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Success Story
Volunteer teachers make
a difference in the lives
of their students
Promoting Healthy Lifestyles
Photo: JSI/Richard Wang
A group of teachers from Public School
17 in Kutaisi, Georgia pose with trainers
from USAID’s Healthy Women in Georgia
project. After participating in a four-day
training on how to discuss sensitive
health and social issues with youth, the
teachers motivated more than 80% of
the school’s students to participate in the
Healthy Lifestyles program.
The USAID-supported
program teaches youth
about the dangers of drugs
and sexually transmitted
diseases and empowers
them to make informed and
healthy choices affecting
their lives.
For four teachers at Public School 17 in Kutaisi, Georgia, teaching
high school students is more than a job. It is a commitment to
helping their young students make safe and healty choices on their
path to adulthood.
For three hours every day, Nato Kuprava, Irina Burjaliani,
Tea Kutateladze and Eka Murusidze stay after school
on a volunteer basis to teach their students about
reproductive health, sexually transmitted diseases, drug
and alcohol abuse and other social issues such as early
marriage.
Prior to this USAID-supported after school program
teenagers at Public School 17 had little or no access
to accurate reproductive health and substance abuse
information. Drug use, early marriage and involvement with petty
crime are common problems among Georgian youth. The program
aims to educate students about protecting themselves against the
dangers of substance abuse and unprotected sex. The program
also empowers students to make informed and healthy choices
affecting their lives. More than 100 secondary schools in Georgia
are actively participating in the program.
To become certified instructors in the USAID-supported program,
public school teachers participate in a four-day training course, led
by local physicians. The participants learn about the curriculum,
which was created specifi cally for Georgia. In addition to the
curriculum, they learn how to discuss sensitive health and social
issues with youth, and how to manage the program and promote it
to parents and students.
Thanks to the focus on domestic training the program ensures
Georgian youth have continued access to accurate healthy lifestyle
information. A tenth grade boy could not quit smoking on his own so
he attended an after school smoking cessation class. After several
counseling sessions, the boy put away cigarettes for good. As an
added benefi t, he went on to become certifi ed as a peer leader and
counseled other students on positive lifestyle choices.
Nato, Tea, Irina and Eka motivated an impressive 80% of Public
School 17’s 450 students to take part in the program. Twenty
students completed a two-day training to become certified peer
leaders, making them an additional source of accurate information
for their classmates.
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