We are elated to be celebrating the 24th anniversary of our Foundation, founded under the leadership of Makbule Ölçen. On the other hand, we are saddened by our losses of the past term. During the past year, we have lost Türkan Ögetürk, who was one of our charter members; Prof. Ural Sözen, Foundation Executive Board member; Yasemin Özkaya, our Volunteer Member who had greatly contributed to our Foundation: and Attorney Gültekin Zaroglu, who had served as the Foundation Volunteer Legal Advisor for our Foundation for many years. Their memories and love are alive within us all and will remain as such.

As in previous years, the Executive Board continued its work with conviction and determination, in close coordination between the Foundation Headquarters and the Branch Offices, with the aim of improving the Foundation without sacrificing from the fine quality of the training offered to our children and their families.

As mentioned earlier, the new Law for the Handicapped went into effect in July 2005. In spite of this fact, some unclear issues in application persist. As there are positive aspects of this Law from our viewpoint, it has become apparent that a very painful transition period awaits our Foundation. The most significant change prescribed by this Law has been removing the training and rehabilitation of the handicapped from the SHÇEK (The Agency for Social Services and Children’s Protection), and assembling these functions under the umbrella of the MEB (Ministry of National Education). The regulations concerning this issue in both of these institutions have serious discrepancies. It is for this reason that we have entered into a difficult reorganization period that will require much expense. The state of those care institutions left under the SHÇEK umbrella is still unclear. New regulations are expected to be introduced, to cover this topic. However, according to the MEB regulations, it seems that we will be able to start the Foundation Special Education Elementary School according to the regulations issued by the National Ministry of Education and consider a part of this education to continue as special classes. These new conditions will introduce great difficulties concerning the physical state of the buildings already being used by the Foundation Headquarters and the Branches. In addition, again as per the new Law, since all the schools under the Foundation auspices must be gathered under the same name, we have requested their views from the Branches. To collect all the Foundation schools under the name of ‘Makbule Ölçen Schools’ has been proposed by the Foundation Headquarters and our Branches. This proposal is will be presented, to be voted upon, to the Foundation General Assembly by the Executive Board. In addition, during the transition process to the National Ministry of Education, coordinated work and activities between the Foundation Headquarters and our Branches are currently continuing and efforts have to be made to complete this transition within the time period allotted to us (end of December 2007).

In spite of all the present and forthcoming financial constraints and problems, the Executive Board is happy and elated by the many new and very positive accomplishments during the past year.

The difficulties we have experienced concerning the interior furnishings of the Jale Cavcav Physical Therapy building, which was completed during the past year, have been continuing. Even though an action protocol has been co-signed with the Directorate of the Department of Disabled Persons last year, the Directorate has run into constraints to fulfill their commitment to finance these furnishings. However, during the process of the transition to the National Ministry of Education, to refurbish a part of this building as the School for Special Education has been given consideration as an agenda item.

The success of our children at sports activities continued during the past term, as before, and the construction of the new Closed Sports Hall was completed. The details of the recent success of our children can be found under the – News - section. We openly thank the Secretary of State Mehmet Ali Sahin, the Directorate of Spor Toto Organization, and the Vakıfbank Headquarters, to express our deep gratitude. Our proposal for the Home Away from Home living environment, prepared by our Education Coordinator, Tomris Miser, and presented to the Government of Japan, has been accepted and completed; at this time, we are working on the provision of the interior furnishing. To the country of Japan, to the Japanese Embassy, and to our Education Coordinator, we owe many thanks.

One other new project is the creation of a beautiful park area for the Mentally Disabled, within the boundaries of our Foundation property. Mehmet Ali Sahin, Secretary of State, has once again, extended his support, and the Headquarters of Vakıfbank has accepted our proposal for this project. We are aiming at opening all of the three new buildings and the park during the month of June 2006, with a celebration. The introduction of the Foundation to the public has always been among our main issues. It is obvious that in a developing world in which computer technology prevails, attempts at public relations with printed materials such as brochures, etc., will not be sufficient. With recommendations and help from Sonat Konor, one of our General Assembly members, the Executive Board has decided to have an interactive CD produced, presenting our Foundation in Turkish and in English. The CD has been completed in June 2005. We have our heartfelt thanks for Sonat Konor and Cem Özer who completed this task voluntarily, as their donation.

In addition, our former Web site, which had been prepared by Dr. Ali Nejad Ölçen, had lost its currency over the past few years. For this reason, our Executive Board has decided upon the creation of a new Web site, which will gather all the elements of our Foundation family under one umbrella and open us to the world. One attribute of this Web site is its dynamic structure. This structure will allow us to update the site continually. The Resource Library, created within this site, which, we believe, will be extremely helpful, is to be developed even further in time. The Turkish version of our Web site has already been prepared. We are currently working on its English version to be completed within a month. The address for this site is www.zicev.org.tr; the necessary bureaucratic formalities for registering its identity are about to be completed. We owe many thanks to Dr. Uluç Saranlı who has volunteered to prepare our Web site, as a donation.

We are happy to share with you the information that all our Branches have already advanced their training to the highest level of current conditions, and they are working towards the new horizons promised by future developments. Many of the Branches are aiming at starting dormer services. We wish the best of success for all our Branches in their endeavors.

At the Foundation Headquarters today, we are experiencing our well-deserved pride in serving 120 day students and 10 dormers, and together with all the branches, close to 2000 Mentally Handicapped children and individuals and 200 service personnel.

The training coordination meetings we held with the Headquarters and the Branches have produced their fruits; applications prepared in accordance with the joint training plan have been fully established at each one of the training units. At all of the our Branches, service, starting with self care and covering a wide variety of activities, such as professional rehabilitation, music, painting, drama, and sports, is offered to mentally disabled children and individuals from age three on, including those in their further grown years. In all the Branches, we have realized participation in many activities such as movie, theater, and picnics, also Special Disabled Celebrations of Ayvalık, Youth Camps of Kuşadası, and Alternative Camps of Bodrum, for the psychological health of our children and to help them in their association with the public.

At this present period, in which participation in the European Union and foreign help programs are on the agenda, the Headquarters Office has organized a training course with attempts made by our Training Coordinator, prepared for experts in the Branch Offices, covering proposal writing for international grants, and experts in this area have provided the pertinent information and training for our experts. Within this frame, the proposal “European Union Supported Work Market Strategies Project”, prepared by the Manisa Branch Responsible Director, Saadet Karcı, has been accepted and financed by the European Union for the Manisa Branch Footwear and Hand Crafts Workshop.

We have given special attention to sports, as this is the most significant factor in helping the disabled in their development to gain their self-confidence and interact with the public. For this reason, our Foundation is especially proud of the accomplishments of our children in sports activities. We embrace all our children with affection and congratulate them and their teachers.

In our Annual Report, we have been able to touch upon our work and activities as a brief summary only. Therefore, we are sure that you will be reading and evaluating between the lines as well. It is a fact that at the Headquarters and also at all Branches, behind each building block and every achievement, lays much hardship and effort. Specifically, our Branches are almost fighting to stay alive within the economic boundaries we are in. For this reason, we wish to express our gratitude to all our volunteer friends, for their dedicated support, belief, and sacrifice.

The main objective of our Foundation is training. The achievements of our educators and trainers at the Headquarters and the Branches, as they have been completing their duties with the dedicated spirit of voluntarism, have become the most important factors to promote us to our present level of accomplishment. In your presence, we wish to express our thanks, to all involved, foremost from our Training Coordinator to the responsible Directors at the Headquarters and the Branches and to all the educators of the Foundation, and, in addition, starting with our Foundation Director, to all of the administrative and service personnel of our Foundation family.

We would also like to thank all our friends, to the volunteer individuals and organizations countrywide, who have extended the much needed material and moral support, as well as to the foreign countries who have offered their friendship and help.

For the Executive Board,

Müge Konor – Secretary General