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Educating
a Population on Behalf of Individuals with Disabilities
A New Beginning for Georgia
In addition to working on the ground in Georgia for
over five years in a variety of programs, and providing training for
more than 130 Georgian professionals in the greater Washington area,
the Foundation for International Arts and Education undertook a major
campaign to improve conditions for Georgian citizens with disabilities.
Working alongside Georgian and international NGOs, as well as collaborating
with officials from Parliament and relevant Ministries, the Foundation
continues to seek resources to support its multi-year program to return
a significant portion of these neglected citizens back into their Georgian
families and mainstream life.
Background
The current situation in Georgia for individuals with disabilities is
very discouraging. As a result of long tradition and practices inherited
from the Soviet era, many disabled children have been separated from
their families, often from the moment of their birth. Once a child is
placed in a state-run institution, it is very hard to find a path out.
Parents of children with disabilities feel they have done something
wrong and often do not even discuss their children’s needs or
existence. This practice is in sharp contrast to the Georgian culture
and society that places a great deal of emphasis on the value of the
family unit. Slowly, a few brave parents are keeping their children
with disabilities at home, but the local culture and Georgian government
are very slow in providing basic medical and educational support.
The level of care provided for children and adults in state-run institutions
is at best minimal. Georgia is suffering from serious poverty and a
lack of financial resources to supply these institutions with the barest
necessities. Basic medical treatment is almost non-existent; food is
less than adequate; and living conditions are sub-standard. Staff members
take care of the children’s simple needs, but have neither the
time nor the training to interact with the children or challenge their
mental abilities to learn even the most rudimentary skills. Children
with correctable birth defects are often placed in institutions without
the opportunity to receive appropriate medical treatment and subsequently
are never afforded standard educational opportunities that would enable
them to function as fully competent, contributing members of society.
Most of the larger state-run institutions are located far outside the
major urban areas, making it very difficult for parents to maintain
contact with their children even if they want to.
A few international agencies have begun making basic improvements in
these institutions, but that assistance only maintains the status quo.
Local NGO groups are beginning to call for change, but lack the coordination
to make effective use of their expertise. While many forward-looking
leaders dream of mainstreaming many of these citizens and shutting down
the sub-standard institutions, there is a severe shortage of financial
resources and trained personnel to achieve this goal in the near future.Foundation
Activities
With the support of the Department of State, the Foundation launched
a public relations campaign to stimulate awareness of the rights of
individuals with disabilities. In August 2000, two Foundation staff
members and four specialists visited Georgia to assess a variety of
local institutions providing assistance to children with disabilities,
establish a local working group of parents and NGO leaders, and launch
a public relations campaign to help Georgians accept individuals with
disabilities into the everyday Georgian society. In November 2000, a
media expert accompanied Foundation staff members to launch a major
public relations campaign that was opened with a press conference featuring
the Chairman of the Parliament Committee on Invalids, the Deputy Minister
of Education, and a leading Ministry of Health official. In addition,
a campaign was begun to distribute small purple ribbons, the UN symbol
of “disability awareness,” and the Georgian Parliament is
considering a resolution to change the name of its Invalid Committee.
Both visits were coordinated by several Georgian women active in this
field and concentrated on activities in Tbilisi, the capital city, and
Telavi, Georgia’s third largest city located in Kakheti, the heart
of the wine-growing region. Both delegations met with the Georgian media,
international and Georgian NGOs, as well as members of the Georgian
Parliament and the Ministries of Health, Education and Culture. Visits
were also made to orphanages, schools, and hospitals. The American team
met twice with Georgian entrepreneurs who had participated in the Foundation’s
US-based training programs to enlist their support of this nationwide
campaign. In May 2001, the Foundation hosted ten physicians and educators
from Kutaisi in the Greater Washington area and introduced them to standard
U.S. programs for individuals with disabilities.
During the summer of 2001, the Foundation concluded its Department of
State program by:
Conducting a week-long Dialogue in Georgia for educators,
NGO leaders, and government officials to train them to maintain the
advocacy effort begun with FIAE assistance; and
Bringing four of the most promising Georgian leaders to the United States
for a ten-day training program so they can observe functioning programs
that can be replicated in Georgia and develop the skills to serve as
trainers for an expanded cadre of Georgian activists.
The Foundation and its expert panel of consultants believe
we have a fairly realistic view of the situation and can begin making
positive steps to improve these conditions with a relatively small infusion
of funds. At the same time, substantial new funding could be used to
make dramatic changes.
During our multiple visits to Georgia, Foundation staff members and
their professional colleagues have identified a series of specific opportunities
which can expand upon the public relations campaign and support the
local desire to mainstream Georgian children with disabilities. Some
of these suggestions require very little financial support while others
need major infusions of outside funding. Suggested new initiatives include:
- Mobilize and train a cadre of Georgian volunteers (i.e.,
retired individuals or younger workers who have been laid off or are
staying home by choice) to visit existing orphanages, hospitals, or
special boarding schools to interact with the children and engage them
in basic games or simple educational exercises.
- Engage the services of Western medical experts who
could correct certain birth defects such as cleft palate and hydrocephalus
and train the Georgian medical community to take over basic surgical
procedures so families are not overwhelmed by their care and the children
themselves can live normal lives.
Develop a cadre of social workers to begin working with this segment
of society by offering specialized training outside Georgia and development
of the academic discipline within Georgia.
- Train a group of volunteers and medical professionals
to counsel parents of children with disabilities as soon as possible
(either during the pre-natal period or immediately after birth) to understand
the value of keeping their children at home, offering them constant
support and introduction to groups of parents of children with similar
disabilities.
- Host a key group of government leaders (Ministry officials
and Members of Parliament) in the United States to observe a variety
of educational and social support groups which assist children with
disabilities, and meet with American legislators and NGO leaders who
took the lead in implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Encourage the development of “partner”
relationships between specific American or international organizations
and Georgian counterparts to help launch affiliate organizations within
Georgia (e.g., Cerebral Palsy Association, Very Special Arts, National
Parent Network on Disabilities, Council on Exceptional Children, etc.).
- Work with local Georgian groups to improve mobility
for all by providing accessible transportation, entrances to buildings,
and normal sidewalk ramps.
- Provide re-training for teachers and administrators
in current Georgian specialized institutions so they can adapt their
skills to work in integrated, mainstreamed schools or training facilities.
- Offer training of mainstream educators to receive
both students and special education teachers, developing model schools
that can be replicated throughout the nation.
- Encourage the partnership of specialized Georgian
and American hospitals so they can exchange staff members, offer training,
and share basic medical equipment with their partner institution.
- Acquire the rights to first-rate American films and
television shows that portray the daily, normal lifestyle of people
with disabilities and make them available to Georgian media.
- Create a central coalition office for all Georgian
NGOs working in the field of disability to facilitate the sharing of
information, collaboration in nationwide activities, and joint submission
of new programs for funding opportunities.
The Foundation for International Arts and Education
is committed to assisting all sectors of Georgian society to meet these
pressing challenges and will actively seek support from American and
international organizations in support of this goal.
Visit to Kaspi Orphanage during
Women's Leadership Program - Phase II (Kaspi, Georgia)
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