April 23, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day represents the will of the Turkish nation and national sovereignty with the opening of the First Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. On the occasion of this day, we came together in three events in Kahramanmaraş and Hatay, under the leadership of Zehra Öney, the Founding President of the Woman in Technology Association, to celebrate our children’s holiday.
April 23 Events also acted as the opening ceremony of Kırmızı Çatı in Kahramanmaraş that will work on the same platform with us. We will offer our training programs in science and technology at this platform to educate talented children. Kırmızı Çatı reached hundreds of children in Kahramanmaraş with their slogan “Games Heal,” and our children participated in activities such as children’s theater, play courses, art and technology workshops, tree planting, mini-concerts, and celebrated April 23 with the gifts and treats we bought for them. Children participated in the event with their families and enjoyed the content we provided for them in science, physics, math, and technology.
Although disaster relief efforts have been our main focus in the disaster area to this day, we decided to carry out events celebrating the April 23, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day events in two locations in Hatay, and another event in Kahramanmaraş. With a team of 10 people, we reached a total of 2,000 children in Hatay: 1,000 in Maşuklu and 1,000 in Yeşilpınar. As part of the events, we also delivered gifts sent by Tohum Autism Foundation to 11 children living with autism.
The events began with a moment of silence and the Turkish national anthem, and continued with various competitions, such as musical chairs, egg-and-spoon race, tug of war. Children enjoyed playing regular children’s games, listened to poems celebrating national sovereignty and songs honoring the founder of the Republic of Türkiye, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Additionally, we brought toys such as bicycles, scooters, dollhouses, toy trucks and cars, jewelry sets, and kites to distribute to the children, as well as sweets, popcorn, cakes, and fruit juices throughout the event. Parents repeatedly expressed gratitude to our team for having organized social activities that their children had missed so much.
The children were excited to receive the educational toys provided with the support of our corporate member and member of our Advisory Board, Düşyeri. They also participated in the special program organized by Pepee cartoon characters. The children who received the gifts and participated in the animations expressed their happiness with smiles and laughs.
Also, our business partner Fundomundo offered fun and educational content to our children throughout the event. Fundomundo has been providing education to children through their online platform with the contributions of local and foreign educators since the beginning of the pandemic. Placed on desks in the event area, computers and headphones enabled children to access content in science, art, and creative drama.
As the Woman in Technology Association, it is our goal to strengthen our children in the disaster area with a 360-degree education to help them hold onto life and contribute to their employment. Elaborating on the association’s plans in the near future during her speech, our Founding President Zehra Öney talked about the Technology and Talent, which is planned to be established this summer. The Academy aims to reach 25,000 children in the disaster area. Öney said “Healing wounds and making friends is the top priority for the Woman in Technology Association. We love Hatay very much. We love the people, children, soil, nature, and everything else in Hatay. After this holiday, we will continue to work towards contributing to the development of our children in science, mathematics, creativity, sports, and arts. I wish our children the best on April 23, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. I hope you have a lot of fun and have a beautiful day. We are glad to be with you and we are strong together!”
