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Her name is Yağmur. She was just 3 years old.
She didn't even have a photograph.
She was staying at prison with her mother.
Her voice was unheard and what she experienced was invisible.
Yet, she didn't have any difference from her peers.
In the yard she was playing hopscotch; and in the ward she was playing house.
But a changemaker teacher completely changed her life.
Although the walls of the prison are very high, Yağmur's voice can now be heard.
Since someone is working for her future.
The principal of a public kindergarten in Bolvadin district of Afyon, Göktül Bakdık
implemented the "Light Beyond the Rain" project in order to enable the children of imprisoned women
to go to public kindergartens to receive pre-school education.
Having received the grant from Afyon Central Finance and Contracts Unit,
Göktül Bakdık talked one-on-one with the mothers in prison
and convinced them to send their children to kindergarten.
She then made all the arrangements to take the children to kindergarten
and to bring them back to the prison with school bus every day.
- There are children staying in the women's ward at closed prison and correction institutions.
We set about working on "how to involve those children into social life"
and managed to take those children to kindergarten with school buses
like we take other children from their homes.
According to the data published by the Ministry of Justice in 2012,
479 children stay with their mothers at prisons across Turkey.
Now, thanks to the "Light Beyond the Rain" project implemented by Göktül Bakdık,
they now have the opportunity to be taken from prisons by school buses
and receive pre-school education at kindergartens.
- Around 35 children living in closed prisons in the center and neighboring districts of Afyon benefited from this project.
We introduced our project to 1250 pre- school teachers and principals in 7 cities
and explained them how to contribute and implement the same project in their districts.
Now, the project is implemented in those 7 cities.
In October 2011, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education
signed a protocol inspired by this project.
According to this protocol, children living in women's wards with their mothers
have the right to receive free pre-school education in all public kindergartens across Turkey.
"Light Beyond the Rain" project changed prisons, mothers and kindergartens.
But the most significant affect was on children.
- The first and biggest change brought by the project is the physical development of children.
Their height and weight increased.
Their socialization for mental development was also very important to us.
They made new friends, received trainings.
Besides, they gave up using slang and swearing at each other.
Yağmur, whose name is given to the project, was the first child coming to the kindergarten.
She is now 6 years old and as a second grade student,
she continues to receive the same education with her peers.
Göktül Bakdık saw the light beyond the rain.
By revealing the sun hidden behind the children of imprisoned women,
she made a significant difference in their lives.