Education, Geriatrics Ecological Agriculture Tourism (EGET) Foundation continues to support low-income students to continue their education with all its assets. Özlem Uzman, one of the founders of the foundation and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of EGET Foundation, met with journalists in Ankara and explained the history and aims of the foundation they established to help low-income students continue their education. Uzman stated that for this purpose, the foundation has realized many productions and that all of the revenues of these productions are spent on students and that they work with great care and meticulousness in this regard. Uzman stated that one of their most important productions, cold-pressed olive oil, returned from Japan with an award and said, “We took olives in Muğla and produced cold-pressed olive oil from them. In addition, we distilled the oil of lavender flowers grown in our business and produced cosmetic products under the name EGET TEN and set an example for Turkey.”

“EVERYONE CAN HELP OUR FOUNDATION”

Referring to the number of students awarded scholarships, Uzman said: “Since 2016, 36 thousand 448 students have applied for EGET Foundation scholarships. Together with our graduating students, 191 students have benefited from EGET Foundation scholarships. As of April 2023, we are giving scholarships to 96 students. This year, our foundation started to give scholarships to high school students as well as university students.” Stating that high school and university students can apply for scholarships on the foundation’s website eget.org.tr, Uzman also said that EGET Foundation products are completely organic and healthy.

Uzman said, “Anyone who wants to help low-income students can donate to our foundation and buy the products of our foundation.” Describing Safai Özer, who made great efforts in the establishment of the foundation and who passed away last year, Uzman said: “Safai Özer considered it essential that the foundation should have a regular income in the years to come. In line with this decision, they first purchased land in the Armutçuk Neighborhood of the Menteşe district of Muğla, in order to establish an agricultural enterprise and donated it to the foundation. Safai Özer, one of the two founders of the foundation, a painter, writer, architect and thinker, passed away on March 9, 2022. Although EGET Foundation is a young foundation established in 2015, it still provides scholarships to 96 students. The number of scholarship recipients is not small. Contrary to popular belief, the total number of scholarship recipients of foundations and associations that have been collecting donations for years and have significant funds, as well as foundations established in the names of holdings and wealthy individuals, is in the thousands. EGET Foundation is an organization that allocates all its earnings to scholarships. Apart from the employees, the members of the board of directors do not receive any remuneration.” “The problem of students with high income loss in the pandemic and low-income students staying in education is much bigger than you think,” Uzman said, adding, “The problem of young people who fail, fail to start education and drop out of education because they do not have enough financial support is much bigger than you think. Every year we experience great sadness during scholarship applications. Although we are still a young foundation, 36,448 students have applied for our scholarships in seven years. We believe that these numbers should be taken into consideration in terms of showing the economic difficulties that students face.”

Stating that students are selected with a special software, Uzman continued his words as follows: “Special software was developed to determine scholarship recipients. EGET Foundation has created a special software to be as unbiased as possible in determining the scholarship recipients. This software, funded by the founders of the EGET Foundation, makes a ranking based on the answers to the questions asked in the application. As we see the answers to the questions in our software, we feel great sadness for the students we cannot help, for those we cannot afford. The problem is deeper than you think. This year, workers, farmers, low-income earners have suffered a huge loss of income due to the pandemic. The unemployment rate has risen. We are afraid that in the coming years, there will be many students who will not be able to go to university and will abandon their education. Our experience shows this. Tens of thousands of students drop out of university every year, simply because of financial constraints. There are no regular statistics on students who drop out of university. In response to a parliamentary parliamentary question, the number of university students who dropped out in 2017-2018 was 408,000. It would not be wrong to say that the economic conditions we have been experiencing recently, especially the severe rent problem in big cities with many universities, and the lack of dormitories will cause more students to drop out of education compared to the past. First of all, we call on the state, politicians and local governments. They must develop programs to ensure that students in need do not lose their education. This is one of the problems that cannot be postponed. At this stage, we call on everyone to support EGET and other foundations to keep low-income high school and university students in education. Another important call is that especially in small cities and districts, students are seen as a source of income and rent. This attitude should be abandoned as soon as possible.”

Regarding EGET’s scholarship processes and sensitivity, EGET Foundation Chairman emphasized the following: “The evaluation of applications is carried out through a software developed entirely by EGET Foundation in line with our Scholarship Regulations, with an information system that eliminates human error. With our software called BUSED (Scholar Selection and Evaluation System), we have the opportunity to process, evaluate and report thousands of data accurately, easily and quickly in accordance with the criteria set by our Education and Scholarship Commission. Our priority when identifying students is material deprivation. In the system where positive discrimination is given to female students, the number of siblings in the family, grade point average, parents’ employment status, etc. can be taken into consideration. factors affect students’ ranking score. After an impartial ranking by BUSED, students who pass the threshold score are asked to upload their documents to the system. At the end of the online interview with the students whose documents are approved, the students who will receive a scholarship from EGET Foundation are determined one by one.

“THE TRUFFLE EATEN BY THE RICH BECOMES A SCHOLARSHIP FOR STUDENTS”

Explaining that EGET Foundation businesses are rolling up their sleeves to grow truffles, Uzman said: “The truffle that rich people eat becomes a scholarship for students; lavender turns into an industrial product. Since 2015, the first year of its establishment, EGET Foundation started to provide scholarships to university students with its own resources and donors. In the Armutçuk Agricultural Enterprise, which is 22 acres in total, an agricultural initiative that will set an example for Turkey was launched and oak saplings infused with truffles, one of the most expensive foods in the world, were planted. How we would ensure the continuity of EGET Foundation scholarships was something we thought long and hard about even before we established the Foundation. Rather than a non-governmental organization that tries to survive only by requesting donations, we preferred to establish a structure that creates its own revolving capital with the projects it develops and the investments it makes, and to be a -social entrepreneur- in its current definition. The first activity of our economic enterprise was the EGET Foundation Armutçuk Agricultural Enterprise. 415 oak saplings, purchased from the Truffle Application and Research Center of Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, and inoculated with truffle spores, were planted on 24-May-2015. Thus, our company established the largest private truffle plantation in Turkey with an area of 22 thousand square meters. Truffles are among the most expensive foods in the world and grow 10-15 cm below the soil, in the roots of some trees such as oak, hazelnut and pine. This type of mushroom, which can be found with specially trained dogs, is especially preferred by gourmets in Europe and America. We are planning to make the first harvest of this mushroom, which can reach 1000 euros per kilogram, in 2024. In order to add additional value to the land during the development phase of the truffle, EGET Foundation planted lavender among the oak saplings. This proved that lavender can be grown in the coastal region. Lavender saplings were sold to farmers who wanted to grow lavender, and the sale of the lavender generated scholarship income. Another output of lavender cultivation was honey. Lavender honey was obtained from hives placed around the land. Regional beekeepers also brought their hives to the region for the second year in a row. It was determined that many beekeepers in the region brought around 900 hives in total. EGET Foundation has increased the number of scholarships with the income from the lavender honey produced in its own enterprise.”

EGET FOUNDATION’S CONTRIBUTION TO TURKEY EGET

He listed the contributions of the activities to Mugla and Turkey and listed these contributions as follows:

– After planting truffles, EGET Foundation applied to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to have truffles recognized as a primary agricultural product.

– EGET Foundation became the first customer of truffle-infused oak saplings produced at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University. Thus, the University went beyond experimenting with truffle inoculation and gained practical experience.

– Following the truffle initiatives of the EGET Foundation, private and legal entities, especially the Mugla Metropolitan Municipality, have started to grow truffles.

– EGET Foundation proved that lavender can also be grown in coastal cities by planting lavender on a large scale. By selling seedlings, he contributed to initiatives to plant lavender. After EGET Foundation, many cooperatives and individuals, including Muğla Metropolitan Municipality, started to grow lavender.

EGET FOUNDATION’S CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

– EGET Foundation continues its activities by restoring an old mansion in the old Muğla in the central district of Menteşe in Muğla. After the restoration of the mansion and the arrangement of its garden, Old Muğla started to receive more visitors due to its unique structure. The number of restored buildings increased. It is a candidate to become an important tourist spot.

– EGET Foundation launched an activity called “Bookshelves without Doors, Books on the Streets” to encourage students to acquire the habit of reading books. Local students can pick up and read the books placed in front of the Foundation building. She summarizes the books or draws pictures of the stories. Once a year, these works are given incentive gifts.

– Educational meetings about agriculture and soil are organized for accessible primary school students in Muğla. We are making “vermicompost” with the students of Yönelt College Blue Cloud Class.

– We provide theoretical and practical training on ecological agriculture to primary and secondary school students in the Ecological Agriculture area created within the framework of a protocol with Muğla American Culture College.

– Our Foundation, a pioneer in organizing the Lavender Harvest Festivals in Muğla, has been hosting hundreds of nature lovers every summer at the lavender harvest festivals it has been organizing since 2017. Expanding the scope of the annual lavender festivals, EGET Foundation organized educational workshops for children and adults during the 2022 festival.

– We make speeches about good agriculture, our foundation and our purpose at the universities and festivals we are invited to.