Village charities (köy hayırları) are traditional spreads organized in spring time where rural people come together, eat together and pray together to express their sense of gratitude, as well as creating a social space. Organized consecutively by the surrounding villages of towns (mainly Canakkale and Balikesir in the Aegean region), according to a certain calendar, village charities are an example of social and economic solidarity in addition to its religious aspect. Each year in March, … Read more
Kashkek A dish of mutton or chicken and coursely ground wheat (Keşkek)
As a collaborative social practice, the preparation and cooking of kashkek requires a joint workforce. Before the cooking process, wheat is threshed jointly with a common rhthym in a special large stone mortar called 'dibek'. It is soaked in water over night, then boiled in big vessels. Together with the boiled mutton or chicken, it is smashed with thick sticks jointly until it reaches a special stiffness which determines its degree of taste. Then it is served with fried butter and tomato paste. … Read more
Henna Used for hair dying and permanent tattooing
Henna has been used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, and fingernails, as well as fabrics including Silk and wool as well as for leather. Additionally, the name is misused for other skin and hair dyes, such as black henna or neutral henna, which are not derived from the plant. … Read more
Tulum Cheese Using goatskin casing for ripening and preserving goats cheese
Tulum cheese (Turkish: tulum peyniri) is a traditional Turkish goat's milk cheese ripened in a goatskin casing, called Tulum in Turkish. As a rich source for protein, calcium, fat and phosphorus, Tulum cheese is an important food for healthy nutrition, with its unique flavour provided by the natural microflora created in the goatskin during ripening. Tulum cheese is made by heating high-fat goat's milk to a temperature of 30 °C (86 °F) and subsequently souring it through the addition of a … Read more
Tarhana Natural Instant Soup
Tarhana is a traditional dish in Turkish cuisine that refers to a dough or powder made using various vegetables, spices, yeast, and yogurt. The name can refer to the actual powder or dough itself, as well as a soup made by using the dough or powder and adding boiling water. Created as a way of preserving food before the invention of refrigerators and other safe food storage methods, this is effectively one of the oldest instant soups. Tarhana mixes can be purchased from grocery stores, … Read more
Pekmez Carob and Grape Molasses
The thick, sticky syrup from carobs and grapes. Molasses is a syrup that is made by boiling and thickening the grapes and similar fruits. The healthy components extracted from these fruits include disease-fighting antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Among several potential benefits, grape molasses may help restore iron in anaemic people; and a compound in carob molasses may benefit those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Grape molasses can be used to sweeten cookies, cakes and … Read more
Zakat Collecting money for the poor or for a development project
Zakat means in Arabic 'that which purifies' and it is basically the giving of a fixed portion of one's wealth as a tax to the administration or government. This is one pillar of Islam. Zakat is a way to redistribute the wealth, thus increasing the flow of cash in the economy with a particular interest in the poor and the dispossessed Muslim. Non Muslims are not required to pay Zakat, but give a tax by a different name called Jizyah tax. The giving of the Zakat is considered a means of … Read more
Open Space Supporting true insight and innovation by allowing space for expression and cross-pollination
True insight and innovation is created amongst the people, deeply embedded in real life and real experience, and cannot be downloaded from key speakers, books or the internet (though all those may be of help and inspiration). The question of how to open up more space for this kind of innovative creativity within conference settings, sparked off the development of Open Space. In Open Space, people are invited to gather around a theme statement that ideally holds enough inspiration and power to … Read more
Imece (Collective Labour) Community Volunteering
Imece is a name given to traditional Turkish village-scale collaboration. For example, if a couple is getting married, villagers participate in the overall organization of the ceremony including, but not limited to, preparation of the celebration venue, food, building and settlement of the new house for the newly weds. Tasks are often distributed according to expertise and there is no central authority to govern activities. Imece is a voluntary (sometimes obligatory) activity, generally … Read more
Village Council/Council of Elders Decision-making in rural villages
Village Council/Council of Elders is the decision-making, executive, juridical and supervising body of the village governance. In the village council there are both elected and natural members. Elected members are determined according to universal majority votes for a five year period. Number of members vary from 8 to 10 according to the village population. Anyone who is literate can be a nominee. The village headman is also the head of village council.The headteacher of the village school and … Read more
