A five-month cycle of workshops on conflict management has resumed in public schools.
8 meetings were held with pupils of public schools in the villages: Koki (Zugdidi municipality), Lia (Tsalenjikha municipality), Menji (Senaki municipality), Gurianta (Ozurgeti municipality), Melauri (Samtredia municipality), Khajalia (Lanchkhuti municipality), Dzevri (Terjola municipality ) and school No. 5 in Kobuleti.
A "live" meeting was held in Koki - taking into account all regulations, and with the rest of the participants, the work was continued online.
In connection with the mobilization of groups, it should be noted the assistance from the school directors and teachers.
The first meetings started by discussing the essence of peace and conflict. And immediately the activity and motivation of young people to learn more in terms of conflict management was seen. They agreed to disseminate information, and have already held meetings with friends.
“This is a very necessary topic at our age”, “I am ready to join in during 5 months”, “I really liked the beginning, and I will attend all meetings”, “When will the next meeting be held?” - these are the words of the participants...
New groups of Youth Clubs were created, and the first meetings were held in the schools of the villages: Koki (Zugdidi municipality), Pakhulani (Tsalenjikha municipality), Nosiri (Senaki municipality), Gurianta (Ozurgeti municipality), Etseri (Samtredia municipality), khajalia (Lanchkhuti municipality) , Dzevri (Terjola municipality) and school No. 5 of Kobuleti.
The meetings were mainly held online. Before the start of the 5-month work, there were communications with school directors and teachers, group formation, discussion of the program.
After the first meetings, it became clear that community school students are especially interested in non-formal education and the issues that are considered at meetings of Youth Clubs.
In August, new Youth Clubs in 9 municipalities of Western Georgia were formed. For the given moment, communication with school directors, teachers, and members of Youth Clubs in different regions is underway.
From September 15, it is planned to create new groups and conduct a 6-month cycle of work with them.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklunsdienst (Germany)
There was an active preparatory work at the beginning: online meetings with club members, determining the number of participants in the final meeting, choosing topics for presentations, inviting guests, settling technical issues.
In the end, a final online meeting was held with the participation of Youth Clubs from 9 municipalities. The meeting was also attended by school directors, teachers, and parents.
Members of the clubs themselves prepared and made 4 presentations, which was followed by an interesting discussion. The participants spoke about violence prevention, protection mechanisms, the role of the school and the family.
The meeting showed how young people have changed, how their attitudes to the problem have changed - this was evident in their speeches, in their frankness, self-confidence, and courage.
The five-month course "Teaching Conflict Management in Schools" was completed. The work was conducted in 9 municipalities of Western Georgia. At the end, a joint final online meeting was held in the platform of Zoom.
The meeting was attended by: active members of conflict management groups of different schools, directors and teachers, parents.
The course participants prepared presentations, they noted that they will share gained knowledge with others. The teachers talked about the relevance of the topic of the conflict, and highlighted the role of NGOs in terms of non-formal education.
The participants of the final meeting will be awarded by the certificates.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklunsdienst (Germany)
In June, work with the boys was held again online. The activities included groups from schools of Terjola, Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, Kutaisi, Senaki, Poti, Lanchkhuti municipalities. There were interesting discussions, video clips, planning of final meetings...
Online meetings with teachers continued - they shared their experiences on what ways they found to improve online work. According to their experience, using videos is one of the best ways to interest among the boys.
There was another innovation - a debate competition. 8 boys participated in the competition, there were also experienced judges. The final competition was held on June 27 and the winner was named - David Geguchadze from Samtredia.
June was very interesting...
Harmonious relations between family members for violence prevention - this topic was discussed at online meetings with the Youth Clubs of Poti School No. 21 and the villages Menji (Senaki Municipality) and Lia (Tsalenjikha Municipality).
The topic for discussion was so relevant that young people with great interest joined the discussion. They talked about problems that were especially acute in a pandemic. According to them, the family is a strong support... At one of the meetings, the teenagers mentioned how they love mom, dad, sister, brother... It was very impressive. And as they themselves noted, this day will remain unforgettable for them.
The last three meetings with members of the conflict management groups also took place online - this time in school No 2 of the village Pakhulani (Tsalenjikha municipality), the village Dzevri (Terjola municipality) and the village Dvabzu (Ozurgeti municipality).
Together with the students, a video lesson on: "Methods for peaceful resolution of the conflict", rules of behavior in a conflict situation was discussed...
The students were given homework - to write how the project influenced them, lessons on conflict management. The activity of the members of the conflict management group will be visible on the Facebook page of the Fund “Sukhumi” https://www.facebook.com/fsokhumi/
The conflict expert held several online meetings with the mothers of the project participants. It turned out that they like the project “Teaching Conflict Management in Schools”. They note that talking on relevant topics is necessary with students of all classes so that they know about peaceful ways to resolve conflicts.
According to the mothers, the Fund “Sukhumi” Foundation is a serious, qualified non-governmental organization, and they are sure that cooperation with the Fund gives teenagers a lot - the necessary information, development, good skills, self-confidence ...
The online meetings were held with the members of conflict management groups in the school of the village Supsa (Lanchkhuti municipality), the private school “Gymnasium” in Poti and school No. 13 in Kutaisi.
"Methods of peaceful resolution of the conflict" - that was the topic of June. Online meetings were followed by active discussions. The pupils were given advise to listen to the video lesson posted on the Facebook page of the Fund “Sukhumi” and express their comments. They also received homework, and have already started to do it. Some began to record video appeals, others drew an interesting drawing, some wrote an essay, and some wrote a letter to a trusted person.
At the end of the work cycle, members of the conflict management groups share their feedback with the conflict expert. The activity of adolescents is clearly visible on the Facebook page of the Fund “Sukhumi” https://www.facebook.com/fsokhumi/