Istanbul&I 2022 Half Year Roundup!

"One of the unique qualities of this NGO is its adaptability! This year Istanbul&I aims to push volunteerism to another level!"

-Executive Board

In November 2022, it will be our 5th year as a registered NGO in Turkey. The fuel of this youth-led organization is commitment and dedication to creating a safe space for everyone! The goal for 2022 was to make fewer compromises and set realistic goals. Over the years, Istanbul&I has done different forms of social inclusion and community service activities ranging from our yearly Iftar&Community during Ramadan, Culture Nights, and other activity-based clubs. One of the significant changes that the Executive Board made this year was redefining the areas of activities that the NGO focused on. So, this year, we framed our activities using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It is a theory of psychology explaining human motivation based on the pursuit of different levels of needs. We aim to be more impactful as an NGO by channeling our resources to provide for the top 3 tiers of the hierarchy which are love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Within the scope of the aforementioned types of basic human psychological needs, the five areas of activities that will fulfill the mission of I&I are Education, Art, Social Inclusion & Integration, Community Services, and lastly, providing an ecosystem for people to develop their ideas in our community center! Following that, we are focusing on establishing collaborations with local partners and working together to give back to the community. We also worked on internal structures to establish better workflow within the organization.

Interview with our Executive Coordinator, Manohur Chand Poonyth

Since becoming a volunteer back in December 2019, Chand has worn many hats to uplift the organization, which all culminated in being democratically elected as the Executive Coordinator in February 2022. When asked, "How do you describe your management style?"

Chand replied, "I do not like to pretend that I am the smartest person in the room. I seek from people what I have to do and I am not afraid to ask for help. I put a lot of trust in the members of the Executive Board and I believe that those who are dedicated pay back this trust of mine. Other than that, irrespective of my title and the hierarchy that we have in the organization, I am a person who will roll my sleeves and do the nastiest task that we may have on any other day, and believe that I can only lead a group of people by doing the task with them rather than instructing them what to do. Coming to the organization’s personality, I can list several values that represent Istanbul&I but I want to transcend a feeling to our readers - Imagine a space where dedicated people come up with constructive ideas for the betterment of their community. A space where volunteers dedicate their time to improve themselves and to work for a cause. A space where you can feel part of a community upon attending any random event. It may sound too cliché but this is what Istanbul&I was created for and what the current Executive Board aims for.”

How has I&I grown in the past 6 months?

"I would not use the word ‘grow’ to explain changes within the NGO, I would rather opt for ‘developed’ or ‘matured’. Our main resource is the volunteers. Istanbul&I accepts new volunteers every year (while other leave due to other commitments) and that’s why adaptability is a key aspect of this organization. New volunteers step in and embrace new roles once they develop a sense of belonging to the community. This adaptation mechanism is unique and is a form of peer learning that this community has. 

As for our events, under the Events Coordinator and her team, the different events are organized regularly and now, we can expect a minimum participation level in each of them. It is interesting how we have participants who turn up every now and then to our events as well as those who show up in particular events regularly. In just the first half of 2022, Istanbul&I has hosted 180.5 hours of events and worked with 301 volunteers!

Click here to read the full interview with Chand.

None of these achievements would be possible without the help and enthusiasm of our dedicated volunteers. Take a look at our Volunteer Spotlight to read about the volunteers that shone the brightest in the previous months.

Volunteer Spotlight

Taha Jebbar

January

Taha is from Rabat, Morocco. He is a 22-year-old master’s student at Alt?nba? University, majoring in industrial engineering. Taha is engaged with social entrepreneurship and believes this is how we can have a global impact. He is also interested in psychology. In his free time, Taha enjoys reading, watching movies and series, listening to music, and last but not least, volunteering...Read more.

Wajdee Chayeb

February

Wajdee is from Aleppo, Syria, born in 1999. He is a senior student majoring in physics at Ko? University. He has been a volunteer in Istanbul&I since April 2021and has been managing the ?ay Talks event since then. Wajdee has so much interest in intellectual talks and likes to meet people from different backgrounds. He has a dream to become a researcher in physics and work in international research centers...Read more.

Ezgi Sesil

March

Ezgi studied Biology at Istanbul University and then started her master's degree in Environmental Sciences at Bo?azi?i University, however, she decided to change her career plan and left her master's degree to study Combined Arts at Y?ld?z Technical University. She is now a yoga instructor, owner of a small wooden jewelry business, and works in a fashion designer's shop. Knitting and sewing clothes for herself and her loved ones are her favorite activities...Read more.

Elif Bay?nd?r

April

Elif is from Istanbul, Turkey. She studied physics and has been working as a data analyst since 2020. She is also working on her Master's Thesis, which is about climate change modeling. She enjoys getting to know new people and spending time with them. She also loves nature and storytelling. In 2020, she started volunteering as a moderator in the Turkish Speaking Club (TSC). Later, she became Istanbul&I's Turkish Speaking Club Manager in January 2021...Read more.

Hande Hepsen

May

Hande was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. She graduated from Istanbul University with a degree in Journalism and has been working in media production since 2020. She started volunteering at Istanbul&I in 2019 and was a member of the programming committee. She was one of the volunteer superstars of 2020 because of her dedication to continue volunteering even through the Covid-19 lockdowns...Read more.

Elma Haveri

June

Elma is from Shkoder, Albania. She studied in North Cyprus and graduated with a master’s degree in Marketing Management. Despite her path in marketing, volunteering is one of her biggest passions. Her most memorable experience in volunteering is the one for Red Cross Albania right after the pandemic was over. This challenging period pushed her belief that only together and by helping each other can we progress...Read more.

Stay tuned to see what Istanbul&I has in store for the rest of the year!

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