AFG: Projects: Children: Environment
NGO Wild Plant Conservation Association
Personal Observations from the Executive Director: Several years ago, I received a request for funding from Tsira Mikatadze-Pantsulaia, head of the NGO Wild Plant Conservation Association, but we were not able to help them until this year. This NGO was established by members of the Tbilisi Institute of Botany. For eight years the members have taught botany to school children of the fifth and sixth forms (11-12 year olds) from two secondary schools in Tbilisi. The students are mostly children of refugees (IDPs) from Abkhazia who are a very needy population in Georgia. The purpose of the project is one of working with these children to give them extra attention and something positive to focus on.
The children study botany, biology, techniques of plant propagation, work at a greenhouse and with microscopes. The program for 40 children lasts for four months. The children are divided into two groups of 20 children each. They have a four hour lesson twice a week and one excursion per month. These lessons include theoretical as well as practical study. The children are given garden plots to cultivate. A large part of the grant pays for a substantial breakfast for these needy children. The rest of the funds pay for school supplies, transportation of the children from school to the Botanical Garden, Garden entrance fees, car rental and driver and stipends for two school teachers who take the children to the garden. The botanists of the association work without salaries and give lectures with topics such as ‘Our home, the earth’, ‘Plants as a source of life’ and ‘Healthy ways of life and rules of conduct in nature’.
AFG Accomplishments:
The program normally teaches 40 children over the four months of May, June, September, and October. Because AFG’s grant could only provide funding for half of the children to attend for half of the time, the remaining funds for the next group of 20 children for the months of September and October need to be raised. AFG has:
- Raised funds to send 20 children to this program for the months of May and June.
- Provided funds to pay for breakfast, transportation, school supplies, gardening supplies, entrance fees and small gifts of a calculator and book for each child.
Current Needs:
The refugee children from Abkhazia at NGO Wild Plant Conservation Association need:
- Funds ($1,839) so that 20 more needy refugee children can attend this program during the months of September/October.
- Funds to pay for transportation, school supplies, gardening supplies, entrance fees, stipends for teachers and food for breakfast.