Goals

Problem statement:

Nakhiduri Public School has 540 students who are not familiar with the Georgian culture. The interactions between ethnic Georgia and Azeri students are very limited and their participation in the public life is rare. The students are not well integrated into the society and have very limited Georgian language skills.

Art brings people together. It helps generate common interests which youth share with one another, which naturally sets the foundation for friendship and integration. The existence of a theater at school helps cultural development of the students: they get insight into the works of the writers, have better self expression skills and improve their knowledge of the Georgian language.

Proposed Solution:

Our idea aims to improve performance of the students and the interaction of Bolnisi Georgian and non-Georgian schools through theatre.

The school teachers already staged a play according to a novel by Nodar Dumbadze (Hellados) which involved 6 boys and 8 girls (7-10 grades). Our school wants to conduct a small tour and show the performance to 5 other schools in Bolnisi. Two teachers who worked on the play will organize the showings on a voluntary basis. The showings will take place in May and June, before the end of the school year.

Doing the play will give the children confidence, expose them to a new audience outside their village and reinforce the idea that they can influence change. Furthermore, it will inspire other students, mostly Azeris, to learn more about the Georgian culture and literature. The students will use their free time more productively and meaningfully and it help bring the Azeri and the Georgian communities together around the shared values of friendship and love for homeland.

We want Orbeliani to fund the transportation costs to the schools as the tour will involve 14 students, plus two teachers and the basic decoration sets. A photo camera will be used to record the showings, take photos and post them on a Facebook page and help us keep the students from other schools engaged through a common online platform.

Sustainability:

The performance will help the school children increase their knowledge of the Georgian literature and the Georgian culture and motivate more Azeri students to learn Georgian and know theatre art. The showings in different schools will create opportunities for future connections and joint projects, future meetings and events.

The school will produce new plays and stage new performances and we will involve other Azeri students. There is an increasing interest among the local students to be part of the local theatre group at school.

Equal gender opportunity:

The play involves both girls and boys in the cast and will be shown to audiences of both genders.