Goals

Problem statement:

Many studies have shown that the women and girls from minorities groups (ethnic, religious, social, etc.) face of discrimination and lack sufficient access to education, regular paid work, healthcare, legal services, and social life.

Many of these problems are caused by poor education in the state language and customs. This is especially true for the Azerbaijani population of Lagodekhi, where the majority of girls go to school for only 9 years. Often their families don't see the value of secondary education.

There are four villages and five schools in Lagodekhi municipality, but only two schools offer education through 12th grade, and the girls do not attend this school. This is due to long distance, the restriction of girls by their parents and the tradition of early marriages. The girls are told that walking alone in the street is “indecent."

The situation was much worse years ago, due to the work of Georgian teachers in Azerbaijani schools,and the activities of NGOs. However, there is still a long way to go before there is integration and gender equality.

Proposed Solution:

Our plan is the following:

1. We would like to create a club of hitch-hikers and hold tours/picnics/camps for Georgian youth in different regions or municipalities of Georgia. This will help our young people integrate and improve their Georgian. Each group will have preparation sessions, where they meet each other, learn about the history, geography and culture of the place they will visit and outdoor skills. These groups will be led by an experienced volunteer guide and historian.

2. We will establish a film club with themes on gender equality: e.g. Stoning of Soraya, Desert Flower, Asma, and Where Do We Go Now.

3. We will hold one informational meeting with young women and girls living in Kabli community to discuss legal attitudes on early marriage and domestic violence. The meetings will be led by the head of Lagodekhi committee national network of protection against violence, Eva Lomtadze and the representative of public office in Lagodekhi, lawyer Eka Gogashvili.

Sustainability:

We hope that our activities that increase education and integration will be sustainable over the lives of the participants.

We will use the equipment acquired after the completion of the project and the movie screening will be held twice a month in Kabli community. The treks will be held once a month.

Equal gender opportunity:

The most important precondition of the hitch-hikers club charter will be that there is a majority of the girls among the trippers!

During the screenings of the movies on women issues the participants of the audience apart from girls, will be boys as well.

The meeting on gender issues will be attended by boys and young men living in the community. This will enable us to work with the potential source of the problem.