Tunc Karacay
Public Achievement Program (PAP) originated in the U.S. in 1990. It was jointly created by Hubert H. Humphrey Social Political Institute and Center for Democracy and Citizenship. In Turkey,
Public achievement was realized in 2002. Dr.Serdar Değirmencioğlu, a lecturer on psychology at Arel University in Istanbul, introduced PAP in Turkey recruiting volunteers generally from university students.
PAP targets especially schools at low income neighborhoods of Istanbul and Ankara. Each volunteer coaches a group of eight to ten students between the ages 10 to 13.
“The aim of the program is to teach children that they have the capability to change things in their lives,” says one of the volunteers.
The coaches make sure to leave all the initiative to the children in their group. They let the children discuss and find their own solutions. So much so that, each group of children has a name that they choose themselves by unanimous vote.
By only asking questions the coach leads the children to express social and environmental problems that are the most bothering for them in their daily lives.
Last year, a group of primary school children participating in the program in Kustepe, decided that their main problem was, “people throwing ashes into garbage containers starting small fires.”
“Little Environmental Monsters!”
This group which named itself “Little Environmental Monster” was one of the groups consisting of 8 children living in Kuştepe which is one of the poor neighborhoods of Istanbul.
After a long discussion they decided that their main problem in the neighborhood was: “people throwing hot ashes into garbage containers causing small fires, because it is dangerous for both environment and children.”
Since Kuştepe is a poor neighborhood the problem defined by the children also indicated the level of their life standards where most of the heating is provided by coal stoves.
After they defined their problem, they started to discuss ways to solve it. While the children were discussing several solutions, the coach only asked questions on the feasibility of their suggestions.
After three weeks they reached a consensus. They decided that they can solve this problem by putting a big ash box next to each garbage container.
However the group still had problems about this solution. One of them asked: “How can people understand which one is ash box?”
Finding an answer to this question took one week. And the group reached another consensus, which is to write “ash box” on the box.
But they had still some problems. One of them asked, “some of the people in Kuştepe cannot read and write. How can they understand the box is for ash?”
So group started to find a solution for this new problem. After a week they decided to draw ash on the ash boxes. In this way all inhabitants of Kuştepe could understand which one is ash box which one is not.
After they decided on the solutions, children started to think how to realize them. For this purpose they drew an “action plan.”
In their action plan, they decided to take their problem to the mayor of Şişli Municipality where their neighborhood belongs.
“How can we reach the mayor?” the coach asked.
Another discussion among them followed this question. Finally , one of the children in the group told the coach that they have to write a petition.
They wrote a petition and signed. They told the coach that it was his job to get an appointment from the mayor.
The coach phoned the municipality and got an appointment to meet Mustafa Sarigul the mayor of Şişli. Waiting lounge of the mayor was full of people. The group of children among those men in suits and ties seemed rather out of place. Finally the group and the coach entered the mayor’s office.The children explained their problem and the solution they suggest in an amzingly self-confident way.
“We are so scared of fires” one of them told the mayor.
“Because of people throwing ash into garbage containers the neighborhood might catch fire,” another one continued.
“So we demand ash boxes to be put next to garbage containers.”
“This is our petition, please take the necessary measures.”
Mayor Sarıgül promised that he will do what the petition demanded.
The group left the mayor’s office happily. It is not certain whether the mayor is going to keep his promise before winter this year. But this is a win-win situation. If he fulfills his promise, children will feel they have succeeded in a case of Public Achievement. If he does not keep his promise, the children will know how to react to authority in the future by voting the mayor out of office.
The project is going on with other coaches in other primary schools. For example, the problem this year that confronts the same coach in another school and with another group of kids is the lack of free space to play football in the garden.
