Support us to improve our various enrichment programs for refugee children, increase our impact with the most vulnerable populations in Istanbul, and provide more opportunities for disadvantaged youth in the city.

Istanbul&I is a community of young people dedicated to bringing refugees and locals in Istanbul together. We give Turkish and English language immersions for unaccompanied refugee children, teach Syrian children their mother tongue, and help provide dinner to hundreds of homeless people. We’re students, young professionals, volunteers, dreamers -- and some of us are refugees ourselves.

WHO WE ARE: FROM 12 to 450

In February 2016, Teymour Ashkan and 11 friends created what is now a strong community of 450 volunteers from over 65 countries. Istanbul&I grew during Ramadan of 2016, where we organized a community iftar in the disadvantaged neighborhood of Tarlabaşı.

“It was so beautiful to see us organize and implement something together. We collected food donations from our personal networks and went to Tarlabaşı to share an Iftar with the local population.” - Büşra, 25, pre-school teacher, Turkey

“You come here, bring us food, play with our children and allow us to enjoy the park! God bless you my kids.” - A mother tells us while enjoying her tea after an Iftar.

By the end of summer 2016, the community had grown to nearly 100 members.  We currently boast 450 members from 65 countries around the world. We are currently organizing our third Iftar&Community, and we will hold two Iftar events a week.

BECOMING AN NGO: OUR PAST YEAR

We are so grateful for the overwhelming global support for our cause! Thanks to the success of our crowdfunding campaign last Ramadan, we’ve been able to develop rapidly and meet our organizational goals. Since then...

We started our own independent refugee-support project! The Unaccompanied Minors Learning and Wellness Project was launched in August 2017. We are offering Turkish and English language immersions, as well as social and sports activities five days a week for a group of unaccompanied refugee boys of Afghan, Iranian, Iraqi, and East African origin. While they are given basic needs like food and shelter, along with a little pocket money at their dormitory, many of them are not allowed to receive a formal education in Turkey due to paperwork issues, hurting their ability to integrate into society.

With our programs we aim to equip the boys with the language skills needed to seek employment and higher education, as well as gain the ability to self-study using online resources. With the Sports and Social Enrichment programs, we aim to help the boys improve their physical wellness and social skills.

We opened our social impact office space! In October, we began operations at our social impact office space in the heart of Istanbul. We empower young people to put their ideas to action and work to make our office an urban space for a more inclusive Istanbul. In our office, we hold social inclusion events daily such as English, Turkish, Arabic, and French speaking clubs; TALK workshops held by experts in various fields; our public discussion program ÇayTalks; and our festive celebration of cultures and ethnicities in Introduction to Culture nights.

We became a legal NGO! With a physical address, we applied and successfully received legal NGO status in Turkey. With our NGO licence, doors have opened for grants, competitions, sponsorships, and trainings! We are deeply ingrained in a network of NGOs working on youth empowerment and refugee issues.

We began new learning programs in Okmeydani and Qunuysho! We are currently cooperating with Okmeydanı Social and Solidarity Community Center and Okmeydanı Women’s Refugee Kitchen. We organize Turkish curriculum homework help and dynamic art workshops led by our skilled volunteers every Saturday. At Qunuysho, we are implementing a storytelling project giving Syrian children a space to creatively express themselves.

WHAT WE DO: BRINGING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER

Learning programs

We collaborate with community centers and NGOs in Istanbul to design and implement much-needed courses for refugee youth. Our volunteers teach environmental design, storytelling, Arabic, English, Turkish, computer literacy, coding, arts, and health classes.

We currently work with four different communities:

• Okmeydanı (30 children, ages 7-12, Syrian, Turkish, Kurdish)
  
• Unaccompanied Minors (30 teenagers, ages 15-18, Afghan, Pakistani, Iranian, Iraqi, and West African,)
  
• Yusra Center (20 children, ages 4-9, Syrian)
  
• Qnushyo (60 children, ages 7-14, Syrian)
  

We work six times a week with over 140 refugee children across these programs.

We aspire to increase these programs in size, quality, and variety. With your donations, we will be able to train our volunteers to help develop sustainable livelihoods for these refugee youth.

Social Inclusion Projects

Our social impact office space hosts daily community events for people regardless of background, legal status, age, or orientation. The aim of these projects is to promote inclusion and foster healthy dialogue amongst Istanbul’s multicultural and multi-faith communities.

Speaking Clubs: With Istanbul’s status as a transit city for many, our speaking clubs fill a need for accessible language learning and practice for the most in demand languages: English, Turkish, Arabic, and French. Many of our community stakeholders are new economic migrants hoping to improve their communication skills in order to enter the workforce, or receive higher education.

Intro to Culture: Introduction to Culture nights aim to promote mutual understanding and love between cultures, by demonstrating the cuisine, and traditions behind cultural holidays, diaspora communities and other underrepresented parts of the global community. Our diverse group of volunteers have helped raise awareness of multiple cultures in a fun and interactive way. Some of the cultures featured so far have been Kurdish, Persian, Eastern Turkish, Bosnak, and Chinese.

TALKs: Inspired by TedX, this public lecture series connects young people with Emmy Award winners, Ivy League academics, and global changemakers with solution-driven discussions about important issues in our society. We have delved into discussions about Islamophobia, Youth in Conflict, and Migration Impact to Cities, to name a few.

Personal Development Workshops: Our workshops focus on career and personal development skills such as starting an online business, understanding SEO, and painting portraits. 

CayTalks: This discussion series promotes learning from different perspectives and opinions. CayTalks discussions focus on philosophical problems to cultivate a sense of empathy and self reflection, and help connect young people on critical issues to our generation and society.

YOUR DONATION IN ACTION

More than ever, we understand the importance of the digital economy in the labor force. Technology and innovation are tools to empower young refugees and integrate them into society. This year, we hosted workshops from young Syrian entrepreneurs on how to start an online business, and it sparked an idea that captivated the community: What if Istanbul&I offers IT courses, programming workshops, collaborations on corporate training projects, and launch an incubator for refugee-led businesses? 

Many of our community stakeholders are here to stay in Istanbul. Our current projects ensure that young refugees are learning critical languages, improving their communication skills, and acquiring access to mentorship.

But, we need to do more.

With your support, we will launch an integrated technology classroom equipped with computers and smart boards to host our training projects for refugee youth. We will also retool our social impact space to accommodate the larger number of people who will utilize our space for their social enterprises and jumpstart their futures.

Because we are rapidly expanding our operations, we need to hire a part time financial consultant for our community. This will help maximize every dollar donated to Istanbul&I so our impact remains sustainable, achievable, and enduring. 

How You Can Help

We welcome donations of any amount. We would be so grateful if you to share this with your networks on Facebook, Twitter, or email! Please keep us in mind for anyone who would be interested in supporting our community.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IstanbulandI/

Website: http://istanbulandi.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/istanbulandi/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/istanbulandi