Sema Çağlak

 

DİYARBAKIR - The ‘’Toy Library’’ established by the Colourful Hopes Association is renewed every year with the campaigns it launches in the digital media. The association, which started a campaign this year as well, called on everyone to support children to reach their right to toys.

 

The Colourful Hopes Association, which was established in 2017 for children in Diyarbakır, organizes various activities. The association, which focuses mostly on psycho-social activities, is currently running the ‘’Tahir Elçi Toy Library’’ campaign. The toy library, which was established four years ago, renews the library every year with the campaign it launches on digital media. The campaign, which started in September this year, will continue until the end of October. Yeter Erel Tuma, the General Coordinator of the Association, gave information about the campaign.

 

‘No one lent an ear to the children’

 

Yeter said that when the Colourful Hopes Association was founded four years ago, they started the toy library concurrently with the association. Noting that there were too many casualties in the conflicts, Yeter said that people lost their homes, belongings, memories and the areas they lived in. Yeter stated: ‘’Of course, these are a great pain for adults. However, at that time, no one lent an ear to the children. Their voices were not heard again. At that time, children also lost their toys and playgrounds. In fact, the greatest damage of the war was on the children. As soon as we realized this, the issue of children's access to toys and playgrounds became one of our work goals. Therefore, we decided to open a ‘toy library’ in 2017.’’

 

‘We transfer the responsibility completely to the children’

 

Noting that children's access to games and toys is a matter of rights, Yeter said: ‘’It is a matter of meeting the child's right. We named the toy library as Tahir Elçi. Because the opening of the library coincided with the anniversary of Tahir Elçi's murder. As is known, Tahir Elçi was also a child rights activist. Giving this name made both us and the women living in the neighborhood very happy. We've been running the toy library for four years. Children take turns taking the toys one week apart. In fact, it develops in the form of a registration system. We care about the family's arrival at the time of the first registration, and the family's approval is required. In the next process, the child can come alone and change the toys. In other words, we transfer the responsibility completely to the child.’’

 

‘This library makes families more happy than children’

 

Emphasizing that when children are mentioned, only games and toys come to mind, Yeter said that children in the disadvantaged region have almost no access to toys. Yeter said, “For example, those living in this neighborhood are socio-economically very low-income families. There are very few working women. Working men also work in day jobs and they can only feed their families with the money they earn. The toy issue is a luxury for families living here. When you look at it, the child needs both games and toys for a healthier development. Therefore, this library makes families more happy than children. Families say that their children became satisfied with toys.’’

 

‘Children have developed a sense of responsibility’

 

‘’In the first years we opened the library, there were children who did not bring the toy,’’ Yeter said. She continued to her words: ‘’There were times that the toys did not come back, but were also brought battered. Later, when children became conscious, they began to pay more attention. For example, our toy exchange days are Monday and Thursday. I saw a kid grab a carton of toys and run fast. I followed the child. I saw the child enter a ruined house, when I went and looked, I saw that the child was picking up the toys and playing with other children in the neighborhood. Although we have children as members, our toys actually reach many more children. Afterwards, the children developed the idea that ‘if I bring this toy back, I can take a new toy’.’’

 

‘Toys are sent from everywhere’

 

Yeter shared the following information regarding the efforts to expand the library: ‘’We did not apply to any funding center for toys. Because we think that collective solidarity and labor is very important here. Here, we create a solidarity network with toys coming from the local, the country and even Europe. We also give great importance to the responsibility of everyone. Accessing a child’s right to toys is not just the family's responsibility, but the responsibility of all adults. Apart from these, it also strengthens the sharing among these children. We renew our library with the second-hand toy campaign we do on social media every year. We are also very careful not to include sexist and violent toys in our library. At the same time, children had requests for bicycle to the toy library. We also set up a bicycle library. We have libraries of toy, book, bicycle. Children can benefit from three libraries with a single membership system. In the content of our campaign, we accept donations of toys, books and bicycles. If anyone wants to support, they can reach the address on the poster or our contact numbers. We have supporters who have supported us for four years, first of all we would like to thank them. Together with us, they brought about this change. We get a huge network of solidarity.’’