Civic Initiatives in Kvemo Kartli

On April 4, CSO Orbeliani Georgia announced the winners of competition for youth volunteer projects. The competition “I Act, I Engage, I Belong” was announced for ethnic-Azeri youth from 11 villages in Marneuli and Bolnisi municipalities in February 2019. The youth was given an opportunity to come up with project ideas that would address primary needs of their communities. From 20 submitted project ideas the jury selected 5 projects as winners. These projects are:

• “I am future of Georgia” – awareness raising campaign for ethnic Azerbaijani girls living in Kvemo Kartli (Khuldara, Sadakhlo and Malaoghli villages). The aim of the campaign is to inform girls about elections and the importance of voting. The project will be implemented by youth of Khuldara community resource center.
• “Playground for children in Khidisquri village” – youth of Khidisquri village in Bolnisi municipality will arrange a playground in the schoolyard. Villagers will help them assemble recreational equipment and plant the territory with grass and trees.
• “Clean Nakhiduri” – schoolchildren in Nakhiduri village, Bolnisi municipality, will organize clean-up activities, install trash bins and in cooperation with the local government, clean up the littered territories. The project authors will hold information meetings on environmental issues at schools and in the community.
• “Healthy environment, healthy life” – youth from Malaoghli village, Marneuli municipality, will install trash bins and carry out clean-up activities to tackle the problem of littering in the village. With an active involvement of local population, they will also clean up the the river bank area and plant the trees.
• “Discover yourself” – youth of Algeti village, Marneuli municipality, will arrange a youth club in the school building and equip it with all necessary items. Azerbaijani youth will use this space for non-formal educational activities such as film screenings, quiz games, meetings of readers’ club, discussions with students on various professions, etc. The club will help the youth choose their future professions and enhance knowledge.

Orbeliani Georgia provided the winning projects with all necessary equipment. In addition, the organization has already conducted trainings in critical thinking and civic activism skills for project teams.
The implementation of the projects will start in May.