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In loving memory of my grandmother Nezihe Suvakli, who dedicated her life to adopting stray cats & dogs and helping the poor. As one of her neighbors stated “she never let anyone in need walk by her house without being fed or their needs taken care of.”

In addition to my grandmother, I am dedicating the “nonprofit of the month” section of the blog to some important public figures whose charity work enlightened my path since my early childhood years and who provided inspiration to so many people in the world, specifically to: Princess Diana (AIDS), Audrey Hepburn (UNICEF), Turkan Saylan (scholarships for female students in need) and to Jose Mauro de Vasconcelos, the legendary Brazilian writer of the novel “My Little Orange Tree” which is considered as the best children’s book of all time in terms of describing how true love can overcome poverty and all kinds of difficulties. 

If I can provide even a minor form of enlightenment with my work and writing, that would be the greatest satisfaction for me! My entire life, I have waited for someone such as the “Portuguese”, one of the main characters in “My Little Orange Tree”, to make a radical difference in our lives by lending an affectionate hand to children like Zeze, the main child character in the novel, who grow up in poverty. Then I realized that, each one of us, in the unique environments that we are in, could actually be our very own “Portuguese” (or whoever inspires us). It’s up to us to aspire and try and not wait on anyone to do it for us. As English writer Jeanette Winterson once mentioned “in this life, you have to be your own hero”. 

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Hayatini sahipsiz kedi kopekleri evlat edinmeye ve muhtac insanlara yardima adayan anneannem Nezihe Suvakli’nin anisina. Komsularindan birisinin de soyledigi gibi “ihtiyac sahibi bir kimsenin evinin yakinindan gecip de ac kaldigini ya da ihtiyaclarinin karsilanmadigini gormedik.”

Anneannemin yani sira, blogumun “Ayin Sivil Toplum Kurulusu” kosesini cocuklugumdan beri etrafa yaptiklari hayir isleriyle yoluma isik tutan ve dunyada bircok insana ilham veren bazi onemli toplumsal kisiliklere de adiyorum, ozellikle: Prenses Diana’ya (AIDS),  Audrey Hepburn’e (UNICEF), Turkan Saylan’ (ihtiyac sahibi kiz cocuklarina burs) ve fakirligi ve her turlu zorlugu sevgi ile yenme adina gelmis gecmis en iyi cocuk romani olarak dusunulen “Seker Portakali”’nin efsanevi Brezilyali yazari Jose Mauro de Vasconcelos’a. 

Yazilarim ve calismalarimla ben de bir nebze isik olabilirsem ne mutlu bana. Butun hayatim boyunca Seker Portakalindaki ana karakterlerden biri olan “Portekizli” tarzinda insanlarin dunyada zorluk icinde buyuyen ve romandaki ana cocuk karakteri Zeze’ye benzeyen cocuklara sefkat eli uzatarak hayatimizda radikal fark yaratmasini bekledim. Sonradan fark ettim ki, hepimiz icinde bulundugumuz kendine ozgu kosullarda, kendi capimizda birer Portekizli (ya da bize ilham veren her kimse) olabiliriz. Yeter ki isteyelim ve deneyelim. Kimseyi beklemeyelim. Ingiliz yazar Jeanette Winterson’un da dedigi gibi “Bu hayatta hepimiz kendi kahramanimiz olmak zorundayiz.” 

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