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YEŞiLAY
•
The Turkish Green Crescent Society has implemented a new project to boost
cooperation with various segments of society in the fight against addictions. It has
kicked off the Health Envoys project that seeks to contribute to the prevention of
addictions by providing training to local artisans.
ARTISANS TO ACT AS HEALTH ENVOYS OF
GREEN CRESCENT
U
nder the project which is being pi-
loted in Bağcılar and Başakşehir
districts of Istanbul, the occupatio-
nal groups with which children and young
people are in close contractwere identified.
The aimwas to use occupational groups to
spread social sensitivity from the streets
to the neighborhood, and from the neigh-
borhood to district and provincial centers
with the help of volunteering artisans. It
was planned to ensure active participation
of artisans in the fight against addictions
using their prestigious role in the neigh-
borhood.
The artisans who participated in the Turkish Green Crescent
Society's Health Envoys project were provided with training to
reinforce their knowledge and ensure that they develop a com-
mon discourse on the matter.
Those who seek treatment are referred to
the YEDAM
The project targeted nine occupational groups
including hair styling salons, beauty salons,
cafeterias, Internet cafes, buffets, coffee hou-
ses, clothing stores, stationeries and phar-
macies. The artisans from these occupations
were told to report the derelict buildings, iso-
lated places where alcohol is consumed and
idle parking lots in their neighborhoods to 153
White Desk. Green Crescent Health Envoys
were also requested to refer those who con-
sume alcohol or use drugs or their relatives in
their neighborhood to the headman's offices
and those who seek to receive treatment to the Green Cres-
cent Counseling Center (YEDAM). Volunteering artisans who
participated in the project affixed Green Crescent Health Envoy
stickers to their shops and started to distribute to the informa-
tive booklets given by the Turkish Green Crescent Society.
Project was launched in Bağcılar and Başakşehir
Twenty-two headmen in Bağcılar and eight headmen in Ba-
şakşehir were briefed about the Health Envoys projects. So far,
510 artisans were visited within the scope of the project. Visits
were paid to the artisans frequently contacted by young people
in these 30 neighborhoods to select Health Envoys. Two hund-
red and twenty artisans who had no addiction and who nur-
tured sensitivities regarding the targets of the Turkish Green
Crescent Society and who fulfilled the criteria for being Health
Envoys were included in the project.