The spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has noticeably changed our lives, we have faced new challenges and the virus made us learn the actions that had not been the part of our everyday lives before. The oddest event of our century turned out to be one of the biggest challenges for the educational systems of Georgia and the whole world. Teachers have adapted to the role of remote tutors, and school students have become dependent only on modern technologies – gadgets and the internet.

The new reality has become an exciting adventure for many children, however, those who do not have modern equipment and access to the internet to attend school lessons remotely, have been falling behind the school curriculum activities. Fatima, a third-grader and Zura, a first-grader, found themselves in a similar situation, along with dozens of school students living in the Tetritskaro municipality – for these young people access to the school education has become a major problem during the COVID-19.

At the same time, when the pandemic took the form of a global challenge, the Association Rural Development for Future Georgia (RDFG) and Tetritskaro Local Action Group (LAG) decided to help those people in need in the Tetritskaro municipality who could not handle the crisis on their own. First, the target groups were identified, including the most vulnerable families and school students, then, RDFG and Tetritskaro LAG raised funds to help them. With 6,911.53 of Georgian Gel accumulated so far, 7 personal computers have been procured, through which 16 schoolchildren from the different villages of Tetritskaro will be able to return to school e-learning activities.

Salome is from the Koda IDP settlement, she is in the tenth grade. Her passion is learning foreign languages, she is fluent in English and Russian. Receiving a personal computer as a gift was especially gratifying for her, because now, in addition to attending school lessons, she will be able to attend a free Spanish language course independently:

“When I was in the seventh grade, I was given a low grade in one of the subjects, which made me lose the chance to get a personal computer. I am very happy to discover that learning and hardworking are never lost. Receiving this PC now is especially important for me as I’m preparing for the university entrant exams next year”.

Mariam and Goderdzi are from the settlement of Manglisi. Goderdzi loves to paint, especially cars. After receiving a computer, he is very excited and is looking forward to attending the history lessons, “I love the lessons conducted by my teacher Matsatso very much!”. As for Mariam, she loves dancing, but as their grandmother tells us, the children cannot attend dance or painting classes:

“They have been sitting here in the yard since 10 am, waiting for your appearance. They are so much excited to get back to the school remote activities and to be able to get involved in all that like everyone else. You could not do anything better than this for my children”.

In parallel with the procurement of personal computers, RDFG has also provided school students living in the Tetritskaro Municipality with the internet so that during the pandemic they can get involved not only in remote school lessons but also actively participate in Young Farmers Centers (YFC) activities.

You can still contribute to improving the lives of those people who struggle to cope with the COVID-19 crisis on their own!

To overcome the crisis caused by the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), the money you donate will help people who are left without basic income and have limited access to food; also, the school students who do not have access to the school e-learning equipment due to the lack of computers or internet accessibility, and thus, are falling behind the school curriculum activities.

To donate, please, follow the link: http://rdfg.ge/donate/

Author
Nina Kopaleishvili – Communications Officer, RDFG; nkopaleishvili@rdfg.ge