Here at ETİ, we not only provide the small pleasures of life but we also fulfill our responsibility to society. Our priority in the service of Turkey’s present and future is to support sustainable, long-term projects. For this reason, we are involved in projects that will contribute to the personal development of the children who will be the future of a modern Turkey. The ETİ Children’s Ferryboat project is an important part of this approach.

As part of the ETİ Children's Ferry Boat project that we launched in 2007, we take children between the ages of 7-12 under the protection of the Social Services and Child Protection Agency on an unforgettable tour of the Bosphorus in Istanbul where they engage in painting and percussion as well as history and drama workshops.

The ETİ Children’s Ferry Boat becomes a fun and educational platform where safety is a top priority. The children are accompanied by authorized teachers from the Social Services and Child Protection Agency as well as an extensive educational staff of experts in various fields.

In three years, we have hosted 800 children on the ETİ Children’s Ferry Boat.

The project set sail on the Bosphorus for the first time in 2007. In the second year, 300 children in groups of 90 between the ages of 7 and 12 engaged in fun and educational projects, in which each group spent a week on the ETİ Children's Ferry Boat between July 14th and July 30th. In the first year of the ETİ Children’s Ferry Boat, the children had the opportunity to listen to mythological stories about historic sites and

individuals in the city that they live in. During this time, the children also received instruction in painting and percussion while building their self-confidence by creating their own pieces of art in the workshops.

In 2008, the history lessons were replaced by drama studies as the ferry boat featured the “Rainbow” concept and the play entitled Who Will Be the Rainbow was performed. Each of the children represented different colors of the rainbow, and on the last day, they performed the play after extensive rehearsals.

In 2009, almost 200 children received instruction in 2 groups of 100 on August 11-14^th and August 17-20^th.

The rhythm workshop featured the darbuka, marakas, tambourine and spoons. Not only did they enjoy listening to one another but they also learned the value of teamwork. Unlike previous years when percussion training was provided, this year the activities focused on glass painting, toy sculptures, t-shirt painting, hand-puppets, and recycled sculpting.

The children depicted themselves as the heroes who saved Istanbul on t-shirts that were printed with their pictures and which they then painted themselves.

The silhouette of Istanbul through the eyes of children...

In the glass-painting activity, which was planned based on stained glass art, the children demonstrated their creativity by depicting the landscape of Istanbul based on their observations from the ferry boat.