Who was Mustafa Kocakaya?

Even the most diehard, uncritical lovers of Kalkan (yes, you know the ones) would probably have to accept that outside of the old town there few buildings of any architectural merit. Shock! Horror!

school built in 1937 was a Kalkan merchant (I am guessing olive oil). Do you recognize it? Clue: taxi rank.

It is now an occupational high school but it originally served a wider catchment as a boarding school. Later the boarding accommodation was closed and for a long time it was the local primary school. Many older residents were schooled there but don’t rush me! We will come to that later.

In another life, in a wetter country, I was a primary school teacher and for many years a headteacher. I worked in schools in Streatham and Ealing. I like the company of teachers in any country and feel a common bond. I have many teacher friends here. Mostly this is a result of the school projects we Mouse Island Swimmers have funded.

Sometimes people say to me that it must be hard work raising money through the annual swim.  My response is invariably that it is much harder spending it wisely. When in 2021 we raised over £23,000 to help victims of the Manavgat fire it involved several visits to the area, meetings with people on the ground and distribution of various aid packages. It was a big commitment.

School projects are usually great news, though. You are working with a well-established organisation, which has a clear management structure. As long as you have on the staff a good project leader, things get done.

In 2020 we raised funds to replace or renovate all the air conditioning units in Kalkan First and Middle School. We also helped Ali Küçükkaya, a teacher in the Kaş Lycee (Lise in Turkish), to organize a group of swimmers and raise funds to buy three units for classrooms there.

Ali Hoca was a great project leader to work with. When he came to me and asked if we would consider helping with a project in the school he had moved to, I was interested.

I have uploaded a selection of photographs sent to me by Ali for you to enjoy. The pictures, which I am sure you will enjoy browsing, capture an earlier, more innocent Kalkan .

The school would like to landscape the grounds to provide shade, to soften the exterior and to add interest. They would also like to build an outdoor teaching space. The architect has costed the project at £18,000 which is well beyond what we are likely to be able to allocate given we have commitments to fund other projects already. The high cost is driven by the requirement to ensure all work is in sympathy with the listed building, so grade 1 cedar not a metal frame for example. So I have asked Ali to get the cost down to £10,000.

However, on further reflection, this seems to me to be a project that the new and wealthier population (visiting and resident) ought to want to support. Let us cherish what is left of Old Kalkan. In tandem with the building project, local photographers Devrim Çelebi and Fatih Tunalı are planning to put on exhibition telling the school’s story. Some of Kalkan’s oldest residents attended the school and maybe they are featured as youngsters in the selection of photographs I have appended.

This will be my 14^th Mouse Island Swim and I am not sure how many more I will be organizing, if any! So it would be great to see this project come to fruition. The project celebrates and supports what Kalkan was, and in understanding where a place comes from we are better able to shape its future.

So, this is a clarion call to all those who want to protect and respect the origins of the Kalkan we love. The swimmers (and this year we have 70) will do their bit but we need an exceptional effort from everybody to raise the funds.

You can help by

• Buying tickets for the 21^st September Festival of Music and Dance. All proceeds from ticket sales go to the Swim Fund –details here IndigoFest
• Make a direct contribution (card or PayPal accepted) on the Swim Fundrazr page here. Do not be put off by the fact that the donations showing are very large. The site has only just opened. Usually our average contribution is £20 and we need lots of those!
• By a beautiful pure Denizli cotton hamam towel £15 each or 3 for £40. On sale at Indigo noıw
• Bid in the auction for a range of amazing items. Physical auction held early evening at IndigoFest
• Reserve for the one or more of the programme of events at Kaptan Ali’s Dine and Dance venue in the mountains from 16th to 20th September. Publicity soon
• Reach out to all your friends and contacts, foreign and Turkish

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Yaşasin Cumhuri̇yet! Long live the Republic

Click or swipe to see the slideshow