February 3, 2014
Georgia
Since 2012, Caritas CR has supported the development of civic groups in the Georgian town of Batumi. Seminars and meetings of active citizens who care about the fate of the town and country were included. We interviewed high-school students Shorena Kurashvili and Tera Simba to find out what the project meant to them and what other plans they have for the future.
For the Caritas CR project, the aim of which was to support active engagement of the citizens and young people of Batumi in decision-making processes on local level, Shorena Kurashvili was chosen by her school to take part. “I’m really glad because I wish to become more active and involved in the life of my town. I know that now there are more organisations in our town with a programme similar to that of Caritas CR. The main goal of these projects is to address young people who are willing to do something for their town and its future. They create and carry out their own projects and see that their work is meaningful.”
Shorena Kurashvili – future lawyer
When asked about specific work, Shorena answers: “Among others, we realised a project dealing with the choice of one’s career. We invited a journalist who talked about his work and gave us some advice. I really liked it. Such projects take place in the whole of Georgia nowadays so students have lots of opportunities to get involved; they can even get some prizes and grants. That’s good for us.”
Shorena would like to become a lawyer. The most burning issue of her town and the whole of Georgia according to her is unemployment, mainly among young people. She wants to change this situation and begins with herself. She devoted up to three hours a week of her free time to the project, which means she has very little free time. But thanks to her parents’ support, she doesn’t mind spending it in this way.
Tera Simba – future professor
Like Shorena Kurashvili, Tera Simba was suggested by the head of the school for the Caritas CR project. He says: "I really wanted to do something for the life of our town.” He enjoys the support of his parents as well. What did he like about the project? “I learned how to prepare a project and met interesting people.”
Tera arranged a survey which aimed to find out about the biggest problems in the town, according to the citizens. “One of the biggest issues turned out to be the way waste is being handled. People have many waste containers at their disposal but they don’t put their waste in them. They should realise they can’t throw waste in the street. They should be interested in the environment they live in. Those who realise their health is in danger will react to the project but I don’t think there will be many of them. It’s going to take a long time before people here start behaving like people in Europe.”
Tera likes learning English. Thanks to his mother, who is a translator, the language is surely very close to him. That’s why he would like to become engaged in education: “Definitely, I’m thinking about an exchange study programme.”
Caritas CR cooperated on the project with the Georgia’s Union for Development and Cooperation “Progress,” and was carried out thanks to the financial support of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
