Traffic is one of Istanbul's most challenging issues. For millions of people, facing the horrors of rush hour traffic every morning and evening after work is inevitable. The sounds of car horns are almost nonstop at traffic lights, and the sight of men yelling at each other would not be surprising. Under such conditions, driving public transportation vehicles is certainly one of the city's difficult jobs. But one man, Mehmet Sirin Cicek, a minivan driver in Istanbul, has transformed his vehicle into a source of inspiration – his bus is known as Istanbul's goodwill minivan.

Mehmet's minivan is covered with stickers on both its interior and exterior; each sticker carries messages on social issues. As soon as passengers step inside his van, they are bombarded with social messages. On a typical day, he carries around 400 passengers.

Mehmet acknowledges that it's not easy to drive through Istanbul's congested traffic all day, but said, "Because I am chasing kindness, because I want to do good deeds, traffic doesn't turn into suffering for me." His aims to increase awareness of many different issues, including those about health and discrimination. Some examples of the phrases on his stickers are "Defend the lives of street animals," "We are aware of autism, we are with them," "End child labor," "Violence against women is shameful," "Leukemia isn't contagious, kindness is."

According to the Women's Murder Platform, in 2019, 474 femicides took place in Turkey.  Mehmet said this pains him, as he is against "any kind of violence, whether it's against a woman, a child or even an ant."

Many passengers riding in Mehmet's minivan are stunned to see all the different expressions and do not stop short of conveying their support. 

"This is a project that people must contribute to," said male passenger Hakan Yasmaci. "I thank our driver Mehmet, this campaign that aims to be beneficial to society is a very beautiful thing."

Aside from promoting social awareness, Mehmet also takes action. He sells bottled water to passengers and uses the collected funds to buy animal food for street cats and dogs. He also sponsors the education of two middle-school girls and hopes to sponsor even more children. 

Mehmet also keeps new socks and shoes in the trunk of his vehicle, as he's always on the lookout for someone in need.  "I'm always observing, in case I spot anyone without shoes. Because we are minivan drivers, we go everywhere; no one sees these streets better than us," he said.

His efforts have not gone unnoticed. When one of his customers mentioned his work to the European Union (EU), the EU reached out to him on social media and offered to help. They gave him 30,000 Turkish Lira, which is approximately 5,000 U.S. dollars. Mehmet used the funds to print 30,000 stickers, which he is going to distribute to 1,000 minivan drivers. 

Mehmet's story also went viral on social media, and many other drivers are now interested in joining his cause. Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu rode in Mehmet's minivan and posted a supportive video on his Instagram page, which has over 6 million followers, making Mehmet even more famous across the city. 

Noting that he hopes all this attention is put to good use,  Mehmet said, "If we all do our parts, our mission as human beings, there wouldn't be any hate left in the world."