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Published: August 3rd 2009
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Father Jacob and his monks
He's the one facing the camera with brown hair and beard. Note the mountains in the background. Forming new charity partnerships
Opportunities to share blessings with others surround us all, if only we have the courage to look and to ask questions about how we might be of service. Here's some more information about how we hope to expand our charity work into Georgia. Before we left the US, we invited Irakli's cousin Ilya to draw on his vast network to help us find potential partners for charity work. Since we have certain criteria, and since we need a local liasion to be our eyes & ears, we asked Ilya for both the introductions, advice and ongoing monitoring. As I've mentioned before, everyone knows everyone in Georgia, or knows someone who does-there aren't 6 degrees of separation here, only 2 degrees. We want to work with small, grass roots groups, that already have a track record of success, and which are not already funded by larger organizations such as Red Cross. Ilya did an outstanding job and introduced us to the following amazing people:
Father Jacob: An Orthodox priest in a small town in the Caucasian mountains, Father Jacob is that rare combination of spiritual leader and intelligent businessman. We toured his facilities and saw how
Feeding the trout
Once they reach a certain size, the trout are moved from the smaller ponds to this larger one. The food is placed in the tray and submerged into the pond. much he has accomplished. First, he has built a small chapel and monastery, and has also succeeded in attracting the local population to attend church. This has not been easy due to the combination of persistant paganism still existing in these remote regions along with the natural suspicion of locals towards outsiders. However, his approach followed that of St. Francis, who stated
"Preach the Gospel at all times, use words only when necessary". So, he focused on helping the locals in improving farming techniques and showing them new ideas and new ways to conquer poverty, and he is gradually winning over the community. One such new idea is trout farming. Georgia is blessed with an abundance of clear, fresh water and there are many streams everywhere in this area. Father Jacob has set up a thriving trout farm and is raising hundreds of thousands of trout. His monks (who live at the small monastery next to the chapel, a monastery also built via Father Jacob's efforts) helped build the farm, maintain it and teach the locals to start their own trout farming operations.
Furthermore, the Father has remodeled part of a crumbling Soviet era factory farm building, and is
Touring the trout farm
and trying not to fall into the pond. raising chinchilla. Why chinchilla for heaven's sake? Well, someone gave several of them to the Patriarch, but they didn't thrive in the heat of Tblisi. So the Patriarch, in his infinate wisdom, sent them for a holiday in the mountains under Father Jacob's care. Now, they are thriving. The monks tend them carefully, weighing, measuring and recording their food intake, weight, rate of birth, etc. It is quite a scientific operation. Once proved successful, the Father can help the locals start their own chinchilla farms. The fur is very valuable and will bring in a new and much needed source of income to this impoverished area.
When we asked Father Jacob what is his greatest need, he said he needs $5,000 to build a new dormatory. In addition to his other projects, he runs a recovery program for alcholics and drug addicts. Euphemistically called 'difficult persons' in the local lingo, they are given the opportunity to get away from former habits plus bad companions and dry out in fresh mountain air, while working on the farm projects and living a disciplined life. There are very few recovery programs of any type here. The foundations for the dormatory have already
For the smaller fish
Water from the stream flows into pipes which gathers oxygen as it pours into the trenchs. been dug, and Father Jacob needs the money to finish the project (which they are building themselves of local materials to keep costs down). This is not that much money to provide a haven of sobriety plus a new start for troubled lives. I plan to make a donation towards this project as soon as I find employment myself and you could also help if this project speaks to your heart, just contact me at constancefinch@yahoo.com.
Director David: The Director of a Tblisi school with grades 1-12, David struggles to ensure students under his care get a good education. He gave us a tour of the school (which has been in existance for more than 50 years) and I could see the signs of the struggle-run down hallways, classrooms needing repair, worn stairways & desks. Yet, David has done an excellent job under difficult circumstances. He has brought in his own books to expand resources for the students, and there is an award-winning folk dance program available for all students. The troupe has won many awards and even travels outside Georgia to give performances, the funds from which are used to support the program.
Under Communism, school
Small fry
but thousands of them...all healthy and thriving... was free and the literacy rate was ~ 98%. Now, all that has ceased and parents must pay for both text books and materials. If parents cannot pay, poor students have no books. David's innovative idea is to start a text book lending library. Eligible students will receive a complete set of books at the beginning of the year. When they turn in the books in good condition at year end, they will receive another set of books for the next year. Since my beloved late mother Eleanor Finch was a librarian, this project touched my heart. I thought it an excellent idea and asked how much he might need. The answer: about $1200. Wow, that's not very much money to improve literacy and transform lives! Only $100 per grade! Could I give up having my hair done once or twice a year to buy text books for a whole grade??? Of course I could!
During my work, I have found that people tend to overestimate what they can accomplish in one or two years, and underestimate what they can accomplish in ten years. If we were only able to set up one school library a year, after 10
A chincilla
Sort of a combination between a rabbit and a squirrel with very soft, thick fur. years that would be 10 libraries and thousands of students benefitted. And what if we were able to set up 2 libraries per year? A friend of Irakli's related her story of visiting a similar school in the country side, and for the entire school grades 1-12, only 6 students had a complete set of text books!!! I find this appalling, and yes, we can do something about this by working together for the good of all. Instead of asking "What can I (just one person) do?" I now ask "What COULD I do?"
With both these projects, as with almost all the work I do overseas, I ask for a project or business plan, buget, timelines and milestones. I have a local liason who can check on the project to make sure work is going according to plan. I ask our partnernets to send newsletters, updates and especially pictures back to us. I never release a large amount of funding upfront, but rather a small amount at a time, in accordance with the mutually agreed upon timeline and milestones. Accountability is important, not because of lack of trust, but to build trust and thereby, relationships.
If only
you ask the right questions, the answers will amaze you. This question alone will lead you to meet amaing people and together, you can create amazing results that will impact people you may never know and last far beyond your lifetime.
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Betty (Calif.)
non-member comment
"YES" I COULD
I was heartfelt when I read that literacy rate was 98%. I do believe that in working together for the GOOD, we can (could) improve literacy and transform lives. Education is important and BOOKS are the main tool to receive that information. If you do not have the resources, you cannot move further. These children are our future and if just one person steps out a lending hand, there will be many more to follow. So little is needed to make a great impact for the children's future. So, I say: "YES, I could do this".