Maggie Moore, wife of British Ambassador Richard Moore, and Av. Nurdeniz Tunçer once again visited our students.

Maggie Moore, the wife of British Ambassador Richard Moore and Nurdeniz Tunçer , the head of the Association of Guide Dogs, and their guide dogs named "Kara" and "Star" who guide them were guests at our "Success Stories" seminar organized at our Tarabya campus.

With the aim of reaching those in need every year with social responsibility projects, TBS has been supporting the association and the introduction of guide dogs by carrying out projects regularly. We have been helping the Guidebook Dogs Association since 2014.

TBS students are continuing at full speed in order to help announce the "guide dog for visually impaired" project, which is a very recent event in Turkey, by raising awareness on this subject. It was announced at the seminar that students, or Ambassadors, will be choosen for additional projects to introduce the Guide Dogs Association outside the school. This newest project aims to create a new dimension to the work of collecting financial support by creating sensitivity and awareness.

As a continuation of this collaborative work, our guests returned and participated in the seminar "Success Stories”. UK Ambassador Richard Moore’s wife Mrs Maggie Moore, who herself is visually impaired, together with the founder of the Guide Dogs Association, Av. Nurdeniz Tunçer, answered the many questions of the students. Their guide dogs named Star and Kara guided both guests around the school and laid silently during the seminar.

Maggie Moore began by thanking the students and the community for hosting the seminar and stated that they are grateful for the support provided by the students. They announced that thanks to the support of our students Turkey’s first guide dog trainer Ms. Ece and first guide dog KARA were sent to England. They both completed their training and returned to Turkey to begin their work. Thanks to this training, Kara is now guiding Nurdeniz Tunçer. Next Miss Nurdeniz Tunçer, also thanked the students for their support. Miss Tunçer stated that thanks to the guide dog she can now live a normal life, she can now use public transport and comfortably walk on the streets without someone else with her.

The Dog trainer, Miss Ece, answered questions about how to raise a guide puppy. She stated out that the key factor for training a dog is repeatedly giving the same commands until he/she does the desired move. The instructor stated that the most important time for the puppies are the early months and after the first training for 5 months, the dogs were able to fulfill the desired commands. The trainer, also added that the love is a big factor, also the right pairing of the correct dog and the correct blind person is also very important.

Maggie Moore, who spoke for the same question, added that puppies are given to the families to be raised for all normal commands and life learning for one year. Mrs Moore also said that said that 5 new candidate dogs have now completed their 1-year homesteading education and will begin their training. Stating that the Labrador breed was preferred, Mrs Moore gave the news that the new puppies were trained thanks to the support of the students of the Tarabya British Schools.

Emphasising that guide dogs play a very important role in the daily life of the blind, Mrs Moore explained that guide dogs are widely used for this purpose in the UK. Mrs Moore reported that five thousand people a year benefited from the guide dog practice every year, which began in 1931. Mrs Moore explained that her guide dog "Star" makes daily life easier. The guide Dogs Association Chairman Nurdeniz Tunçer stated that her aim was to enable disabled people to go out on the streets like normal individuals. Miss Tunçer pointed out that the socialization of visually impaired people is possible with their confidence and more relaxed movements, indicating that the interest in guide dogs and guide dogs in Turkey is rather intense.

During the seminar, the students asked questions about guide dog breeding, having a guide dog, approaching guide dogs on the streets in Turkey, life with guide dog and everyday problems encountered and obstacles. It was stated by the guests that the main objective in Turkey was to raise awareness about guide dogs. It was underlined that it was necessary to build social empathy and that the problems of the handicapped were minimised with guide dogs.

At the end of the seminar, the general manager of the school, Janet Williams-Ipek once again thanked the students for their support and showed the guide dogs and ended the seminar with the expression "we are now seeing the results".