TIKA aims to instill sense of volunteering in students

Turkey’s aid agency aims to instill in students a sense of volunteering with around 100 projects that will be realized abroad.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) will send 500 students from 117 universities in Turkey to 30 countries between July 29 and Sept. 8, within the framework of “2018 Experience Sharing Program”.

The students, including 300 males and 200 females, will participate in around 100 projects and activities in the countries they visit.

The program will give the students an opportunity to observe the TIKA and Turkish non-governmental organizations’ efforts.

The program will begin on July 29 with an orientation in Istanbul and after that the first group will leave for Niger.

Apart from Niger, the students will go to Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Djibouti, Chad, Morocco, Ghana, Georgia, Cameroon, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Colombia, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mozambique, Namibia, Uzbekistan, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Jordan, Moldova and South Africa.

They will participate in the implementation of projects related to renovation and reparation of schools, orphanages, libraries and places of worship, as well as providing them with equipment.

The students will also join social, cultural and humanitarian aid activities.

The program includes interaction between the university students in Turkey and the youth living in different regions of Africa, Asia, Balkans and Middle East, where TIKA is supporting development projects.

It also aims at building “friendship bridges” between the students.

The program was first organized in 2017 by TIKA in cooperation with Turkish Airlines, Anadolu Agency and state broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television (TRT).

Last year’s program was attended by 220 students, who visited 19 countries and fulfilled 28 projects.

The students visited Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania, Kenya, Senegal, Guinea, Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Uganda, Jordan and Lebanon.