The FINANCIAL — Eurasia Partnership Foundation and Czech Fundraising Center are jointly developing social entrepreneurship in Georgia. Tbilisi last week hosted a one-day exhibition of items produced by social entrepreneurs.
22 year old Giorgi Gotsiridze, an IDP from Sukhumi, is co-author of a project concerning the foundation of a Georgian tea company. He is now working as marketing manager of the company.
“We have rebranded the tea factory Fernali,” Gotsiridze told The FINANCIAL. “It was an old-fashioned factory and couldn’t sell its products. Now we, the new managing team, have applied for and got a grant of 12,000 GEL. The rebranding process has already started and our tea will be appearing on the market soon.”
The tea company has plantations in Tskaltubo and Tkibuli, two regions in western Georgia. In the first stage they plan to distribute products in western Georgia. To start with the factory will produce 20,000 boxes of tea. Gotsiridze claims that the company has no direct competitor on the market and that this will result in the fast development of the company. They plan to expand production in the future and enter the capital and the country’s eastern regions.
“47 individuals are working in the factory at present, and the majority of them are IDPs like me,” Gotsiridze said. “The example of this tea factory and such integration in society in general are very important for us. Although it was quite a long time ago that we relocated, many IDPs still feel a sense of separation from society. Therefore we are oriented at employing as many IDPs as possible. As well as employing some, we plan to help other IDPs as well. There are still some people originally from Abkhazia who need support in realizing their potential and integrating in to society. We as a company are totally focused on assisting IPDs.”
Keti Sulukhia is an IDP from Sukhumi as well. She lives in Tbilisi with her family. Sulukhia is a director of the first Art School of Abkhazia which has been located in Tbilisi since ethnic Georgians were forced to leave Abkhazia in 1992-1993.
“As well as being a director of the school, I’m an artist. I’m a member of a union of artists: Temka-Zghvisubani,” Keti Sulukhia said. “Five IDPs, myself included, are working in the union. We do different job including embroidering, knitting, creating national and modern souvenirs and more. I, for example, draw on silk, which is a very rare type of craft. We don’t yet have a shop to sell our products in and we are looking for a grant for that. To start with we will make an online shop. We’ll probably use social networks and so our first ‘shop’ will be on facebook.”
Temka-Zghvisubani is oriented on the employment of representatives of social minorities, not just IDPs. The union is looking for people, especially women, who are living in rural areas and need help realizing their potential.
“We aren’t yet strong enough to see big financial profits,” Sulukhia explained. “But we are working intensively and trying to become financially strong. As an IDP I am trying to include more IDPs in this project and support them as much as possible.”
Nana Chkareuli is a representative of the Coalition for IDPs’ Rights. She is an IDP from Akhalgori and is living in Tesrovani, a special village for IDPs from Gori and Tskhinvali. She is currently founding a handmade crafts workshop in Tesrovani. The project was recently awarded a grant.
“As an IDP I do try to support other IDPs,” Chkareuli said. “Unemployment is the biggest challenge that IDPs face nowadays. Twelve IDPs will become masters and six of them will be employed at our workshop.”
The workshop will offer a totally new style of handmade crafts. The traditional style will become seasoned to a more modern style.
“We will have a designer who will help us in the creation of the modern style,” she stated. “Apart from that, everything else will be done by our IDPs. They will even create the materials themselves. We plan to sell our products in Tbilisi, but later we may expand our business. It will be very good financial support for our IDPs.”
As a result of the conflicts in the Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions, around 251,000 thousand people became internally displaced persons. In August 2008, after the country’s war with the Russian Federation, the number of IDPs in Georgia increased by some 26,000.
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