LÖSEV, Growing More Thanks to the Contributions and Supports of Turkish Public
In this new issue of TURCommunique, we wanted to give you a close look at LÖSEV, one of the civil society associations of our country.
1. LÖSEV is a 12 year-old civil society association. Could you briefly share your 12-year story?
It was the first days when children with leukemia were treated at the SSK Ankara Children's Hospital... After getting a rejection from the hospital administration for their demand for a small TV in children's room, the doctors, nurses, and personnel collected money and bought a small TV. At first it was hard for us to afford the travel allowance, or school needs of even one child, as the days go by we grew, and got stronger; we developed projects, and advanced our targets. We accomplished the hardest task that we could have done at the very end, right at the beginning. While only a year old foundation, with not money to pay the rent, we managed to open Turkey's first and only Children with Leukemia Hospital. For 10 years now, we have been providing hospital services where everything is for free, from the drugs to intensive care, from thrombocyte to pajamas.
We have worked honestly and with all our energy to address all the needs of our children. Today we are a huge family with dozens of staff, more than 8500 children with leukemia and their parents, thousands of volunteers, thousands of supporting institutions - associations... Since the day we were founded, we have been providing our children with leukemia and cancer free treatments and education services, as well as financial and moral support for the families, without interruption. We are maintaining our services with our patient guest home (Mansion of Children With Leukemia), a first in Turkey, the Elementary School for the Children with Leukemia, and Village of Children with Leukemia.
2. What to do to become a LÖSEV volunteer, and how do you communicate with your volunteers?
It is very easy to be a LÖSEV volunteer or to make donations. You can become a member by filling out the volunteer registration form by clicking on the "May I Become a Volunteer" link on our website www.losev.org.tr; participate in the volunteer meetings twice a month, and find out what we can do together. Additionally, you can register as a volunteer directly at one of our Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir offices. Once your membership is activated, you will start receiving regular notifications and activities. All our practices are actualized thanks to the participation of our volunteers. We are in contact with our volunteers 12 months a year by means of our activities and notifications.
3. How do you find the interest in LÖSEV, the participation in and support of the activities of the foundation in Turkey?
Turkish society is a sensitive society, and our associations and society have shown tremendous interest in order to be able to support our work. LÖSEV have come to this day thanks to the contributions and supports of the Turkish society, and thus it is a 100% public made civic society association. From seven to seventy, everyone is doing their best to support our activities, and joining the LÖSEV family. However, considering the cancer ratios, the number of our patients is increasing day by day. We have started bringing support to not just children with leukemia but with other cancer types, as well. By this year, we started providing services to adult cancer patients. That is why we really need support from all walks of life. We hope that this support will increasingly continue.
4. Could you give us brief information on your current projects? Are you getting support for these projects?
Especially our "City of Children with Leukemia", we are currently conducting important projects like the "1 Million Volunteer", "2011 Fight Against Cancer Year", and we started the preliminary work for other national and international works that will be handled within the next 5 to 10 years ahead of us.
With these projects, we aim at preventing cancer in our fight against cancer, improve the success rates of its treatment to 100%, along with societal awareness-raising works, playing active parts in the international platform and achieve successful projects while being integrated in the developments in the world. LÖSEV is a civil society organization in the truest sense, and it is fully an achievement of the Turkish society. It was considered as one of the "Most Known and Most Reliable" associations according to a recent survey. LÖSEV has been receiving support, large and small, from elementary school students to large international companies. Every 100 kurus put in our money boxes, supports to our projects or hands that are bestowed on our children with leukemia are keeping us alive and strong. We are seeking for supports for the hundreds of social responsibility projects that we have generated. We pay close attention to conducting these projects transparently, sharing them with the public and keeping them self-sufficient. We hope that the private companies do their share too, as much as the contribution that they have provided through their clients. We have several projects with differing budget needs fro which we are actively seeking for sponsorships. We can share the details of these projects with interested individuals or companies.
5. What are your international activities?
We are maintaining our organic affiliations with all the cancer associations who are active in the world through our International Relations Department. Aside from our international guests, we are inviting children with leukemia and their mothers, children from our country are being sent to trips, camps, and activities abroad. The International Week for Children with Leukemia, the first and only in the world led by LÖSEV, will have its 10th anniversary in 2011, and this is organized every year at the last week of May. It is celebrated simultaneously by 81 ICCCPO - member countries-138 associations. For this celebration that is organized in several countries, we have visited Hungary - Budapest in 2008, and Spain - Valencia in 2010 with our kids. Participation to the ICCCPO (International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organization), and SIOP (Childhood Cancer Pediatric Oncology) Meetings: LÖSEV Foundation and LOSANTE Children with Leukemia Hospital have participated in the meetings of both associations in 2008. LÖSEV youth who participated in the Onco Olympic Games organized by the Polish Fundacja Spelnionych Marzen every two years, had brought medals back to Turkey with them in swimming, football and table tennis both in 2008 and 2010. LÖSEV has been a member of ICCCPO since 2004. This Confederation is currently conducting studies in cancer in 81 countries and 138 associations of the world. Our foundation have managed to gain the trust of caring individuals and corporations in such a short time with its works, and its studies in the area of leukemia, as well as its international achievements, have transcended the boundaries of our nation, and as a result it became a Civil Society Association with the United Nations Economic and Social Council Special Consultancy Status.
6. Where do your donations come from?
All services in LÖSEV, all activities and studies for the children and their parents are conducted by public donations, and supports of the associations and corporations. All resources are procured from the donations and supports, our activities are carried out thanks to these supports.
Those who wants to make a donation can click on the "How to donate" link on our web site; they can make donations by using the 0660 account number at any banks in Turkey without a transfer fee, or they can send a text message to 3406 from their Turkcell, Avea and Vodafone phones. Additionally, they can put money in the LÖSEV money boxes they may find in all prominent chain stores.
7. Does LÖSEV follow the technology and take advantage of it?
Improving the speed and quality of our works means reaching out to more sick children, saving more lives. This, we try our best to follow the latest developments in the technology. However, as we have stated earlier, we meeting our all of our needs by means of the support coming from the corporations; that is why it sometimes is hard to acquire certain technologies or it takes time. For this reason, we always need support from corporations that provide technological services.
We believe that every individual and corporation who has access to our works will end up supporting our activities to the fullest extent. That is why, we are very happy to be meeting you here at TURCommunique.
8.What is your message to our readers?
Cancer is posing a threat to all age groups and gender now. When we look around, we see one person out of five is a cancer patient. This ratio is increasing every day. We provide information flow to the public through presentations, seminars, conferences, constantly showing up on the media, and having our ads broadcasted on TV, in order to explain the public that cancer is preventable and treatable. Aside from the informatory meetings we conduct at schools, corporations, universities throughout the year, we are talking to public about healthy diets by means of face-to-face interviews handled by all of our departments. We would like to thank TURCommunique on behalf of our thousands of children, for your sensitivity,
LÖSEV MEDIA PUBLIC RELATIONS
www.losev.org.tr
