Termination of our project work in Georgia at the end of 2025

We will have to discontinue our project work in Georgia at the end of 2025. Developments in recent months have made the work of international aid organisations in the country increasingly difficult. The background to this is new legislation that obliges organisations with foreign funding to register as „agents of influence“. These requirements significantly impair our independence and ability to act and create an uncertain environment for our social commitment. In addition, our long-standing senior employee will be leaving Georgia with her family. Without a reliable local partner structure, it will not be possible to continue our work responsibly. We look back on the past few years with great gratitude: together with your support, we have been able to achieve a great deal for the orphans in Tbilisi - from basic life skills, internships and creative trauma management to training programmes that have given young people a real prospect of a self-determined life. Your trust and solidarity have made all of this possible. We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We would be delighted if you would support and accompany another Agapedia project in the future.

Tbilisi Children and Youth Centre

Poverty and war in the post-socialist country of Georgia hit orphans and children from impoverished families particularly hard. Together with our local partner “LifeChance”, we opened the first children's and youth centre in Tbilisi in 2017, where orphans can find a place to go and shelter. The centre, which was made available by the Orthodox Church for 20 years and which we have partially renovated, provides temporary accommodation for orphans, as they have to leave state institutions on their 18th birthday and are left on the streets without a decent education. Most of the children and young people are traumatised by their difficult childhoods and receive personal care and attention from the highly committed team of staff for the first time through the community and relationship work.

Every day, 20 children and young people come to the centre, with whom we undertake many different activities. In our newly renovated training kitchen, for example, they prepare food together with the carers and learn about cooking, baking, healthy eating and food culture. In addition, they receive general life training and learn how to handle money, general health education, self-organisation and their rights and responsibilities. To give the young people a new perspective, they can learn about their skills and abilities in various creative areas such as painting, clay, glass and floristry. Agapedia has also set up a ceramics workshop on the premises, where the orphans learn to clay or work with glass. Most of the children and young people also receive tutoring in various subjects so that they can all graduate from school. To prepare them for a future apprenticeship or job, the orphans can complete internships in various companies in Tbilisi so that they can gain confidence in their own abilities and explore their interests. The aim is to find the young people a job and their own accommodation so that they can start an independent life in Georgia.