A School Full of Colour: Rotary and Rotaract Create Change Together
Four Rotary clubs and ten Rotaract clubs joined forces at Sarıgazi Peyami Safa Primary School in Istanbul, refreshing classrooms, creating colourful murals and sharing the End Polio message.
A fresh coat of paint can change how a classroom feels. A colourful mural can make a schoolyard more welcoming. And when people from different generations work side by side, something else happens: a community discovers what it can achieve together.
At Sarıgazi Peyami Safa Primary School in Istanbul, four Rotary clubs and ten Rotaract clubs came together to improve the learning environment through a hands-on volunteer initiative.
The project was part of the Sarıgazi Community Corps initiative, established by Past President Bülent Gizer. Members of Sarıyer, Suadiye, Beyoğlu and Kalamış Rotary Clubs worked alongside Rotaractors from ten clubs, bringing their time, creativity and practical skills to the school.
More Colour, More Welcoming Spaces
The volunteers turned the school's garden walls into colourful murals, giving familiar outdoor spaces a brighter appearance.
Inside the school, Rotaract members took responsibility for painting and refreshing classrooms that had last been painted by the municipality five years earlier.
The improvements were practical and visible. For students, these are the spaces where they spend much of their school day — learning, interacting with friends and developing their abilities.
The project also demonstrated something important about the Rotary family. Rotaractors were not simply invited to participate; they took an active role in delivering the improvements.
Together, Rotary and Rotaract contributed their skills and energy to a common purpose, with each generation bringing something valuable to the work.
A School Project with a Global Message
The initiative also connected local action with World Polio Day on 24 October.
Wearing red End Polio shirts, volunteers shared Rotary's commitment to ending polio, making the message visible alongside their work at the school.
The connection was meaningful: while improving the environment where children learn today, participants also drew attention to Rotary's continuing global effort to protect future generations from polio.
Two causes came together through one shared commitment to children's wellbeing.
When Partnership Becomes Action
The collaboration united Sarıyer, Suadiye, Beyoğlu and Kalamış Rotary Clubs with ten Rotaract clubs.
Eda Nur Gencer, sharing the experience on behalf of Sarıyer Rotary Club, thanked the Rotarians, Rotaractors and volunteers involved, along with project initiator Past President Bülent Gizer and Community Equality Committee Chair Jülide Uçtum, who attended the event.
The project shows the practical value of intergenerational cooperation in Rotary: clubs sharing responsibility, young leaders contributing directly and a school community benefiting from their combined efforts.
The murals and refreshed classrooms are the immediate results. The deeper lesson is that lasting impact grows when people work with one another, contribute what they can and take shared responsibility for their communities.
Four Rotary clubs. Ten Rotaract clubs. One school — and a powerful example of what One Rotary can achieve together.
