Let Me Do the Dishes Please

I'm trying to get back into the habit of posting weekly, it's hard. I need more topics to write about. If anyone has any questions or curiosities about Georgia or my work here send me a message, email me, or leave it in a comment below.

As I've mentioned previously this past month has been full of trainings. This past week was no exception. Following our great ski weekend I headed back to Tbilisi and to our Let Girls Learn conference. This conference was focused on the new Let Girls Learn initiative from the First Lady, and focused on our work in Georgia and how we can promote gender equality through our various projects. Click here to learn more about Peace Corps' role in the Let Girls Learn initiative.

Pre-Training Brunch in Tbilisi, had to get some American breakfast in me

The training took place over two days and was very well done. There were about 20 volunteers in attendance and each of us was accompanied by one Georgian counterpart from our sites. It was great to see how active and interested our Georgian counterparts could be on this often taboo topic. Gender equality work is often difficult to initiate in Georgia, so when we have excited and willing counterparts things get easier and become more effective overall.

Peace Corps Georgia is the first post to hold a Let Girls Learn inservice training

The Let Girls Learn is appropriate for many countries where girls have restricted access to education, however, this is no the problem. Girls are almost always leading the class in high scores. Boys are more likely to dropout or not complete schooling. However, girls often don't complete university studies and aren't found in many decision making positions. In Georgia we have unofficially changed the name to Let Girls Lead to denote where our focus is.

A great infographic depicting problems in education in Georgia, found here

Another area of focus for gender equality is in gender roles and how they are expressed in Georgia. I can hardly take a dish to the sink, let alone try and wash it, with out my host mother shouting at me to leave it alone and let her wash it. At my previous host family's house my younger host brother almost had an aneurysm shouting for me to leave the dishes because that was mother's job. Another time I was mulling around the idea of making my badly poorly behaved students have to help clean the school and was told that I mustn't force a boy to use a broom because it would be deeply shameful. Needless to say you would be hard pressed to find a home where young boys did any work related to cleaning or cooking. Like I said, I get in trouble just for trying to help- don't worry I feign like I can't understand do it anyway.

Aside from division of labor at home, women in Georgia face other problems like bride-napping. While it may appear to be on the decline in larger "urban" centers, it's still common in the villages. Women can be kidnapped and taken away from their family for any period of time- usually a few days. During that time the kidnapper or their family will contact the girl's family and try to make some arrangements. By the time the girl is freed it is assumed that she is no longer a virgin and marriage is almost certainly required. Forcing women into marriage, and often at a young age (read this article on early marriage in Georgia), can have devastating consequences. It promotes the idea that women are objects and that men control women. This can lead to domestic violence and more. When it comes to domestic violence many people will tell you that what happens in the home is a private matter and that outsiders shouldn't interfere. We had to watch a video on the attitudes surrounding domestic violence in Georgia and it was hard to sit though. If I can ever find the link I'll share it here.

Yours truly hard at work

Needless to say, this was a very brief and surface level overview of gender equality in Georgia, but it serves to prove the point that there is work to do. Sometimes as a male volunteer it can be uncomfortable or difficult to approach this issue with local Georgians, especially women. However, I am finding more and more ways to try and make a difference. For example, when I am giving example sentences in English I switch gender norms. Once my teacher erased a sentence because she accidentally wrote "He was baking in the kitchen." Something so small can be a good start. Also I am looking for ways to educate boys on how they can bet better supporters of women and promote gender equality. I hope to run a project this summer that will focus teaching cooking and cleaning skills to boys heading off to college in the city. We'll see if I can trick anyone into attending.

Mental instagramming, it's totally a thing!

That's about all I've got for you now. On another note though, winter is ending! The weather in Poti has been fantastic. We have even hit 70 degrees a few times. Life is so much better when the sun is shining and I'm not stuck inside. Give me a few more days of sun and I'll be sneaking off to swim in the sea (just don't tell my host mom because she'd probably get really angry at the thought of me swimming in March.)

Loving the early Spring!