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I encountered an obstacle here. I could not overcome this obstacle.
This obstacle disturbed my everyday life.
There are so many experiences like this to list. Although we mostly do not
notice them, obstacles for persons with disabilities are everywhere in our cities.
Serin Erengezgin and her friends noticed these obstacles, and just as Confucius
says, decided that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
This initiative was inspired by another "Turkey's Changemakers" initiative-
the "Adım Adım" project which raises funds for charities by running races.
- We asked ourselves this question; do persons using wheelchairs
have access to places in their everyday lives?
This was a very common problem. We gave ourselves the task
of identifying problems, and became "accessibility" detectives.
True goal was not only to identify problems, but also to share life in a joyous manner with everyone
and to collectively remove obstacles that stand in our way.
"Open Istanbul!" was established with the help of the Adım Adım Initiative
and the efforts of John Crofoot, an American living in Istanbul.
He wanted a city with safe running spots, bike lanes and pedestrian routes.
We formed a great team and decided to meet at Surdibi, in front of the historic walls.
We wanted these walls to unite us, instead of dividing us.
They were supposed to unite us, and they did.
The walls united them, and they united their dreams and hopes.
Alongside persons with disabilities, they began organizing guided city tours on weekends, going to breakfast,
visiting museums and going to the movies.
In order to say "Istanbul is open" first they said "get outside, in Istanbul!"
- We encourage everyone to discover Istanbul with us and organize
inclusive tours. You can follow and join us on our website, www.istanbulacik.org
Until today, all of our tours included groups of between 20 and 50 people.
We went to Taksim, the main square in Istanbul.
That was very important for us, as many of our friends have never been there.
We visited so many places; Panorama 1453 Museum, Pera Museum, Sakip Sabanci
Museum, Ciragan Palace, The Palace of the Porphyrogenitus, Laharna Church, Chora Museum,
Hagia Sophia Museum and Dolmabahçe Palace, and many more.
During these tours, they do not only look around;
these detectives inspect the city for accessibility issues.
They act like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes.
They identify an obstacle, and pursue it until it is removed.
- Before we organize the excursion, we go and examine the site.
If necessary, we submit a request to the establishment
in the event there are accessibility issues.
If this issue is transportation-related, we call the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. We submit a request
to the Municipality, and make sure that they follow up with our request.
It seemed as if there were accessible washrooms at the Fatih Municipality's
Topkapı Social Facilities, but we then found out that this was not the case
upon our visit. We submitted a request, and now there are accessible washrooms.
We pursued the same strategy at a shopping mall in Beyoğlu,
and the Akbank Art Gallery,
both of which now have fully accessible washrooms.
Everyone can follow us from our website,
they can share our experiences and learn how we address these challenges
They were an exception to the rule when they took on this journey.
They proved that exceptions can actually break rules.
They established new accessible rules.
They made an unforgettable difference in the accessible transformation of a city.