TDP Volunteers Celebrate Children's Day in Sabuncupınar

The Railway Line Support Project, a TDP (Toplumsal Duyarlılık Projeleri/Social Awareness Projects) activity whose volunteers who travel by rail to visit primary schools, visited a school in Sabuncupınar village in Kütahya April 21-23.

April 23, the inaugural day of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1920, was declared a national holiday for children by Atatürk. Each year, the Railway Line Support Project volunteers choose to celebrate the day in a special way, by donating their time to help children.

In this, the ninth year of the project, 36 volunteers prepared a variety of activities for the Sabuncupınar primary school students: ebru, model aircraft making, ceramics, a crafts workshop, sand painting, wall painting, mask making, a rhythm workshop, scouting, brain teasers, chess, a treasure hunt, scientific experiments, a space workshop, tree and flower planting, a Karagöz shadow puppet play, a kite festival and sports. In addition, the children heard presentations about high school education and jobs, and about general cleanliness.

Volunteers also attended to some of the needs of the school. The project was able to establish a new library with donated books, and arranged the school's laboratory. Besides the help provided to the school and the children, conversations and concerts were organized to bring the whole community together. The villagers offered their hospitality to the volunteers, and enjoyed the entertainment organized by their guests.

At the end of each long day filled with hard work and fun, the volunteers retired to a railway car hired from Turkish State Railways. They could rest in the knowledge that they had done their best to foster the dreams of the children and help them realize how precious they are.