Youth Camp facilitates cooperation, knowledge

On June 30, a student civic camp was opened in Bazaleti. The camp is organized in the framework of the Applied Civic Education and teacher Training Program (ACETT) and implemented by PH International with the funding of USAID. It brings together 90 students and civics teachers from 11 regions of Georgia. The major goal of the camp is to stimulate the young generation's interest in civic activities in their schools and make provide them an opportunity to share and gain the necessary knowledge and skills in order to carry our further plans in future.

Marina Ushveridze, ACETT Program Director: “The project encourages students to obtain a civic education from their early years at schools. They are working on those problems which exist at their schools, village or town. Then they meet the responsible people in local government bodies and along with officials, the students try to find a way how to solve the problem they face.”

“The children will develop general skills in civic education. They will learn how to write projects, how to contact and cooperate with local self governance bodies and most importantly– they will introduce one another, which gives them the opportunity to carry out network projects together from different regions of Georgia,” Inga Paitchadze, SIQA, Georgian Association of Educational Initiatives, Executive Director told the paper.

According to her the interest for participation was very high from students. 740 public schools have presented the most active students for participation in the camp. The criteria of selection were their activities and involvements in different projects.

The students have a busy schedule. Their usual day is divided into two parts. In the morning hours they have training courses carried- out by the youth centre for non-formal education Mziani Sakhli (Sunny House) and the other part of the day, specially invited guests visit them.

16 year old Lolita Enukidze is one of the active members of the civics club. She is from the Bolnisi district and she could hardly imagine to be selected for that camp due to strong competition.

“I was so glad when my application was accepted. I have a lot of expectations– most importantly, I will get more information about our rights and civic activities which will help me to become more active and do a good job in my district together with my friends. One of the achievements was setting outdoor lights nearby our school and repairing the stair at our school.

Luka Tkemaladze represents the Tbilisi school Mtsignobartukhutsesi. Luka and his friends are writing various projects and he would like to get more information regarding it in order for their projects to be more successful and funded.

The camp has two foreign participants, Blanka Rudnicka from Poland and Stana Alin from Romania.

“I am happy to be here and have an opportunity to come to Georgia and be introduced to other young people. Everybody is excited by this program and I am sure this program will be very fruitful for all of us. I also would like to improve my Georgian skills so I hope my new Georgian friends will help me in it,” Blanka Rudnicka said.

Romanian Stana Alin is interested in finding a common language with Georgian youngsters and carry out further projects in the future between two countries.

“I like Georgia and its people. Today, I have met a lot of students who have the same interest as me. I would like to thank all the organizers who gave me the chance to be here,” he told the Messenger.

The youth camps include thematic foci, and provide avenues for students to refine their skills and abilities through their participation in different activities, including arts, debate clubs, public speaking, meeting with prominent public figures, social and cultural exchanges.