Mondo´s volunteers in Georgia

I am Elena and I am from Italy. I selected this project because it was one of the few that allowed me to be in contact with the beneficiaries and because I have always been curious about living in an eastern country. The first days here were really hard for me. Before moving to Georgia, I was afraid of the potential linguistic difficulties. Then, when I arrived, I found that all my fears were real. Most of the people of Zugdidi don't speak English, except for the youth. My main problem is that, during my daily life, I have to interact with mean age or old people who usually only speak Georgian or Russian. I also live in a family with two old people and their son. Communication difficulties strongly frustrated me. Despite this, they pushed me to find the few expats who live here.  I know these manners of saying which really expressed my mood and feelings: “drink or drown” or “when life gives you lemons, make a lemonade”. A good idea was to go to the library where, at the American Co...

I came to Zugdidi on January 31st. Together with Elena, the Italian volunteer who has been travelling with me since the day before, I met Olga, our coordinator. She took me to my future home where I met Tika, the owner. She showed me the room, prepared me some food, and we chatted for a few hours, amidst her uncertain English and my tiredness after the long journey. I thanked her, went to my room, layed down on the bed, and gazed at the ceiling. Despite the whirlwind of emotions, I was happy. It has been a month since that day, and even though I had ups and downs, the feeling of satisfaction has been constant. I’m part of an exciting project, the women from the NGO are kind and helpful, step by step I'm creating new connections with locals and expats, and my host family has been incredibly welcoming from the very beginning. Honestly, I couldn't be more satisfied. I'm not saying there are no difficulties! Language barrier is a big problem (few people speak English in Zugdidi...

    M y first month in Georgia: I would like to have a communicative blog, do not hesitate to comment, ask, add information… I believe in the collective intelligence, so let’s share our point of view, opinion, feeling... How I came to Georgia: First to promote green travel I expose you my trip without taking a plane (plane it responsible of 3.5% of global warming but only 7% of the world population has taken a plane in their life; so in an equal world with everyone taking the plane the global warming would be nearly 50% higher).  It is a long trip (9 days, but with 4 days in Budapest), interesting as a transition to feel the environment changing, culture changing… it is for me a way to understand a little bit more the world and to be active part of the journey. Mondo and Merkuri supported me to do that (we needed to solve some administrative issues and they have followed me in my trip), thanks to them. The city if Zugdidi: Zugdidi is located in northern-west...

I arrived in Georgia the night of the 27 July and felt like I was sneaking in. From the window of the plane, I couldn’t see anything and wondered how many things I would see the next day. From the first moment I came down, I could feel the warm, humid Georgian air. For me, it was a good auspice. I arrived the next day in Zugdidi via marshurkhta and Olga, my coordinator, was waiting for me at the bus stop. After showing me the house and giving me all the explanations, she leaves me to let me rest and unpack my things. I couldn't wait to go to the office the next day and figure out what I could do. Already from the first days, I was lucky enough to visit the shelter that houses women and children who have suffered domestic violence. I say I am lucky because the visits are not scheduled for us volunteers to respect the privacy of the beneficiaries. Also in the first period, we were able to visit the immigrant garden , which was created by Lia, a Georgian poet. The intent is to preserv...

The place I call home these days is Zugdidi : a fairly small city and capital of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Georgia’s western region. We are just a bunch of kilometres away from the breakaway region of Abkhazia. (I say ‘we’ as I share work and flat with Ella, from France.)   I am here to assist Association “Merkuri” in financial capacity building. Merkuri has been active in the community for almost two decades now. Their work is vast, varied and very much needed. They also run the only shelter for women survivors of domestic violence (and their children) in the Samegrelo region.    This first month spent here feels like a day and a year at the same time, it is paradoxical but that is how it feels. Everything, since I stepped into Georgia, has been pretty intense: new people, language (in sound and writing), places, ways of living and thinking. So far, at work, I have completed a database to track and monitor funding opportunities for Merkuri. And I have started working on a...

My mission in Georgia is completed. It was an unusual journey and full of unexpected twists in the story and all too exciting.  In the time of remote work with my colleagues from Association Merkuri we accomplished a lot! Especially at the beginning and throughout the lock-down period, webinars and workshops were designed and delivered to help our beneficiaries and specialists to handle and battle the pandemic "all and around". Later we focused on the monitoring and evaluations tools. These were developed to help better understand and assess the well-being of our beneficiaries in both the family centre and in the women shelter.  Following which a standardised matrix plan for children beneficiaries was created, complemented by a detailed manual including workshops suggestions and ideas to be imparted by our specialists.  The activities plan was focused on different areas from nutrition, general health, to human rights and first aid, adapted to the age and needs accordingly...

While I was writing the previous post, I wanted to find some nice picture to share with you... And I did find a video of happy moments/ movements while in Zugdidi. Georgian dancing is full of energy and breathtaking! :)