Protecting Street Children in Turkey

Mustafa is a runaway who, like hundreds of other street children in Istanbul, has learned to rely on the Laundry, a community center that includes a laundry service, cafeteria, .rst aid station, overnight shelter, and even offers haircuts, if youngsters need them.

The Laundry project, started in 2000 by the Children of Hope Association, a Turkish non-governmental organization, with the help of Japanese Grant Funds managed by the World Bank, helps street children get back on their feet. Through its services, the Laundry aims to increase education and hygiene among the kids, while helping them conserve what meager resources they have—usually only the clothes on their backs.

“It’s good to know that you can spend the evening under a shelter,” says Mustafa, one of the 107 registered kids, who comes to the Laundry regularly.

While street children are not as numerous as in some other countries, their numbers have been rising, especially in big cities. The problem is most acute in Istanbul, where more than 15,000 kids are addicted to intoxicating substances, such as paint thinner, glue or pills.

For Turkey, a country with strong social cohesion, this is a particularly sad phenomenon for, in Turkey’s traditional village life, such problems seldom emerged.

Although municipalities are handling this issue, in areas where the problem has grown signi.cantly, city authorities are increasingly turning to local NGOs. The Children of Hope Association is the first organization in Turkey to shelter and rehabilitate disadvantaged urban youth.

“If you put passion in what you believe in, and make all your resources and spiritual efforts available, you end up doing something for social development,” says Ahmet Yusuf Kulca, founder and president of the Association.

Updated: November 2003