Amateur Turkish sailor Dilek Ergül returned to Istanbul on Sunday after an incident that occurred while she was crossing the Atlantic Ocean alone on her sailboat named Symina. She set off on her journey on Jan. 11 to raise TL 1 million ($417,000) to cover the 10-year education expenses of 10 girls who attend Darüşşafaka Society schools.

Ergül's boat hit an unknown object on the second day of her trip and she lost control of her rudder. A Russian-flagged container ship rescued her and brought her to Rotterdam Harbor in the Netherlands. Her family, students, alumni and managers of the Darüşşafaka Schools welcomed Ergül back with flowers. Taking the floor at a press conference, Ergül said the length of waves reached six meters in height and she struggled for almost 20 hours. "The ship KP Albatross responded to my emergency call and saved me. Sailing the ocean is my childhood dream, but the real mission is to educate our girls," she said, adding that she wanted to raise awareness about girls' education. "I would like to demonstrate that there are some people who can do good things for society. Being a part of the Darüşşafaka Society means being a part of history. It was a difficult journey, though," she continued. Despite the setback, Ergül is planning to sail across the ocean again. "It is worth taking risks for these children," she said.

Taha Çamaş, the president of the Darüşşafaka Society, said Ergül is a brave Turkish woman dedicating her life to the equality of opportunity in education, which has been the mission of the society since 1863. "She not only set off to fulfill her childhood dream, but has turned it into a project to make something different in the lives of other children. We teach our students to dream big and follow them," Çamaş said, adding that Ergül has become a role model for the society through her courage and social awareness. "Her journey is half-completed due to an unfortunate incident, yet her courage already crossed the ocean," he said.

The Darüşşafaka Society announced they will continue with the Route Atlantic project to collect the necessary money for the girls' education expenses. Almost 11,000 donors shared in Ergül's dream and the society has collected TL 125,000 so far. Donations are still needed to cover the expenses of another nine girls. "I believe our dream is not an unachievable one for us. We will fulfill her mission together," Çamaş said. Those interested in donating can do so via the society's website: www.darussafaka.org.

More about the Darüşşafaka Society

As the Ottoman Empire and Turkey's first nongovernmental educational organization, the Darüşşafaka Society was established in 1863 with the aim of providing equality of opportunity in education for talented and needy children who have lost their mothers or fathers. Since then, the institution has offered high-quality and contemporary education to its students and teaches them to be intelligent and curious individuals who are responsible for their society and country. Nearly 1,000 children from all around Turkey who qualify by passing an entrance exam are able to continue their education in the Darüşşafaka Society's schools with full scholarships for 10 years from the fourth year of primary school through to the end of high school. The schools run on donations from individuals, organizations and companies. Moreover, all university expenses, including clothing, health services, books, cultural events, a monthly allowance, accommodation, food and other funds for Darüşşafaka alumni are provided by donations.