Being many people’s favorite activity, traveling is one of the best ways to get people out of their houses. Thus, you can find many organizations and institutions that offer help making this dream come true. But one such organization offers a different experience, with a traditional means of travel, the caravan, instead of planes, trains or automobiles. The Youth in Action (YIA) Caravan was created by S&G Sen Orada Gençlik Burada (YouTHere Youth Group), and it is supported by the Turkish National Agency, which is also known as the Center for EU Education and Youth Programs under the Prime Ministry’s State Planning Organization (DPT).
The project was designed to provide a more efficient basis for cooperation and information sharing amongst young people. The caravan was chosen because it was thought that such an idea would evoke excitement in young people and appeal to their common desire for travel.
Gürkan Akçaer, the chairperson of S&G and the project’s general coordinator, said they want to introduce EU-based youth and education programs to Turkish youth and that their primary target is to promote the voluntary work programs through which young people across Europe are mobilized in Turkey. “We want to create awareness within Turkish society. We also want them to go abroad and taste a different experience,” he explains. He adds that he had seen a similar project in France and that this made him want to try the same thing in Turkey.
The caravan is an EU project made in Turkey and it benefits from the bloc’s financial support. It is also supported by the Turkish National Agency, as well as sponsors, such as Temsa, a company that produces and distributes buses and coaches.
The caravan aims to increase awareness among young people about the opportunities provided by the European Union, to provide information about youth projects, to increase the quality of education and to create new opportunities.
During its travels, the caravan reaches thousands of young people across Turkey, as well as many young people from Europe. However, in order to be a part of the caravan, one does not have to be so “young.” The families of young people are also within the target audience of the caravan. Akçaer says they have members as young as 7 and as old as 70. “Now we have nearly 500 voluntary caravan members in Turkey, and we also aim to attract young people’s families, since we need them to believe in the caravan so that they will let their children join it. I can say our target audience is generally aged between 13 and 30,” he explains.
In order to become a voluntary worker in the caravan, one must apply at the program’s Web site, www.genclikkaravani.eu.
Destination of the caravan
The caravan’s trip across Turkey began in the northern province of Bartın and it has since visited the central province of Konya, the southern province of Mersin, Ankara and the central province of Kırıkkale. The caravan’s travel program will extend until May 9, 2009 and will end in Ankara, where the caravan will celebrate European day.
Akçaer said the caravan attracts attention from locals wherever it travels. Its last destination was Kırıkkale. “News items about us are broadcast on local television channels, and local newspapers publish stories about us. The project definitely has visibility. We were on two pages of a local newspaper in Kırıkkale. We also invited the group who prepared a 600 square meter Turkish flag, which made the front page of the international Newsweek magazine in February,” he added.
The caravan is not just working within the borders of Turkey. Its members have been to Germany, Italy and France to attend training programs organized by EU institutions. Akçaer noted that the caravan is planning to travel to Germany and Bulgaria but that the dates have not been set yet.
Supporting environmental causes is an important part of the caravan’s activities. On the YouTHere Web site there is a special notice on the importance of recycling used batteries.
Akçaer says the battery recycling issue has been particularly emphasized and that they want to contribute to environmental causes as well to EU issues. Noting that they call on young people to be aware about environmental issues, Akçaer said: “One alkaline battery poisons an area of one square meter. We are working in cooperation with TAP -- an association of portable battery manufacturers and importers. We take their waste battery boxes wherever we go.” He added that they warn young people about other environmental problems, but that their primary focus is on used batteries.
Caravan activities to come
The caravan is going to host five voluntary workers from Europe who will join its journey across Turkey. “These five people will be from Bulgaria, Hungary, France and Italy. They are all experienced in voluntary work and will share their experiences with Turkish youth in our travels,” Akçaer said.
He also noted that the European Capital of Culture in 2013 will be the French city of Marseille and that they have already begun searching for connections in France.
The caravan also shares an exhibition of 44 photographs selected based on the theme of “neighborhood” wherever it travels. The exhibition will eventually be placed in the European Union Information Center in İstanbul’s Taksim neighborhood.
Benzer Haberler 
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