Informational meetings of Youth Clubs on the topic “The problem of tolerance among the youth” were held in schools of Poti, the villages Nosiri (Senaki Municipality) and Kutaisi.

Clubs differ from each other, but teenagers are united by a desire to solve a problem. They believe that today there is a lack of tolerance in society and explain the reasons in their own way. According to them, it is necessary to respect the identity of each person, to be tolerant. For this, non-formal education is not enough, and the involvement of schools and teachers is necessary.

On November 1, 4 and 7, the workshops with the groups were held on the issue of studying conflict management. The topic of the workshop was: “Conflict escalation stages”. The meetings were held in Poti author’s gymnasium, Senaki school No. 3 and in school of the village Zeda Simoneti (Terjola municipality). Through discussion of specific works and role-playing games, the pupils, came to the conclusion that sometimes even a minor reason can cause a big conflict.

Participants According to participants, the workshops are very important.

“The word escalation was new to me. I understood the meaning of this word and also really liked the activities.”

“I already know at what stage to stop.”

“I will definitely use the advice I got here in the future.”

Three more workshops were held in October - in the schools of the villages Zeda Simoneti (Terjola municipality), Lia (Tsalenjikha municipality), Melauri (Samtredia municipality). The topic of the workshops were: conflict and its reasons.

Together with the conflict expert of the Fund “Sukhumi”, the students completed specific tasks and role-playing games. They are actively involved in the discussion, they learn to work in team. Workshops are interested for them, as they learn about innovations and receive practical advices.

On October 10, 11,16 the workshops were held on the reasons of conflicts in schools of the villages Lesa (Lanchkhuti municipality), Ganmukhuri (Zugdidi municipality), Gurianta (Ozurgeti municipality).

After doing specific exercises, the students learned what causes the conflict: distorted information, different values, etc. They were actively involved in the process and as they noted during the feedback, this knowledge will be useful to them in everyday relationships.

Teachers, who attended the meetings said mentioned that the topic is relevant and such meetings are necessary as they contribute to improving the school climate.

informational meetings of youth clubs held regarding the prevention of domestic violence (reasons, results, protection mechanisms) were held in school No. 33 - Kutaisi and in school No. 21 - Poti, as well as in the school of the village Nosiri (Senaki municipality),

There were interesting groups, active involvement of participants, role-playing games. Concrete problems were identified. According to one of the participants, in some places the situation of women has not changed at all, and they have the same problems that are shown in the beautiful Georgian film “The Tree of Desire” - when ugly traditions and stereotyped thinking of the community decided the fate of people.

The reasons of conflict were discussed at the workshops with students in Poti, in the school -  gymnasium of Tamar Pachulia, as well as in school No. 3 - Senaik and school No. 11 - Kutaisi. The workshops were attended by school directors and teachers. As was mentioned, they also talk with students on similar topics, but children feel freer and work is more effective with a conflict expert. This can be seen in their feedback:

"Such reasons really exist in life, and the advices, given at the workshop is useful to me".

“It was fun when we did the exercises and we learned a lot”.

“The workshop was rich in various tasks. Next time, I will again take part with pleasure”.

Pupils of all schools are waiting for the next meeting.

The holidays finished and the workshops again stared in schools of 9 municipalities of Western Georgia. On September 17, 18 and 20, workshops on conflict resolution were held in the schools of the villages Zeda Simoneti (Terjola municipality), Ganmukhuri (Zugdidi municipality) and Senaki school No. 3.

Pupils were actively involved in the process. Their evaluation is interesting:

"I am satisfied with myself; I already know how to get out of a difficult situation."

"This day was full of information, I learned a lot of new and necessary."

“We have analyzed what is conflict and what is peace. I really enjoyed working with friends”.

The work of the Youth Clubs in the regions of Western Georgia was resumed. For the six-month cooperation, new schools were selected - in Simoneti (Terjola municipality), Teklati (Senaki municipality), Orsantia (Zugdidi municipality).

The first meetings were already held. The interest is great not only from students, but also from school directors and teachers. Plans for the future are following: various activities, exchange meetings.

Unusually crowded was the office of the Fund "Sukhumi". 19 representatives from 9 municipalities (Kutaisi, Khoni, Tskaltubo, Terjola, Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti, Senaki, Poti, Zugdidi), as well as several parents and teachers were presented.

The final meeting of the Youth Clubs was held with different format. It was funny, interesting, original...

They talked about what was done in terms of violence prevention, shared their experiences with each other, developed proposals and plans for more effective integration of activities into the educational process.

Feedback was done in the yard of Bagrati Temple. Many warm words were said - thanks, love, joy... most important is the team, which is going to carry out lots of good activities from the new school year.

In Kutaisi, in the Fund “Sukhumi” summarizing workshop finished the 5 month cycle of workshops on the topic: “Teaching the conflict management on schools”. The meeting was attended by the young conflictologists – workshop participants, held in 9 schools of 9 municipalities, also the parents and teachers – 26 people on a whole.

Participants summarized the gained knowledge, they talked about the changes and impact, which they felt themselves. They mentioned that similar meetings are essential in all schools, in order to teach children the conflict management at early age and resolve the conflicts  peacefully.

Parents expressed their thoughts:

"A wonderful day, a day of positive." “Thank you so much for taking care of our children.” "I attend for the first time and I am delighted!" "It is evident that they have carried out fruitful work."

As one teacher noted, “you can work all year and do not achieve anything, but to achieve such a result in 5 months is a great merit of a trainer who cooperates so well with students.”

At the end of the meeting, participants received certificates. The event was finished with an excursion to the Bagrati Temple.