PH International

The sport- space in Village Lajani - result of students’ initiative

Georgia | Momavlis Taoba - Civic Education Program | 20 Jan 2015


 “I and our club members were very excited and happy when, on 30th December 2014, we received a letter from our school Principal, Ms. Nana Burjaliani, which said that our initiative to build a sport-space at school was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. Over 63,000 Lari had been transferred to the school’s account for the construction of the sport- space. This was great news for all of us and really a valuable Christmas present for the members of our club. Now we are waiting for the spring to come, when the work will start. Many of us will take part in the implementation of this project. This is a great inspiration for us, and we know that together we can solve a lot of our community’s problems.” said the leader of the Green Club, Giorgi Urtmelidze.

The Green Club is a civics club of the Village Lajani Public School established in the framework of USAID funded Momavlis Taoba program, which is being implemented in different parts of Georgia by PH International.

Momavlis Taoba, facilitates establishment of school-based civics clubs and trains students on various topics related to community problem solving. The members of the Green Club were trained on how to improve the environment and cooperate with the school administration to identify and solve community problems. In one of the training sessions, the students identified the establishment of a sports-space in the school premises as their top priority. They selected this project as this would promote healthy lifestyle among the youth of the village.

Village Lajani is located on a spot of picturesque mountainside of Racha Lechkhumi and Zemo-Svaneti region, 300 km from Tbilisi. The main source of livelihood in this village is agriculture. Due to low income and lack of employment opportunities, villagers migrate to big cities in search of jobs and new opportunities. Some young people, who can afford, go to cities to continue their education. But for a large number of youth who stay in the village, there are no places where they can spend their leisure time. The sport- space will be the place where young people will be able to socialize, play games, arrange other outdoors activities, and promote healthy life style. This will serve not only the students of the Lajani Public School, but also all the villagers. 

“School administration is always ready to support students’ important and useful initiatives”, said Ms. Nana Burjaliani, Principal of Lajani Public School.