Raindrop Turkish House in Collaboration with Houston Independent School District organized the Award Reception and Ceremony of First Annual Art and Essay Contest with the theme “Alliance of Civilizations”. The program started with the reception in the lobby of Turquoise Center and the students, parents, teachers, and administrators from HISD enjoyed delicious Turkish food. The award ceremony started with the Mayor of Houston Annise Parkers` opening proclamation .After that the president of Raindrop House Mr. Mehmet Okumus stated that we aim to develop young generations ambitious for the ideas of peace friendship and fraternity with these projects. Mr Mehmet Okumus also added that we had a great honor to have this project with a talented education institution which is the first in Texas and the seventh the biggest education institution in United States.
Mr Lawrence Allen who is the member of Texas State Education Ministry of Board joined the art and essay award ceremony on behalf of Texas Schools.
Texas Representative Alma Allen, Honorable Consul General of Turkey Akil Oktem, and Dr. Lynn Mitchell from University of Houston presented the awards to the students.
The art and essay award ceremony came to an end with exchanging the plagues between the two institutions with the idea of coordinating a peace and friendship bridge between the countries. (January 29, 2010 Houston,Texas)
Raindrop Turkish House in Collaboration with Houston Independent School District cordially invites you to the Award Reception and Ceremony of First Annual Art and Essay Contest with the theme “Alliance of Civilizations”.
Raindrop Turkish House organizes Annual Art and Essay contest for Houston Independent School District middle and high school students
This event is invitation only and RSVP is required. We at Raindrop Turkish House and HISD value your presence at this unique event and look forward to your RSVP. To RSVP you can simply click on the link: www.turkishhouse.org/rsvp and fill out the necessary items.
Annual Art and Essay Contest Award Reception and Ceremony Information:
Friday, January 29, 2010 (6:00 pm. to 8:00 pm.)
06:00 p.m. – 06:30 p.m. : Award Reception
06:30 p.m. – 08:00 p.m. : Award Ceremony
Turquoise Center
9301 West Belfort, Houston, TX 77031
Please RSVP by January 26, 2010 at www.turkishhouse.org/rsvp
The History and Culture of Turkey (A non-credit personal
development course offered Spring 2010 at Rice University)
The
only country to lie in both Europe and Asia and one of the oldest continuously
inhabited regions in the world, Turkey is a rich amalgamation of cultures with
a riveting history. In a sweeping survey of this history, from antiquity to the
Ottoman Empire, Atatürk and on to modern times, participants will explore some
of the major components of Turkish identity as well as a number of linguistic,
cultural, religious and political traditions in their historical context. Lectures
on Turkish history will be complemented with a look at significant forms of
Turkish culture, including the traditional arts of calligraphy and ebru,
Nasreddin Hoca stories, Bursa's shadow puppet theater, Rumi poems, architectural
masterpieces of the Seljuk and OttomanEmpires, Turkish music and more.
Instructor:
Jeannette S. Okur, PhD, an active member of Houston's Turkish-American
community, teaches Turkish at the University of Houston. Her published work includes
topics which address literary and cultural analysis, translation theory,
teaching methodology and socio-religious history. Dr. Okur is currently working
on a translation of Mustafa Kutlu's book of short stories "Sır" and several
chapters of a book about transnational socio-religious phenomena originating in
Turkey. She holds a PhD in
comparative literature from Ankara University in Turkey. A
discussion of Ottoman history will be presented by Timothy Fitzpatrick, PhD,
visiting professor in history at Rice University.
Dates:
Eight Tuesdays, February 16-April 20,
7:00-9:00 p.m. (no class March 16 and 30)
Location:
Rice University
Fee:
$155, if registering by February 2; $165,
after February 2; $145, Rice alumni
Co-sponsors:
Raindrop Turkish House and the Institute
of Interfaith Dialog
For more information and to
register online, visit gscs.rice.edu or
call 713-348-4803
Haiti Earthquake: a
catastrophic earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The full extent of
the damage is still being assessed, but the death toll -- already in the
thousands -- is climbing fast.
This is the worst earthquake
to hit the area in more than 200 years
Dear Friends,
This is the time that we need
to show our friendship and brotherhood. Raindrop Helping Hands launched a
campaign for Haiti earthquake victims.
Please send us your generous
donation so that we can deliver it to those who are in need.Funds collected through the Helping Hands'
account will be delivered to the authorized people to deliver it to Haiti
Earthquake victims.
You can make your donations
by:
* Check (Please make your checks payable to:
"Raindrop Helping Hands" and place the memo asHaiti Earthquake. The check should be sent to
9301 West Belfort Houston, Texas 77031)
* Google Checkout (Please log on to website
http://raindropturkevi.org/helpinghands. You can see the Donate Thru Google
Checkout button on the left side of the website and chooseHaiti Earthquake to make donation.)
The deadline to submit the entries for art and essay contest is extended till Wednesday Janury 13, 2010. Raindrop Turkish House organizes Annual Art and Essay contest for middle and high school students from Houston Independent School District . The Raindrop Turkish House is seeking essays and artwork for the 2010 Art &Essay Contest. HISD Middle and high-school students in are invited to submit an original artwork and/or essay on the theme of "Alliance of Civilizations" which is the United Nations’ concept of interaction and coordination among nations and cultures globally. Contest prizes will be awarded for each division at the reception on January 29, 2010. Top winners and their teachers will be awarded with a 10-day trip to Turkey. For more information or questions, please contact
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.
The Turkish community in Houston, Texas, congregated at the Turquoise Center for the Sacrifice Bayram (Eid ul-Adha) celebrations hosted by Houston Blue Mosque and Raindrop Turkish House. The guests of Turquoise Center included but were not limited to natives of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, The Kyrgyz Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Karadag, and the Ahiskan Turks. More than a thousand people in their best clothes gathered early in the morning for the special Bayram prayer, which started with the recitation of Koran and chanting of hymns. Adults greeted and embraced one another wholeheartedly; kids and adolescents honored the hand-kissing custom (kissing an adult's right hand and placing it on one's forehead), while wishing their elders Bayram greetings and being awarded by a Bayram tip in return. The food offered included the indispensible kavurma (braised meat) and desserts such as baklava and Turkish delight.
Raindrop Turkish House contributed to festivities by making it more fun for the kids, the real joys of Bayram. The kids cherished the gift toys wrapped by the organization committee. At the playground of the Turkish House, a number of activities and events played out throughout the day. The elation of the kids and the gratitude of their parents were at their peak.