HİKAYENİN ÖNİZLEMESİ

Martyr and veteran families are sometimes overlooked. People struggle to understand others' sacrifices. Social solidarity and gratitude are fading. There's little connection with veteran families. New Year’s has become too commercialized. People act without considering other people. Despite their sacrifices, martyr and veteran families are often forgotten or underappreciated.

The problem is “Despite their sacrifices, martyr and veteran families are often forgotten or underappreciated.” I chose this because I am also a soldier's child and I’ve seen firsthand the sacrifice, fear, and resilience of those who protect our country. I know that we owe our existence on this land to the thousands of brave individuals who exchanged their lives for our freedom. It saddened me that people forgot this and did not show the gratitude they truly deserve. These families live with the absence of their beloved ones — all they want is to be remembered and respected.That’s why I chose this problem to work on. It’s not just an issue for them; it’s also a call for all of us to reflect on the values we hold. Since I live in Istanbul, I had to manage and coordinate the entire project remotely, which made it even more important for me to find creative ways to connect and show support from a distance.

The people affected by this problem are the families of martyrs and veterans. Their primary concerns were being forgotten despite their sacrifices, feeling unappreciated, and lacking emotional support or recognition from the broader community. They do not expect to be treated with pity by people, but rather to be told that they have not been forgotten, that their pain is great, and that this is respected.

-Recognition events. -Personalized letters. -Memory wall -Community visits.

While I was looking for a solution to this situation, the date was close to New Year's Eve. New Year’s Eve is a time and symbol of gratitude and hope, so I decided to choose writing heartfelt personal letters as personal New Year's letters each carries messages of appreciation and love. This was me and my friends’ way of saying “ We see you, we didn’t forget you and your sacrifice. We are grateful for everything” I wanted families to feel that they were neither alone, nor forgotten, especially during a time that has the connotation of warmth and togetherness.

I carried out my project in Istanbul and reached out to my friends all over Türkiye, including my school, to help me with my project and opened a form where people could write their messages. They wrote heartfelt New Year’s messages to remind the families of martyrs and veterans that they are not forgotten. I transferred these messages onto handmade postcards and sent them to the TÜRKİYE HARP MALULÜ GAZİLER, ŞEHİT, DUL VE YETİMLERİ DERNEĞİ/ Turkish Association of War Veterans, Martyrs, Widows, and Orphans. This year I will be holding the second one, and I want to continue doing it in the coming years as well.

The result of our project was really heartwarming. The families who received our New Year’s letters felt really happy and touched. They expressed their gratitude with emotional messages. Many of them told how meaningful it was to be remembered and appreciated, particularly at a special time of the year. Additionally, our project was published in a newspaper, which was a really unexpected but wonderful outcome. All the news and the writings on the newspaper helped amplify our message of gratitude and respect, to reach even more people and inspire others to reflect on the sacrifices of martyr and veteran families. It was incredible to see how a simple act of kindness is able to turn into a huge effect in raising awareness and spreading positivity.

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Şube Başkanı Gazi Yusuf Kıyışkan/Branch President Veteran Yusuf Kıyışkan: “Her bir kart, sadece bir tebrik mesajı değil, aynı zamanda şehitlerimizin ve gazilerimizin aziz hatıralarına olan saygı ve sevginin en güzel ifadesidir. Bu anlamlı jest, bizlere büyük bir moral kaynağı olmuş ve yüce milletimizin birliğini, beraberliğini bir kez daha gözler önüne sermiştir. "Each card is not only a congratulatory message, but also the most beautiful expression of respect and love for the precious memories of our martyrs and veterans. This meaningful gesture has been a great source of morale for us and has once again demonstrated the unity and solidarity of our great nation." Şehit Aileleri/Families of Martyrs “Göstermiş oldukları hassasiyet ve duyarlılıkla, vatan sevgisini gönüllerine nakşeden bu değerli öğrencilerimizin, gelecekte daha büyük başarılara imza atacağına olan inancımız tamdır. Bu güzel ve anlamlı yeni yıl kartları için tekrar teşekkür eder, öğrencilerimize ve ailelerine sağlık, mutluluk ve başarılar dilerim." "We have full faith that these valuable students, who have instilled the love of their country in their hearts with the sensitivity and sensitivity they have shown, will achieve greater success in the future. I would like to thank them again for these beautiful and meaningful New Year cards and wish our students and their families health, happiness and success."

Since it was exam week for most schools in our country at that time, I had to remind people to write. In addition, I had difficulty in deciding whether the postcards I would send would be delivered on time. In order to overcome these problems, I sent messages to groups where a large number of people were together. I prepared the form so that people could write in the most practical way. I tried to send it to the cargo as early as possible.

15-30 Gün

Barış, Adalet ve güçlü kurumlar

It promotes social cohesion and inclusion by recognizing and supporting the families of those who have made significant sacrifices for their country. By reminding these families that they are not forgotten and that their contributions are deeply valued, the project encourages a culture of gratitude and respect that is essential for peaceful and law-abiding societies. It also contributes to a more inclusive and empathetic environment by strengthening the bond between communities and individuals.

I shared my project by sending messages to a group that includes students from my school, asking them to share it with their own connections. I also reached out to people I knew from middle school and friends from different cities to gather more people. The responses were incredibly positive — almost everyone wanted to help and wrote heartfelt messages for the families. Some of them wanted to support the project but couldn’t write due to their busy life, which caused them to miss deadlines. Regardless of these challenges, their encouragement, moral support, and contributions made the project a success and reminded us of the importance of community support. Additionally, the project was shared by the veterans’ association through a public news piece, which helped raise even more awareness and allowed our message of gratitude to reach a broader audience.

100'den fazla

My plan to sustain the impact of my project is to continue sending heartfelt letters every New Year. Additionally, I aim to expand this project by proper planning and sending letters, pictures, drawings or poems on other important and meaningful days, such as March 18, to honor and remember the sacrifices of martyrs and veterans and by increasing the number of people contributing to my project.