Young Leaders' School (202)
Young Leaders’ School is working with young people to strengthen them and to form leadership skills. The work is carried out in 9 municipalities of Western Georgia - Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Khoni, Terjla, Senaki, Poti, Khurcha / Koki (Zugdidi municipality), Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti. These are information meetings about gender and domestic violence, workshops on conflictology for young people, meetings with boys, formation of a group of young trainers, trainings and various meetings with participation of young people.
Very interesting, necessary, useful for us - students evaluated the workshops on the topic of conflict, held on 2, 4 and 6 of February in public schools of Gvishtibi (Tskaltubo municipality), Nigvziani (Lanchkhuti municipality), Orulu (Zugdidi municipality).
Pupils actively participated in the process of the workshop. According to them, such meetings give them the opportunity, to openly express their thoughts, to gain knowledge and then to pass them to others.
The main part of the meeting with the boys was devoted to the discussion of gender issues: the role of men in solving problems, recognition and protection of women's rights.
In the second part of the meetings was devoted to role games. The games concerned both school and family matters. The boys especially like this part, and they see themselves in these real stories.
In the end, they talked about the final meetings, they chose 2-3 leaders, who will prepare presentations in February.
The ordinary meetings with the boys were held in the municipalities of Zugdidi (January 18), Lanchkhuti (January 21), Terjola (January 22), Tskaltubo (January 23), Khoni (January 24), Poti (January 25), Ozurgeti (January 28), Senaki (January 29).
An actual topic was discussed during the informational meetings in 9 youth clubs of the Fund "Sukhumi". In January, the information area included schools of 9 municipalities: Didi Nedzi (Zugdidi municipality), Khajalia (Lanchkhut municipality), Anaseuli (Ozurgeti municipality), Kukhi (Khoni municipality), Teklati (Senaki municipality), public schools No. 11 Poti , No. 3 Tskaltubo, No. 35 Kutaisi, and the Private School “Mzekabani” of Terjola.
At informational meetings, the norms of ethics and aesthetics, sex education and a healthy lifestyle, were considered as a tool to prevent violence.
The activity of the participants, their inclusion in role games, initiated performances, open discussions about problems (the role of parents, early marriages, unhealthy traditions, bad habits) were important. Some participants protested against the topics under discussion, but at the end, all meetings were held in the form of a dialogue, interactive. One of the results were shown: Kutaisi club is ready to work independently with their peers and different target groups.
On January 21, 22, 23 and 24, workshops on conflicts were held in 4 schools of Lanchkhuti, Terjola, Tskaltubo and Khoni municipalities.
Students of the 10th and 11th grades played the roles and scenes of correct and incorrect communication, problems solved through negotiations. They analyzed the conflicts and worked on initiatives for the future.
According to the young people, similar meetings contribute to their awareness raising and gaining the skills for local conflict resolution.
Regular meetings with the boys were held in following municipalities: Zugdidi (December 6), Terjola (December 7), Kutaisi (December 10), Senaki (December 12), Poti (December 13), Tskaltubo (December 14), Khoni (December 17), Ozurgeti (December 18) and Lanchkhuti (December 20). The issues of gender equality and gender roles were discussed this time. There were open discussion and group exercises. According to one exercise, the children had to describe the roles of women and men in their families. They noted that women are more busy. The exercise showed them the problems, the reasons of inequality, and also understood their role.
Participants of the workshop in Senaki, Poti and Tskaltubo listened to information about the importance of communication during conflict management.
During the exercises, the importance of non-verbal communication was revealed. The teenagers used role games to describe family conflicts due to incorrect communication.
- Listening does not mean that you understand everything. Often very close people, for example, children and parents, teachers and students, do not understand each other. The advices received here will help us in the future – mentioned the participants.
Informational meetings of the youth clubs were held in Teklati (Senaki municipality), Poti and Tskaltubo. The topic of the meetings is a tolerant society and connction with violence.
Young people talked about traditions, intolerant society, about parents, who are often against the new things and do not ask them if they want to follow some ugly traditions.
In role-playing games, young people independently chose relevant topics. Then there were presentations, discussions, analysis. Young people were actively involved in all activities. This is the main result of these meetings.
What is effective communication, and how to use it during conflict management - this topic was particularly interesting for young people, and this interest was actively expressed during discussions in Zugdidi, Terjola and Kutaisi.
Simulated performances, presented by the participants, it was clear that conflicts in the family, school, street or at work were often caused by improper communication.
“If we learn effective communication, we will be able to manage conflicts much more easily,” – noted the participants of the workshops.
Youth clubs of the Fund “Sukhumi”, traditionally joined the international campaign of “16 active days against gender-based violence”. Informational meetings were held in the village Didi Nedzi (Zugdidi Municipality), Terjola and Kutaisi. An interesting and relevant topic - “Tolerant Society and Connection with Violence” caused an active discussion among the participants. They talked about many things: about the intolerance of society, the problems of minorities, relations between generations. The young people independently chose topics, presented them in an original way, analyzed and made conclusions.
- Protest to violence against women, we want to live in a non-violent environment, this was the attitude of the Fund “Sukhumi” young activists, who joined the campaign “16 active days against gender-based violence”.
Informational meetings, workshops, actions, film screenings and discussions-in such format the meetings were held in 9 municipalities of Western Georgia on the initiative of young leaders. The activities included public schools: No. 31 - Kutaisi, No. 3 - Senaki, No. 2 - Khoni, village Nigvziani (Lanchkhuti municipality), Dvabzu (Ozurgeti municipality), Didi Nedzi (Zugdidi municipality), Gumbrini (Tskaltubo municipality), Metlakhi (Terjola municipality).
Young people are ready to continue discussions on the topic of violence in different formats in future.