Tamar Tkemaladze, the author of the volunteer initiative “STEM Mentors for the Empowerment of Schoolgirls”:

Volunteering means:

At first glance, volunteering may be associated with charity, as one is giving and the other is receiving benefits. However, I still think volunteering is a process of mutual benefit. You do not only do kindness for others but also, you are constantly learning and developing. In the process, you will find that you have given political, social, or cultural value to the work, and because of this value, you are ready to use your time and energy to the maximum for good reasons.

My first volunteering:

My first volunteering experience started at school when I was still in the 9th grade. Civic clubs at schools at that time allowed many students to continue their self-development through volunteering activities that went beyond the school desk. Perhaps it was because of early experience that I realized from the beginning the role of volunteering in my life. As soon as I entered university, I joined the youth organization. After that, I had the opportunity to gain volunteer experience in different countries in terms of education, cultural events, or environmental activism.

Being volunteers we can:

Now that technology has made it possible to transfer the knowledge into reality, it is an excellent opportunity to volunteer to make your own contribution. This is exactly what our girls’ mentoring project is all about. Achieving all the goals of sustainable development in Georgia, be it a reduction of inequality and poverty, fair institutions, or others, definitely needs a strong volunteer culture. It is no coincidence that the founding fathers of the United States themselves took care of the creation of volunteer institutions, it was obvious that volunteering should be the foundation for creating orderly civic coexistence and for overcoming the social challenges.

The best volunteer campaign/volunteer:

Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians remains an outstanding organization for me in the history of Georgia. It was one of the most excellent civic activities. They built schools, distributed textbooks in Tbilisi and the regions, organized various charitable evenings, performances, and so on.