Highlights

http://www.undp.org.tr/Gozlem2.aspx?WebSayfaNo=1247

LOST TALES ARE COMING BACK
One of the projects that is being implemented in the context of the third phase of the Life Plus Youth Programme established by Coca-Cola Turkey and UNDP is the “Lost Tales” project developed by the Bu?day Association in the Nomad villages in 5 cities of Turkey. The project aims to reach the last communities that still perpetuate the nomadic culture and record in written and visually their tales through a documentary film thus transferring this culture to future generations.
The Nomads interacted with several cultures in a wide geography from Central Asia to Anatolia and from Siberia to India. The oral literature of Nomads includes an accumulation of their migration, animal husbandry and transhumance. This literature has also been enhanced with their crafts, art, cuisine, leisure and life style. They are all a reflection of virtues regarding the social order, societal psychology and coded messages. But with the lack of written products and today’s widening technologies, these tales could not be passed on to other generations. If these tales are not passed on, a cultural heritage of a thousand years will be lost.
In the context of the project, 20 tales in 20 Nomad villages are being recorded in Ankara and Konya, central Anatolia; Antalya and Mersin, Southern Turkey and Bal?kesir, Western Turkey. The two target groups of the project are the nomads of whose cultural accumulation will be addressed and the target group of which these tales will be passed on to. In this context, academic consultants informed the project team on the aspects of communications and interview techniques. Tales were recorded in the natural environment of the narrators and all tales were grouped.
Other activities will include preparing a 20-25 paged booklet that will be published as an annex of the Atlas magazine, a 5-minute film for each of the 20 tales will be recorded which will then be broadcast on TV and internet sites. The tales will be used for a documentary film as well and a webpage will be prepared that includes tales and maps of Nomad villages. The project that started on 16 October 2007 will end on 15 July 2008.
The Life Plus Youth Programme supports innovative, creative, participatory and sustainable projects developed by youth aged 16-26 and encourages youth to design projects that will find solutions to environmental and societal problems. The Life Plus Youth Programme gives 3 thousand to 30 thousand dollars for each project. 22 projects have been realized since the establishment of the programme in 2005. Similar projects will be supported until 2010 with the competitions that will be organized every year.