Today I went to work with my host mom who is involved in a public school project which is a partnership between UNICEF and World Vision. This project is in six public schools (K-12) in Tbilisi and has set up a classroom for IDP children (internally displaced persons).
Once these students are finished with their regular classes they come to the World Vision classroom where they first get help with their homework and then break into groups by age to work on specific activities. Since there is a language barrier for me I focused on arts & crafts and games with the kids; doing art therapy, building clay models of various things, assembling puzzles, etc. A few of the older kids know a limited amount of English so it was fun for them to hear me talk and see how much they could understand, especially with my American accent!
Throughout the day other kids and teachers stopped by the classroom to check it out since they’ve heard so many positive things about it. I have to say it is one of the nicest classrooms in the entire school. This school, and many others from what I’ve seen, are in desperate need of repair and maintenance. Unfortunately the government just isn’t keen on allocating very much money towards education or educational facilities. But once World Vision was given a classroom in each of the six schools they repainted, installed new carpet, ordered curtains for the windows, bought all new furniture, an electric heater, and a stereo. They have also supplied all the IDP kids with school books, notebooks, games, art supplies, etc.
I have honestly been shocked to see what bad shape these schools are in, but then I remembered how a lot of places in the world don’t even have school buildings for children to go to, so at least the general population of Georgian children do have a place to go to for an education. The concrete stairs are falling apart, the wooden floors throughout the corridors are missing planks, paint is chipping off the walls, there is hardly any electricity in the common areas (especially corridors), there is no heat (it’s freezing everywhere in the school) and the toilets are latrines (holes in the ground that you have to hover over if you’re a woman). One good thing is that lunch is provided at no cost to the children, and when I joined the kids for lunch today it felt like I was going to someone’s home and not a school cafeteria. The food is cooked in large pots and poured into plastic bins, then the kitchen staff (and sometimes teachers) serve the kids and even give them seconds if they want more.
I really enjoyed my time with the World Vision IDP kids. They are all so grateful to have this program because the adjustment into a new school has been difficult. They are considered “village kids” and not “city kids” so they are looked at differently. World Vision has provided a “safe place” of retreat for them and they are able to form bonds with other IDP kids who are in the same situation. This is only a two month program so I’m not quite sure what will happen with these kids once it’s over, but hopefully by that time they will feel more comfortable and adjusted to their new environment. We can only pray that they will be.
November 10, 2008
Categories: G3, Republic of Georgia . Tags: G3 Adventures, IDPs, Karen Brown, refugees, Republic of Georgia, Tbilisi, UNICEF, World Vision . Author: g3adventures . Comments: Leave a comment
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