About Üsküdar Uni. - Social Responsibility

Come and Hold My Hand Association - www.hayditutelimi.org

Nowadays, child abuse is one of the most traumatic issues that occur both in our country and in the World. Offences against children vary depending on the cultural and social structure. Despite all the precautions, child abuse and offences against children are on the rise and it has been impossible to uncover these embarrassing situations in many cases and reach to the abused children.

Come and Hold My Hand Association is founded to serve to this objective. In this respect, we constantly strive to reintegrate the abused children back into the society and help them to be raised into decent individuals. Our goals are to;

  • Still the storm in their spirit through enabling them to receive rehabilitation support from psychologists and psychiatrists.
  • Not leave them alone in the legal process, enabling them to receive support from specialist lawyers at every phase of the processes.
  • Prepare them for the future through professional and personal training programs.
  • Provide appropriate shelters for those who are over 18; that are no longer under the protection of SHÇEK (Social Services and Child Protection Agency) and support them to get prepared for the business world.

Happy Home, Happy Life Association - www.mutluyuva.org

Our goals are to;

  • Open shelters in various districts of İstanbul for homeless and orphan children. In the course of time, to develop similar projects to open special houses for children throughout Turkey.
  • Coordinate the relation between volunteers, families, corporations, child shelters, compassion houses, orphanages, kindergartens etc.
  • Place the orphans and homeless children into the kindergartens & primary schools and monitor their school life.
  • Work together with Public Education Centers to organize courses for children's caregivers.

Üsküdar University Evidence-Based Mentoring Training Project

Üsküdar University has been providing psychosocial support through Evidence-Based Mentoring Training Project to 45 neglected or abused young girls between the ages of 14 - 18, who are living in Social Rehabilitation Centers under the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. The project, supported by the Ministry of Youth & Sports and partnered with the Ministry of Family & Social Policies as well as Come and Hold My Hand Association, embodies 45 voluntary mentor students.

Within this project, the skills of self-recognition, self-confidence, assertiveness, coping with anger and anxiety, communication, problem solving and the ability to say no, decision-making and identifying strengths will be given to the adolescents by the mentors.

These young girls' learning skills through modelling and social integration processes, will be supported and effects on the targetted disadvantaged adolescents will be scrutinized by brain imaging tools like EEG and fMRI. This is not considered to be a social responsibility project only but rather a "Values Education and Social Justice Movement" pioneered by the students of Üsküdar University.