I've eaten my pasta -- ratatouille made with eggplant, tomatoes and garlic bought from the neighborhood vegetable vendor earlier today and spiced with thyme and rosemary cut from the flower boxes on the window sill. Such is life in Istanbul.
As you may have guessed from the pictures on this blog and on Facebook, one of the things I love most about living in Istanbul is running with my friends in Adım Adım. Adım Adım means is Turkish for step by step. Founded just three years ago, this group does two things.
First, it promotes the development of running as a recreational sport in Turkey.
My buddies Şener Kurtuluş, Ufuk Biriz, Tolga Baloğlu and Renay Onur. These guys keep Adım Adım running.
Second, Adım Adım encourages runners to run not only for their own well-being but for the well-being of society. How cool is that?! Plus, in three years, one of the founders, Cem Uçan has established a writer's workshop and he has also written and published a book of short stories (Back to the Beginning, in Turkish). As for the group as a whole, Adım Adım as attracted hundreds of runners and thousands of contributors, raising USD 500,000 in 36 months. Very cool! Burası Türkiye, as they say. Only in Turkey ;)
Here's Cem running backwards in Antalya. He's very metaphorical, but what do you expect from a comparatist? BTW, Cem completed his Master's in Comparative Literature under the direction of my dear friend and Indiana University Ph.D. Süha Oğuzertem.
Where has the time gone? Where has all the money gone?
The members of Adım Adım raise money for four charitable organizations: one of which supports people with different physical abilities (TOFD), two educational efforts (TEGV and TOG) and an environmental group with a focus on Anatolia's biodiversity (Buğday). Each of these organizations has met Adım Adım's rigorous standards for clarity of purpose, impact on society and transparency of accounting (the Adım Adım board includes an management consultant, an investment banker, an industrial engineer, technology specialists and a Ph.D in philosophy -- they know transparency and clarity of purpose when they see it . . . and do the pains-taking vetting . . . working with them requires the patience of a dervish, and four charities made the cut.) All funds given on behalf of Adım Adım runners (including any made on my behalf by you, my friends and family) go directly to the specific projects selected by Adım Adım, e.g., for the purchase of electric-powered wheelchairs or university scholarships for needy students.
Adım Adım collects no money; volunteers contribute their time and skills to publicize the fund-raising effort and raise participation in charity runs, a new phenomenon in Turkey.
Turkey is a large country with diverse cultural and ethnic communities, and the diversity of charitable organizations supported by Adım Adım provide a remarkable window into the strength of Turkish society's voluntary non-governmental support for people in need. Becoming familiar with these organizations and becoming friends with the members, managers and beneficiaries of these groups has, without question, been one of the high points of my 4-plus years in Turkey.
TOFD: The Turkish Spinal Cord Injury Paralytics Association provides education, support and advocacy for people whose physical mobility has been limited due to paralysis.
TEGV: The Turkish Educational Volunteers Foundation provides extra-curricular programs, ranging from art to music to computer instruction for school children all over Turkey, particularly in economically disadvantaged communities.
TOG: The Social Volunteers Association provides four-year financial assistance to economically needy students. These students in turn agree to stay in school, keep up their grades and do regularly work for a designated charitable project.
BUĞDAY: Focuses on preserving Turkey's biological diversity by, for example, offering assistance to farmers who raise crops using indigenous seed stock. Buğday also assists in the development of organic agricultural methods and standards in Turkey.
If you would like more information on any of these organizations and how you or your company can help the cause of education, physical mobility or environmental preservation in Turkey, please send me an email at jcrofootATearthlinkDOTnet. Given my own interest in higher education, I have personally chosen to support TOG and invite you to join me. For $150 you can support a student for one month.
Better yet, why not join us in three weeks in Beirut (Beirut Marathon, November 7) or in March in Antalya or next fall in Istanbul. Everyone in Adım Adım would be very happy to meet you and tell you about all the great things happening here. Hard choices: TOFD, TOG, TEGV, Buğday and Istanbul, Beirut and Antalya. That's life in Turkey! Burası Türkiye!
Hope to hear from you soon. John
Here's my friend Ramazan Baş, head of TOFD, crossing the Bosphorus Bridge in last year's 15km event. Can you imagine how much fun it is to run from Asia to Europe? You could do it in 2011! jcrofootATearthlinkDOTnet
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