Istanbul, Turkey - Turkey, which I once considered the most difficult country in my region, has endeared itself to me over and over again on this trip. Traveling from central Turkey to the southeast and then all the way to the west has given me the unique opportunity to see more regions of this country than most people have the chance to in a lifetime. In four short days, I met with groups in Ankara, Diyarbakir, Istanbul, and the regions of Kocaeli and Adapazari, which were affected by the 1999 earthquake.

Through these many meetings in different areas of the country, I asked the same question—where are the many civil society groups that I expected to find in Turkey? Is it my lack of Turkish language skills? Am I looking in the wrong places? Over and over again, I was assured that it has nothing to do with me but is a systemic issue in the country.

I learned that a culture of civil society is only now starting to develop in Turkey. In the past, the government was not supportive of NGOs because most NGOs existed only to oppose the government. Until recently, all NGOs were also prohibited from providing institutional care for children. While the number of institutionalized children in Turkey is not as high as in some areas of Eastern Europe, this issue nevertheless brings to the forefront the need for NGO growth. The Turkish government recently implemented a “back to home program” under which a large number of children living in institutions (most of whom were “social orphans”) were sent back to live with their families, bringing the number of children in institutions from 20,000 to 12,000. However, there has been very little, if any, follow-up care for the roughly 8,000 children who were sent home, creating a need for organizations to provide services to them.

I hope in the coming years to see many new NGOs come alive in Turkey and to see an increased donor interest across the country. Nowhere else in my region have I seen a greater commitment on the part of local women to ensure that their children receive early childhood education, so I know the motivation is there—these committed individuals just need an environment that will help foster their growth.