Tata Kvaratskhelia & Irakli Jikia, Zugdidi
Tatia Kvaratskhelia and Irakli Jikia are 2018 alumni of the Civic Leadership Program from Zugdidi. They say the main concern for their region is a low level of employment and increased outward migration of youth, especially those from rural communities. “You can hardly find 5 or 10 young people in my village since many have left to seek employment, most of them – abroad”, says Tatia. That is why both Tatia and Irakli believe that encouraging entrepreneurship is important for local communities due to its potential to open new opportunities for youth and the entire region.
Youth empowerment is a mission they have set out to accomplish through Junior Achievement Program, as well as international business school they have founded, and an active cooperation with Zugdidi-based civil society organisations. “our community underestimates the importance of entrepreneurship and therefore one rarely sees creative approaches and visions”, says Irakli. “We try to show many aspects of entrepreneurship to youth, engage more people, and help them take simple but clever steps towards this direction. If the importance of social activities is given due consideration in this process, positive long-term impact would be substantial” he adds.
Initially, they made a decision to apply for the Civic Leadership Program in order to improve their fundraising skills. However, they found that all modules offered by the Program were useful and both Irakli and Tata routinely apply their knowledge to their everyday activities: “Leadership and Communications module have turned out to be very helpful in improving our self-esteem and beefing up our confidence. We continue to use materials, exercises and energizers in our daily work”.
Irakli and Tata work closely with children and youth. In addition, they share their knowledge with women in Akhalkakhati community. Their future plans include broadening the scope of their work and building a youth centre of their own with educational space, social enterprise and a hostel.
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