As the Salih Tatlıcı Foundation, we donated to the organization “EduMais,” which works hard to provide children living in challenging conditions in favelas in Brazil with the basic skills they need in the modern world and to improve their social and emotional learning. The organization presented to our Foundation a certificate of appreciation for the donation.

Children do better when they feel better

“As a foundation, our priority is to support children’s education. Wherever they are in the world, it is necessary to provide equality of opportunity in order to sustain their lives by providing the children of families with insufficient financial means with basic skills. This time, we supported the organization“EduMais,” a non-governmental organization that makes great efforts to bring the children living in challenging conditions in the favelas of our friend Brazil to life. Children would be much more successful when they feel better.” stated Uğur Tatlıcı, the Executive Board Member of our Foundation, regarding the donation.

About “EduMais”

Born in the Netherlands in 1965, Diana Nijboer, Founder of EduMais, started volunteering for a number of nonprofits in Rio’s favelas and acquired experience of how they function, what they do, and what makes a difference. In the slums called “favelas,” many houses have a living room, bedroom, and kitchen in one space. Aside from the trauma of gunfights that continue outside their homes, most children don’t even have their own beds, let alone their own bedroom. Living in these difficult conditions profoundly impacts the beliefs and lives of these young people. Frequent armed conflicts mean children may have trouble distinguishing between safety and insecurity. Poverty, sexual abuse, food insecurity, and home instability are other factors that cause brain-altering stress for children. All this affects both their behavior and their ability to learn. Trauma and stress can alter a young person’s brain function, affect learning, cause behavioral problems, and ignite a cycle of violence. But not only that, children need opportunities to develop essential skills such as conversational English and Web and Game Design in the modern world. But above all, they also needed help to process their trauma and improve their social and emotional learning. Without it, their academic potential would be forever blocked and unfulfilled.

EduMais’s goal is to have its own independent complementary education school by 2026. This school will be based on the same principles that EduMais currently has: Promoting social and emotional learning, and academic and physical education. The aim is to provide a complete complementary education program to support the development of underprivileged students in public schools.