The “Melek’in Melekleri” team of the Düzce Girls’ Technical and Vocational High School, winner of the national finals of the 2011 Skills@Work Challenge taking place under the scope of the protocol signed in 2009 between the Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Girls’ Technical Education and British Council, answered our questions after returning from their UK trip, which was their reward for winning the first place.

“Melek’in Melekleri”, a dynamic team of entrepreneurs participating in the challenge from Düzce, consists of Dilek Sayın, Selmanur Meydan, Sema Tekin, Hümeyra Yıldız and Elvan Acar. Returning from their 3-day Kingston University workshop and 4-day UK visit, which was the award of the challenge, the team shared with us their one-week UK adventure.

After the trip, we talked to the team’s coach, Melek Bayram Ustabaşı, and asked her about her and her students’ experiences during and after the Challenge.

British Council: Melek, what was your entrepreneurship idea with which you entered the Challenge in 2011 and which won you the first place?

Melek Bayram Ustabaş: We participated in the Challenge with the idea of low-calorie and gluten-free flour production from ground hazelnut shells, which we developed as an alternative to the additive-containing diet flours available in the market. All of our families raise hazelnut as their means of livelihood. So, our Project had to be related to hazelnut. I had often heard from my grandfather how they had ground hazelnut shells and made bread with them during the years of war and famine. We discussed the issue among ourselves and named our team ‘Melek’in Melekleri’; we also named the product of our idea “FINKABUN”. We made flour from hard hazelnut shells and tried various products, and when we succeeded in finding the right formula, we applied for the challenge.

British Council: What excited you the most in the Skills@Work 2011 Challenge?

Melek Bayram Ustabaş: The organization for Trabzon and Istanbul finals was very impressive (For the first time in Skills@Work 2011, regional finals were carried out in three different provinces). We liked the organization immensely. The interest shown us by the members of the Istanbul jury, and also the fact that Women Entrepreneurs such as Neşe ERBERK, Aynur BEKTAŞ and Gamze CİZRELİ were in the forefront also excited us as  “Young Entrepreneurs”. We had to be the young and successful entrepreneurs of the future. When the results of the Istanbul finals were being announced, Neşe ERBERK  first started by saying ‘We had no difficulty choosing the first, because it is a very global product’ … and then came the announcement ’The first place goes to Düzce Girls Technical and Vocational High School’s Meleğin Melekleri and FINKABUN !!!.’; it was the moment our excitement rose to the peak.

We still cannot believe that we have won the award … Sharing in our excitement, the Plato Vocational Higher Education School gave us a one-week English Language course before we took off for the entrepreneurship camp in the UK. That was how we prepared for the UK. I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the Plato Vocational Higher Education School for the language course, which was a thoughtful gesture. After the language course, we participated in the Bright Futures Entrepreneurship and Innovation Workshop of the Kingston University in the UK, and we found the opportunity to go lots of places in Britain, which we had never seen before. Excitement….. Happiness…. Pride…all in one, with everyone happy …

British Council: How was your UK trip?

Melek Bayram Ustabaş: We received a nice welcome in the UK, which made us feel more keenly the pride of having accomplished an important task. For three days, we had some incredible experiences in the classroom with entrepreneurs from lots of different countries and various age groups. We understood that anyone receiving the necessary training could become an entrepreneur. What is important is to believe in “entrepreneurship” and presenting your idea in distinctive ways in consideration of your competition.

In the UK, every place we saw made us exclaim ‘Good thing we came here!” which I guess pretty much explains how good a time we had there. Except during the workshop, we found the opportunity to go to all the popular places in London; we saw the Sherlock Holmes Museum, we went on a boat trip on the River Thames, and we saw the campus of the Kingston University. Moreover, we could not miss the chance to experience the well-known English tea at one of Britain’s famous Tea Houses.

British Council: We once again congratulate you and your students and thank you for the interview.  

“Skills@Work” is a challenge designed for young people in the 14-18 age range studying at vocational high schools. The three main objectives of the challenge include: 1) Supporting the technical skills gained by vocational and technical education students with innovation and entrepreneurship; 2) Ensuring that young people meet the business life by coming together with professional entrepreneurs and executives, 3) Ensuring that students receive training on entrepreneurship and self-development, which are not included in formal curricula, and learn about these topics through practice by participating in challenges.  

Continuing its works for the 2012 year with its partnerships, British Council will announce the developments regarding the Challenge on the British Council website at www.britishcouncil.org.tr, or on the dedicated website of the challenge at www.istebizdevariz.com.

To see the photographs from the 2011 Challenge, please visit the British Council Facebook page at www.facebook.com/british.council.turkey.