The Federation of International Student Associations otherwise known as ‘Uluslararası Ögrenci Dernekleri Federasyonu (UDEF)’ was formed in December 2012 in Turkey. UDEF is an umbrella body of about 55 International Student Associations in almost 47 cities in Turkey. The UDEF was formed to socially facilitate unity, morally and intellectually develop international students either through extra curricular activities or direct scholarships.
This year’s education camp is attended by almost 640 international students from around 100 countries. The camp will continue for 8 weeks and of the first batch in the first week which started on 17 February, 3 Malawian students ; Abdulaziz Kaisi, Ibrahim Chilungo and Mussa Muhammad Silika attended.
The camp was supervised by, education coordinator, Mr Mahmut Oğuz.
One of the most important speakers was the organisation’s president Mr Mehmet Ali Bolat. Mr Bolat encouraged students to firstly concentrate on their studies instead of running around trying to make money whilst spending less time in the university campuses. He also emphasized on the importance of introducing our countries to the world and at the same time getting acquainted to Turkey. Lastly, he begged students to unite to facilitate good communication now and after their graduation for easy and smooth development in their respective countries.
The last day (of the first week) was dominated by Mr Munir Arıkan who gave lectures concerning the inevitable relationship between all university fields and fast-growing technology.
Malawians have their own organization namely ‘Malawian Students (Scholars) in Turkey’; MAST.Currently, Turkey has over 90 Malawian students studying in its different universities