Four women from the Republic of Georgia met with four U students at the Bennion Center on Friday to tie blankets for the homeless and discuss volunteering.
The Georgian women are in the United States for about a month with the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, visiting various states to better understand how service is organized in America. Their stop at the U’s Bennion Center, a place where students can volunteer on campus, was a learning experience for both groups.
Jessica Latrell, a senior in exercise and sports science, was shocked by the lack of emphasis Georgian citizens place on volunteering.
“They have different needs,” she said. “Unemployment is so high that they are worried about making the next buck so they can put food on the table for their children.”
In Georgia, almost all jobs need college degrees, including waitressing or cleaning. Most people are focused on completing their degree and finding work, said Martha Bibliashvili, project manager for Charity Humanitarian Center in Abkhazeti, Georgia.
“In our country, whoever has free time, they want to earn some money to support their families,” she said. “There is a chain of problems.”
Bibliashvili also explained that service was a trait lost during the Soviet period when they were occupied and controlled by Russia. Now, they are trying to bring the trend back.
Maka Tsertsvadze, a lawyer with Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association, believes the best way to recruit students is to tell her own success story. In law school, Tsertsvadze and fellow students created a free law clinic for students who needed legal aid. They helped foreign students who were being discriminated against and families faced with financial problems.
“It was very nice. We were practicing in our profession and also helping other people,” she said.
Part of the problem in Georgia is that companies do not require or ask about volunteer hours and universities do not focus on hands-on experiences, such as internships, prior to graduation.
“How do you change a social structure like that? You have to get a whole country behind that movement,” Latrell said.
Jennifer Jones, spokesperson for the Bennion Center, suggested part of that change could come from a partnership with the Bennion Center. To that, the four Georgia women smiled and agreed: “We would help to make that happen.”
They walked away with hat looms and yarn to start service projects, such as making hats for newborn babies, when they arrive home, as well several ideas on how to reach out to college-age students.
“I am here to learn as much as possible then to go back and create opportunities for youth and create an environment to be active citizens,” Bibliashvili said. “Every meeting gives us something, a new idea.”
The women came to the U.S. with the International Visitor Leadership Program, and the Utah Council for Citizens Diplomacy.
@carolyn_webber