24.02.22 - the day that shocked the whole world and all of us, the women of the Fund "Sukhumi" - the war in Ukraine!

25.02.22 - we wrote an Appeal in support of the Ukrainian women and sent it everywhere!

26.02.22 – fundraising to support people in Ukraine began. 54 employees of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" transferred money to various funds to help Ukraine.

28.02.22 - we collected an additional 1500 GEL and bought baby food, diapers, hygiene products and took 12 boxes to Tbilisi, to the point of receiving aid for Ukraine.

We sent letters of support to all familiar and unfamiliar women organizations in Ukraine - with the question: how can we help, what can we do for them?

08.03.22 - organized the action "Solidarity of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - to the women of Ukraine!" The action was attended by women from Western Georgia.

10.03.22 - started to provide assistance to Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Kutaisi.

They are interested in: when the next training will be held? Because they liked the work. Their feedback is following:

- It is interesting and necessary to conduct trainings on the topic of conflicts and violence.

- Live training is completely different!

- It is very good to play small scenes, the topic is better understood, and they got amused...

- They learned a lot about new and useful things.

The trainings in Tkibuli, Terjola and Kobuleti Youth Empowerment Centers were live, with role-playing games, exercises and discussions.

Also interesting were online trainings conducted with youth from the municipalities of Chokhatauri and Bagdati.

The participants were active, joined the discussions, frankly shared their views and experiences with each other.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

In order to make the process of  responding to facts of violence and assisting the victim more effective, other referral entities should be included in the process - for this purpose, important meetings were held in Senaki, Kobuleti, Terjola, Chokhatauri, Bagdati. Women Support Centers

- The victim should not be left alone at any stage. She needs to be supported so that she feels secure and safe - this was the general position of the meeting participants. Women who went through violence emphasized the need for psychological support.

The participants noted that the web page “Digital Resource Center of Services for Victims of Violence”, created by the Women Fund “Sukhumi”, will provide serious assistance to women victims so that they have full information about existing services.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

The work of a psychologist is carried out in the regions where the Women Support Centers operate and in Kutaisi, at the head office of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”.

In April, there were meetings in Terjola, Kobuleti, Senaki and Zugdidi (village Khurcha) municipalities. Individual and group meetings were held with women – there were 21 participants. Such meetings often identify victims of violence, with whom specific communication begins. In April - 4 victims of domestic violence were identified. They were given the first recommendations and continued psychotherapeutic sessions.

Despite live meetings, online individual sessions are still going on – during the month 15 beneficiaries communicated with the psychologist online.

Maka Jishkariani completed one of the courses of polymer clay at the Day Rehabilitation Center of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”. She had never done this before. During the course she differed from others. A few months later, an exhibition and sale of her products was arranged, and she had more motivation. Then she was offered to work as a teacher of the courses. She is already giving her knowledge and experience to the beneficiaries.

Now I have a special group - she says. Motivated, talented, hardworking women, with amazing ideas. They do their work with all their heart. Everyone understands from a half-word. They are very creative, creating examples of art...

They were brought from one of the municipalities of Western Georgia, where the Fund "Sukhumi" Women Support Center operates.

I. 37 years old - was the eldest in the family. She helped her father in raising younger brothers and sisters after her mother left the family. Since childhood, she has gone through suffering and trauma. She was married twice. She is a victim of violence. She looks after a niece with disabilities. Her second child has a problem with birth trauma. This is a family living below the poverty line.

A woman with three children stayed in the rehabilitation center of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" for 10 days. During this time, a comprehensive joint daily intensive psycho-rehabilitation was held. A psychologist, a lawyer and a social worker actively worked with the victim. For the first time, a teacher was included in the process. She took care of the children - played with them, conducted various activities.

Finally, live communication with the audience has begun!

April was especially active for the forum - theater. There were 4 performances: in the school of the village Didi Nedzi (Zugdidi municipality), in the conference hall of Zugdidi municipality, in Terjola Youth Center and in Kutaisi Central Park.

A live performance in front of the audience was important for the actors of the forum-theater. The audience was actively involved in the discussion. Young people frankly spoke about how important it is for society to be involved in violence prevention. It was noted that such real scenes give the viewer, especially teenagers, the opportunity to think and look for a way out.

The teachers, who attended the performances noted that it would be fine to invite the forum - in schools in order to have a positive impact on teenagers.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Tekla Genelidze is a 17-year-old entrepreneur from the village of Fersati in Baghdati Municipality. She has been interested in winemaking from an early age and is actively involved in this business.

Women's Fund "Sukhumi" continues the campaign to break down gender stereotypes - to provide equality, tolerance, and a non-abusive environment in our society.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Salome is a mother of two children. She lives in Vani municipality. Traces of violence on her life were reflected as a black spot.

For her, it is very difficult to remember the pleasant moments, she can not even remember the concrete reason or situation when violence started. But she remembers well, how the first verbal abuse transformed into physical violence. She was psychologically debilitated and could only be silent. She endured.

They lived together for five years, nothing changed for the better. The husband systematically abused. Life has become unbearable. Salome, with two children, moved to her mother. Stress has left its mark. Depression intensified. During a year no one knew that she was divorced. She suffered, did not leave the house, did not talk to anyone about it.

A friend invited her to one of the information meetings of the Fund "Sukhumi". She could not imagine that after a long time, she would break the silence. She talked about her problem and shared her pain for the first time. She felt that she had supporters.

She could not imagine that anyone would help her. When she was offered to have a meeting with a ps

The advocacy group of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" held the second meeting from the series of information meetings in Terjola municipality City Hall. Among the participants there were women living in the municipality, representatives of the City Hall and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, heads of departments, members of the Gender Equality Council.

The participants received information about two researches of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - “Importance of Behavior Change Programs of the Perpetrator at an Early Stage and Existing Best Practices” and "Development of Child Care Services - to Promote Women's Employment and Ensure Effective Prevention and Response to Domestic Violence."

A short presentation familiarized the participants with the web page created by the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - "Digital Resource Center for Services of Victims of Violence" - www.sosfsokhumi.ge. During the meeting, flyers were distributed, and at the end there was an active discussion - they talked about the situation in the municipality in terms of domestic violence and assistance to victims.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)