers from Fethiye Airport Transfers





3C's committee members, volunteers and the drivers from Fethiye Airport Transfers




Lunch is served............
















Happy smiling children.........











Thank  You

[cheers]

Absolutely fantastic!!  Well done to everybody who helped this miracle possible.  No other words

[busybee]

It was an absolutely brilliant day with weather to match!!!  The kids are sooooo happy and happy kids learn lots more.  I wasnt able to go on initial visits but I know from the previous photos what a transformation the school has undertaken.  The playground equipment is an absolute winner and at break time the kids can let off steam.  We were provided with an unexpected lunch in one of the villagers houses and very typical of Turkish hospitality. It has been such a worthwhile project and cant thank everyone enough for all their support throughout.

[Liz 101]

As someone who saw the school in the "bad old days" just after the central heating was installed, it was a priviledge to make the trip yesterday. The school has been transformed, as have the kids; where once they had no spark & quietly queued up for a lolly, they are now noisy, normal kids!

Thanks a million to everyone in CBFland who made this all possible

[Marggie]

What a wonderful achievement.  Well done to everybody who worked tirelessly to achieve this wonderful  result.  The children looked so happy and this winter they will be cosy and dry.

[marina]

Wonderful photos.  Fantastic achievement by everyone involved, however large or small the contribution.  Well done   

[Pi55y]

It has been a great result and we at the 3C's feel so proud to have been part of it and cannot thank Keith enough for wanting to support this project as our charity could not have achieved any where near the results at this school without the enormous generosity of CBF members.  As this is the CBF's 2012  project it is only right that our official  photos of the visit be posted here on CBF before anywhere else,  so on Keith's request I have added them here. However  I am sure that there were some other photos taken of the visit so if any of the committee or volunteers have any more photos of the school and the children please can you add them to this thread so that forum members can see what they supported.  Thanks   

[Lotty]

Wow! This is just amazing, it's a lovely warm feeling I have. They look so happy and it feels good for us all to have been able to have helped just a tiny bit. The real heroes are the tireless committee who put so much effort and time into making all this happen. All choked up now! Thank you for the update.

[turkishrod]

If just ONE child's life is enhanced by the results of this joint project then all the hard work will have been worthwhile.

I think we can all see from these fantastic photos that many, many children have big smiley faces now - result !!!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has been involved in any way - YOU have made a big difference           

[heather07]

Thank you for the pictures .  I was happy to help you.   Now I feel honoured to have been allowed to be a small part of your project.
The easy bit was donating you guys did ALL the hard work and I am sure you got your reward just looking at those little faces.  Well done ..XX

What struck me was how well everything was being looked after.  We visited a village in Mexico and were encouraged to take something for the children.  The garden was littered with broken toys so it is lovely to see the toys intact.