Nino Gudadze, Mariam Eziashvili, and Nato Parkosadze are in their second year of high school in the village of Koreli in Imereti.
They are also active participants in the school civics club supported by “Momavlis Taoba” (“Future Generation”), a nationwide civics education program funded by USAID.
In addition to learning about civics in the classroom, they carry out their own civic activities in the community, including helping their neighbors get through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At first, the ideas come to us. Then we share them with our peers and the older students. We polish them and, with the help of “Momavlis Taoba” we turn these ideas into impactful actions” – say the students.
When the pandemic hit their village, Nino, Mariam, and Nato realized that many residents of the village could not afford to buy face masks and were not able to protect themselves. They decided to take the matter into their own hands and help vulnerable families.
They brought the issue to the local self-governing body, asked for information about how to help the vulnerable families in the village, and managed to obtain the necessary amount of face masks to distribute to local residents. The students provided 11 families with a total of 250 face masks.
The young activists didn’t just stop at this one successful initiative. For the next step, they set the goal of ensuring the safety of their peers. First, they met with the local doctor to receive information about proper hygiene procedures to prevent spread of the virus. Then, they planned a small meeting for their peers in an open space where they shared their insights and talked about the regulations regarding COVID-19.
“We want this information to be available to everyone. We are producing an informational video and plan to upload it on the “Momavlis Taoba” Facebook page. When we go back to school, we’ll inform the younger students ourselves” – say Nino, Mariam, and Nato.
