“The goal of our initiative is  to encourage young adults to volunteer, raise awareness about the importance of volunteering and support vulnerable people who are disabled or elderly. – Giorgi Gogatishvili

I sustained a spinal injury during my military service that left me in a wheelchair. In 2005, I co-founded the “Registered Union of Persons with Disabilities of Sachkhere. Due to high levels of migration in rural areas, elderly and disabled people are often left without the support of family members, neighbors, or relatives. This is where volunteers can play a vital role in providing social, household, and technical assistance, such as paying bills, grocery shopping, providing food and medicine, hygiene products, waste management, yard maintenance, and other household chores.

Volunteers do not need special skills or knowledge to perform these tasks. Winning the grant competition announced by EDEC will enable us to collaborate with the Sachkhere Youth Center and involve their volunteers to gain practical experience in addressing challenges and finding solutions. We will actively promote our volunteer activities on social media, encourage more people to volunteer, and raise awareness about the importance of volunteering among young people.

We plan to use the knowledge and experience gained from these activities in Sachkhere municipality to provide personal assistance and housekeeping services. The “Housekeeping Quality Assurance Standard” was approved by the Minister of IDPs from the Occupied Territories of Georgia, Labor, Health and Social Protection in 2023. The standard defines the main principles, rules, procedures, qualification requirements, supplier selection criteria, and models for city and rural areas.

In the case of rural areas, a mobile home care team consisting of a home care coordinator, a nurse, and a caregiver is required. Unlike those living in the city, home care users in rural areas cannot receive the services of a social worker, doctor, or household and technical assistants. However, volunteers can partially fill this gap. Volunteers are motivated by the desire to help others, a sense of responsibility towards the community, and personal requirements such as meeting new people, gaining experience, and spending time meaningfully.