If your child is diagnosed with Down syndrome, their social adaptation to daily life becomes harder and requires them to cope with more challenges. A rising number of establishments around Turkey now employ staff with Down syndrome, with more places recruiting young people with special needs.Very recently, the Istanbul Down Syndrome Association, in collaboration with the Tomurcuk Foundation and Turkey's Federation of Chefs, initiated an academic training project titled, "Chefs with Down Syndrome." Following the academic training they receive in this project, youth with Down syndrome will become professional chefs and can follow a career in gastronomy.With the ultimate objective to give youth with Down syndrome a new life, the chefs project aims to ensure that these youth gain a profession while having fun at the same time.Sharing details about the project, Istanbul Down Syndrome Association's founder Muhammed Abdullah Tuncay said that as a nongovernmental organization, the association offers professional training to youth with Down syndrome: "Our objective here is to prevent children from going back home without a job after they complete their high school education and instead to have them receive proper occupational training and professional opportunities. We are starting works with the Tomurcuk Foundation and Turkish Chefs Federation."For patients with Down syndrome, it is crucial to find the profession they like to achieve high satisfaction afterwards. "We proposed to train them as chefs as we saw the children in our group have a special liking for sweets," Tuncay continued.The project is now active in two cities - Istanbul and Ankara. Together with professional chefs, the youth will be trained for 23 weeks. The Ministry of Family and Social Policies received help from experts when preparing the training module.Within the scope of the project, famous celebrities in Turkey will be invited to meet the children during the trainings. At the end of the course of the 23 weeks, participants will prepare a book on healthy diet.The next stage is implementing the Down DJ project, noted Tuncay and added that if the project is successful, they will include more youth in the project.Tomurcuk Foundation aims to prove itself in special areas regarding children and youth and also organizes workshops.Tomurcuk Foundation President Sernur Karagöz notes that the children who are included in this project have proven themselves many times during their workshops. "What is important is to focus on what individuals can do, instead of what they cannot and provide support in this respect. They are already successful when they receive training. This may set an example for foundations and associations besides us," said Karagöz.Among the group members suffering from Down Syndrome, Gözde Güven and Damla Solak, who attended the chocolate festival and won, shared information about their successful efforts. Looking very excited, Güven and Solak noted that their work had been greatly appreciated and that they will strive to obtain more awards.The Tomurcuk Foundation was established by volunteers in 2010 and implemented the "Let the buds bud out" project that promotes the inclusion of Down syndrome patients and mentally challenged individuals in active life and opened a pilot cafe in which Down syndrome patients and mentally challenged individuals can receive training and also work. The income from the cafe is also spent on these individuals. Tomurcuk Foundation, founded by the families of Down syndrome patients and mentally challenged individuals is striving to create awareness in society and provide general information. In this respect, they also organized a New Year's activity on Dec. 20. The income from the activity is to be used in this pilot cafe project where Down syndrome patients and mentally challenged individuals can work and train.Down syndrome, or mongolism or Mongol babies as it was initially called, was first defined by Dr. John Langdon Down. Due to the resemblance of their slanted eyes to the Mongolian race, Dr. Down used the term mongoloid for these babies and with the pressure of Asian scientists, this Mongolian term was completely abandoned and the syndrome now goes under the surname of the doctor as "Down syndrome." In 1959, it was defined as the trisomy of the 21st chromosome by Jerome Lejeune.