Mondo´s volunteers in Georgia

In January I was still working on translating the training materials into Georgian and researching the topic of suicide prevention, current situation and legal legislation in Georgia. And from the beginning of February, supported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and organised by the Association Merkuri, we started a series of training seminars and workshops for the law enforcement officers. The project was dedicated to the topic of stress management, psychological first aid, resilience building and suicide prevention, and it went on over the whole month of February. Each trained group received one full and one half day training. The groups were of maximally 12 participants to ensure interactive facilitation, active dialog, direct feedback and exchange with the officers. On the first day we focused on understanding stress and its specifics in the profession of a police officer. We aimed at identifying internal and external stressors. Later we discussed the effect of s...

First months in Zugdidi went by very fast. I arrived in mid-December, not long before the New Year and Orthodox Christmas which is celebrated in Georgia at the beginning of January. Home-made churchkhela - nuts in a special sause prepared for the New Years celebrations In the office my new colleagues and fellow co-workers welcomed me very warmly and we quickly found a common language. Georgian language is difficult to learn, yet I learnt few important words "gamarjoba!" which means "good day!"is my favourite one. Zugdidi is a town in the North-Western part of Georgia. It is the biggest town of the Samegrelo region. The town is known for the beautiful Dadiani palace and has a big botanical garden. A great place to go for a walk and relax on an afternoon weekend. The timetable of my work for the upcoming months is all set. It looks like the next months are going to be very busy here and I am looking forward to it :) I was surprised to see pigs ...

So I have less than a month to finish. Work: 1. I am stressed because I have so much work to do - report, survey, activities for the 16 days of violence, my stray dogs project. 2. We are officialy in our new office, that is very nice 3. I met the ambassador of Poland. 4. I made some connections with the animals rights organizations.  5. Estonian team made a video about my deployment :) Personal life: 1. Armenia - check :) 2. I put on weight but loosing it now :) 3. Jvari waterfall - totally recommended. I am excited that I will be home soon for Christmas. 

So it is official - half of my volunteering experience has passed already. What are my thoughts, you would ask? Work: 1. We have done several focus groups with the locals, including medical staff, teachers and beneficiaries. They provided us with some facts from the field concerning women's situation in the region. 2. The interviewers have been trained to do the survey. So the survey has officially started. 3. We are moving soon to a brand new office :) 4. I wrote a project proposal about stray dogs in Samegrelo Personal life: 1. I did some more travelling :) Which is always great :) 2. New volunteers arrived  to Merkuri from Poland and Italy :) I also met some great people from other organizations. 3. We discovered more fancy restaurants in Zugdidi - like hotel Leto with a terrace and swimming pool on the rooftop :) 4. My Georgian Grandpa collected the grapes and will make 100 litres of wine ! The wine season is ON! 4. More doggy friends :) So all good. M...

After 2 months in Zugdidi I can tell that I managed to find my paths and routines. What happened so far: As of work: 1. We are working on a shadow report to CEDAW on the women's situation in the region of Samegrelo (the region neighbouring with Abkhazia) 2. As I expected it is wonderful to work with small, local NGOs - you are heard, your opinion counts and you keep your options open. Every day brings something new. 3. I participated in a training, that was on the seacoast ( yes! :) ) 4. I met a lot of inspiring women. Personal life 1. I am taking Georgian and Russian classes. So two new alphabets to be absorbed by my head - not an easy task. 2. I travelled around the country - the best way to do it is with a rented car and a group of friends. It is definitely worth it. 3. I tried many Georgian dishes - khinkali and khachapuri, but also sulguni (cheese), gebzhlia (cheese dish), nazuki (bread with cinnamon) and plenty of others. Conclusion? Georgian cuisine is one o...

I arrived in Zugdidi on the 18th of June, not knowing what to expect. Now it has been one week. What are my thoughts? Let's try to organize them. So, the first thing on the way from the airport to Zugdidi that I found interesting, funny and heart-warming was a free pig walking on the road. Cows - yes, I am pretty sure we all have seen them free, chewing a grass by the road. But pigs? - I loved the fact that cows and pigs seem to have a happy life in here. The city itself is smaller than I thought, however the centre is full of people. Another surprise? It is also full of palm trees. As I was told, the climate of Georgia is sub-tropical. The office - women working at the Merkuri association are amazing. Super kind, helpful and supportive. I have to say they encouraged me a lot. The job - my task will be to work within the area of domestic violence and on a CEDAW report, so I am excited to do it. But even though it has been only week, I already met some interesting peo...