First steps

I am Mariam Buchukuri from the village of Tirdznisi. I am currently the head of the Shida Kartli Community Fund for Peace and Development. My active engagement in civic sector started in 2010, when Taso Foundation came to us with economic projects. Then I taught entrepreneurship at school. One of the projects was presented, its goals and objectives were introduced to the population. Then they needed a volunteer, who would be the mediator, to collect the projects, because then the projects were not sent online by then. I agreed. Initially, I was responsible for collecting written projects. I also had to be in constant communication with Ms. Marina Tabukashvili, the director of Taso Foundation. I had to provide information about the applicant women to see if they were interested in getting involved in this project. I want to tell you that quite a lot of projects have been submitted and most of them have even been funded.

After 2008 there was a period when people were confused. Even though our homes were not destroyed by the war, and our own source of income, which was agriculture, we regained, we still had to start life anew. Working with the foundation helped us realize that the most important component of our activities was not only caring for ourselves but also caring for the whole community and thinking about its needs.

We got together. I had eight groups in the Tirdznisi community. We started working actively. I remember the first thing we did was to create unified databases - to describe the rural population, which did not exist before and the village had used the so-called "family books". We started accounting, we divided the precincts. The "family books" did not include data on newborns, had not erased the names of the deceased, people were indicated by their nicknames. It was a chaotic situation. We created a unified, comprehensive base for rural residents. We wanted to know how many we were - how many children, how many women, how many people with disabilities. We made a profile of the village, with its needs, resources. We learned where we were and what we needed. This is how rural women started caring for the community.

Transition phase

From this stage we started communication with Gori Municipality. Here, too, Taso Foundation and the UN Women supported us. We started cooperating with the local self-government. Then our needs were prioritized, understanding what the state can do for us and what it can do with our participation. We separated what could be spent on the funds allocated to the village by the local municipality. Needs were taken to the round table principle meetings. Then we were a self-help group by then, which means that you help yourself first. We realized our capabilities, rethought them, and then we already started caring for the community. In addition, the UN Women had already planned meetings at the level of state structures, and I, as a community worker, a trusted and empowered person, participated by the joint decision of the members of the self-help group and discussed issues that could be resolved at the ministerial level. By the way, the biggest achievement we had then is working on the 13/25 resolution, as a result of which our recommendations were also reflected in this resolution.

Establishing an independent organization

On May 29, 2012, we formed a community organization. I, as a community worker, was elected chairman of the board at a convened meeting. We also have a deputy and a board member.

From this stage, the organization began to enter the so-called "big market". Taso Foundation and the UN Women had not left us for a single moment during this time. Everything we have got and everything we have achieved so far is their merit.

Initially it was a grant-making activity - we took care of young people. A representative of the territorial unit gave us his space, where we set up a small library and offered various activities to the children. We also collaborated with our kindergarten and worked on its improvement. They had very old and not so safe furniture. We bought furniture, we set standards, we fought hard to make it all possible. We visited all the kindergartens in the community, but the amount of our money was not as much as the urgent need.

I want to emphasize our teamwork, we all balance each other in the distribution of both labor and remuneration. This is one of the biggest prerequisites for our success.

Challenges and changes

Initially, the situation in the village was not very good in terms of legal status and awareness. Women thought violence was the norm, but within a few years, thanks to trainings and campaigning, they have now begun to care about the condition of others. Compared to 2010, then women did not even go to the village assembly because they thought that men should make all the decisions, now if any of the women is not informed about the gathering, she is protesting loudly. This is a real breakthrough and achievement.

Everyone thinks they can relate to people, but I remember shaking my hand when I first got to what the UN calls a "high-level meeting." I have to tell you, I have one feature, I can not read written texts, but I still wrote everything because I was preparing for a meeting of a level attended by diplomats and members of parliament. I remember when my last name was announced and my slide went on the screen, my hands shook. I held one hand with the other so that my excitement would not appear in the camera, I wanted to control my voice as well, but when I saw the recording, the voice was under control, however I could not control my hand.

This is what I have learned - I have learned to speak at such meetings, I have learned to speak in front of the camera, it is not easily achieved. I was invited to appear on television and radio several times and also learned to communicate with journalists. It means that I am a different person today, I have developed other skills, I have learned to re-evaluate, I have seen my weaknesses and I have discovered my hidden strengths.