As part of April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, ODAŞ created a powerful space for children’s voices through the “The Museum of Words” project, implemented in collaboration with the TOG. During children’s rights workshops held in Ankara with the participation of 1,000 primary school students aged 6–14, children’s awareness of their rights was enhanced, while the letters they wrote to Atatürk were delivered to the Anıtkabir Command, adding a meaningful and symbolic dimension to the project.
While ODAŞ develops special projects for April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day each year, with the “The Museum of Words” it has taken this approach to a deeper and more inclusive level. The project was designed not merely as an activity for children to attend, but as a holistic experience where they could freely express themselves, think, question, and imagine. A meaningful space was created for each child to hear their inner voice and explore their own world.
An enriching experience through children’s rights workshops
Before the workshops, Community Volunteer youth received training from an expert psychologist on content and practices appropriate for child development. Following this preparation, volunteers conducted interactive sessions with children through games, stories, and case examples centered on the theme of children’s rights. During this process, children had the opportunity to recognize and name their fundamental rights—such as the right to healthy development, education, rest, play, expression, and participation—while also gaining awareness of the importance of respecting the rights of others.
After the workshops, children expressed their love, curiosity, and thoughts about Atatürk in their own words. The content brought together under the “Museum of Words” transformed into a sincere narrative space reflecting children’s inner worlds and imagination. At the end of the project, the book Nutuk for Children was gifted to the participating children, and the same books were also distributed to the children of ODAŞ employees.
“Dreams turned into words, words turned into a museum”
Yasemin Aydınlar, Corporate Communications Manager at ODAŞ, commented on the project: “April 23 is a very meaningful day for children to express themselves and freely reveal their imagination. With the ‘Museum of Words,’ we aimed to create a space for their feelings and thoughts. Through the children’s rights workshops we conducted in collaboration with TOG, we supported not only children’s self-expression but also their awareness of their fundamental rights and their ability to claim them. We carried the content produced within the scope of the project into the digital environment and published it under the ‘Museum of Words’ section on our ODAŞ People website. We believe that every line written by children strengthens our hopes for the future.”
Seçkin Karataş, General Manager of TOG, also shared the following: “As the TOG, our priority is to transform every project involving young people into an experiential space that supports their development. In this collaboration with ODAŞ, young volunteers, after receiving pedagogical and methodological training, went into the field and met with 1,000 children. This process not only created space for children to discover their rights but also strengthened young people’s ability to take social responsibility and create impact. Every message written by children to Atatürk became the most tangible reflection of this effort.”
You can access the project video prepared by ODAŞ for April 23 via the link below:
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmqIB-XTrlM
Website Link: https://www.odaspeople.com/soz-muzesi/a
Social Media Agency: wetink, https://www.instagram.com/wetink.agency
Project Consultant: Assoc. Prof. Gaye Aslı Sancar, Galatasaray University
