The building arrives!

Dear followers & supporters:

The first pictures of the Biga Women and Children's Center have arrived!

The building was transported from Golcuk to Biga about two and a half weeks ago, and construction is underway. Standing in front of the colorfully painted walls are two of the founders of the Bikad Cooperative, Ayfer Baykal and Ayse Temiztas. These two women will be leaders of the new center, training teachers for the daycare and preschool, and providing adult education courses to local women.

This week, the leaders of Bikad are meeting with local business leaders to discuss their support of the cooperative in the days, weeks, and years to come. Hayirli olsun!

With just one week before my journey back to Biga, I am incredibly excited to visit my old friends.

Thanks for reading!

all my best,
Jill

Laying the Foundation, Cont.

Sevgili Arkadaslar/Dear friends,

I am thrilled to write to you today with great news: the building of the Biga Women and Children's Center is underway. You can see below (in reverse order) the laying of the concrete slab that will serve as the foundation for the center.

Seeing these pictures, sent by Ayse Sokullu, my Turkish mother and the co-founder of the Bikad Women's Cooperative, I was overcome with emotion. This center began as a dream of several women, a dream to provide equal access to early childhood education to lower income families, and to empower women through education, work and affordable childcare.

I joined this team of dreamers a little over a year ago, when I began searching for funding possibilities for the project. I had the incredible fortune to come in contact with the Bridge to Turkiye Fund, a non-profit run by Turkish-Americans that supports development work in their native land. Hep beraber, "all together," we worked to raise $35,000 over the course of six months. Now the dream is taking shape.

I will be blogging throughout this summer on this project. I want to show all of the people who made this happen - our generous donors and supporters - the fruits of your labors.

Here are some events to look forward to in the days and weeks to come:

*The hauling of the prefabricated building from Golcuk to Biga.

*The construction of the building

*The equipping of the center

*The opening ceremony (sometime before the beginning of Ramazan on August 11th)

I will be blogging from the United States until August 4th, at which time I will be heading off to Turkey for three weeks to document the opening of the center and see my dear friends in Biga.

I look forward to following this amazing journey with you all!

Herkese cok tesekkurler...Thank you all so very much....

Jill

Laying the Foundation

The Bikad Women's Cooperative & Jill, Fall 2009