“What you keep is not yours; what you share is.” Guided by these words of the poet Yunus Emre, Volkan Konak put students through school for years and devoted a large share of his income to education.
Putting 63 students through school (14 October 2010)
This year Volkan Konak has the joy of supporting 63 students, up from 50 the year before. “My goal is 100 students,” he says, adding that he will keep donating all of his income to education. “I came into this world bare as anyone, and I will leave it bare as anyone,” says the son of the north. Fifty of the students he supports are fatherless children from the town of Maçka; the other thirteen come from provinces across Türkiye. “These children are our children. I cannot be their father, but I can be their elder brother, their uncle,” says Volkan Konak, the knight of music and love.
2012–2013 education grants
Primary and high school
- Maçka High School — 13
- Maçka Cumhuriyet Primary School — 9
- Maçka Cezine Kardeşler Primary School — 5
- Maçka Vocational High School of Commerce — 1
- Maçka Vocational High School of Health — 1
- Trabzon Yunus Emre High School — 1
- Istanbul Mahmut Bey High School — 1
University
- Trabzon — 4
- Samsun — 3
- Balıkesir — 2
- Kocaeli — 2
- Ankara — 1
- Bursa — 1
- Denizli — 1
Postgraduate study abroad
- Germany — 3
- Austria — 1
- United States — 1
Total: 50 students