On March 4 Zura Khachikadze turned 18 years old, an age he has been waiting to experience his right of voting. He knows well that on May 30 Tbilisi residents are going to elect a mayor and he is ready to go to the polls.

“Every time when we had elections in Tbilisi I wanted to vote, because I am sure we can change the things, if we really want, but I couldn’t because of my age. Now I can do that. I have my favourite candidate and I’m going to support him, though I’m not a member of any party,” says the optimistic boy. But not everyone thinks as Zura does.

Ana Sardanadze is a 19-year-old student at Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, and she knows that an election will be held in May, but she doesn’t know the exact date, and not sure she will vote.

“Now I’m working on a very important painting, I don’t have time to pay attention to such things,” she says. “ I hope our parties will organize some meetings to inform people about their projects before elections, though I don’t believe the elections are going to be fair.”

Read More »Georgian Youth to Say Their Say in Tbilisi Mayor Elections

Nowadays it is not difficult to find any information about the sexual life due to the Internet, TV programs and films. Besides there is a growing tendency and even a 10-year-old kid knows a lot about the sexual life or how babies are born.

I saw how babies are born on TV and asked my mum, she said it is not time for me to know but I guess I already know about,” says 10-year-old Mary from Tbilisi.

While there is a stereotype among the people in Georgia that the society doesn’t want to have sexual health classes at schools, the statistics show the opposite.

According to the last survey of National Democratic Institute (NDI) conducted in 2007, more than 70% of the Georgian population wants to have health education classes, including information related to sexual health and family formation at schools. There is a percentage disagreement in the capital, which is higher more than twice from that of rural areas of Georgia welcoming the idea of having such kind of classes at schools.

Read More »Georgian Schools Need Sexual Health Education

Every day, Giorgi, 17, a guy in blue jacket and hat walks with his poodle along the street Vazha Pshavela in Tbilisi. Daizy is one year old and has white shiny hair. She can stand on its two paws. Giorgi says it’s his grandma’s poodle, but she died recently and he decided to look after Daizy. Giorgi spends much time with the dog and says it’s very difficult to take care of dogs, especially when keeping themat home.

“My mom doesn’t like dogs, she hates wool and says that one day I will get some kind of disease, because I spend much time with Daizy, though once a year I take her to the clinic and always wash my hands after play with her. I think that’s enough,” says Giorgi with a smile on his face.

Grigori Zaranyan, a veterinary of the “ZooPlaza” clinic is sure that once a year is not enough, because even if the dog is vaccinated, it doesn’t mean it is safe from infecting more than 200 diseases which can be passed from pets to people.

The veterinaries say that dogs should be vaccinated up to six months, then before appearance of their first fangs they should be vaccinated against rabies.The most common infection among dogs is meshelioz, when the dog gets thinner and loses its hair in a short  time. It’s deadly and very often veterinaries have to strew them.

Read More »Healthy Pets: Veterinaries of Tbilisi Advice to Vaccine Pets in Time

April 15-16, Tbilisi will host a conference entitled “Challenges for media freedom in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova an Ukraine”.

The conference is oorganized by the Council of Europe in the framework of the 2009-2010 Swiss chairmanship of its Committee of Ministers.

The conference will address current problems in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine with regard to the safety and protection of journalists, the threats to freedom of expression and the challenges to this freedom brought by new technologies.

The key aim of the event is to formulate concrete recommendations for promoting freedom of expression and information in these states in line with Council of Europe standards and recommendations.

Dunja Mijatovic, recently appointed OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, and William Horsley, Chairman of the UK section and Media Freedom Representative of the Association of European Journalists, will be among the key speakers. The event will bring together government representatives, parliamentarians, media professionals and representatives of NGOs.

Source: A1Plus

Read More »Challenges for media freedom in five countries

The U.S. Embassy in Armenia publicly honored on Wednesday a young Armenian activist controversially prosecuted after publicizing alleged sexual and other abuse at a Yerevan boarding school. Mariam Sukhudian, a leader of the environment protection group SOS Teghut, received the Women of Courage Award from Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch at a high-profile ceremony attended by Armenian politicians, civic activists and other public figures. Speaking at the ceremony, Yovanovitch confirmed that the award is an appreciation of Sukhudian’s work at the public school for children with special needs located in Yerevan’s southern Nubarashen suburb.

“When she arrived at Nubarashen Special School Number 11 and found neglect and abuse of children in its care, she acted to stop it … not for her own benefit, but for justice and the welfare of all children in Armenia,” said the ambassador. A separate statement by the Embassy lauded the activist’s “courage” and “determination to act in order to right a wrong, in spite of the personal sacrifices it entailed.” Sukhudian, 30, was among about a dozen young people who worked as volunteers at the boarding school in April-June 2008.

Read More »Indicted Armenian Activist Honored By U.S. Embassy

The name of the exhibition organized by the British Council – “Rock, Paper, Scissors” – is associated with a favorite childish game for many, however it symbolizes the interaction between sculpture and painting, the two and three-dimensional. On January 20-28 about 50 exponents of the British Council Collection are being exhibited in Albert & Tove Boyajian Gallery of the Yerevan Academy of Fine Arts. Some of the works are shown for the first time promising to be a revelation for many students and lecturers.

The exhibition presents works by outstanding sculptors Henry Moore, Bernard Meadows, William Turnbull and others created via various printing methods from the 1950s to the present day. One of the methods is screen printing which makes possible to get copies almost identical with the originals, linocut or etching.

“This is a small albeit interesting and encouraging surprise in the dull reality of Yerevan. For years, the artists whose works are being exhibited were like a dream for me,” says art critic Nazaret Karoyan: “Of course, I had a chance to see their works before, but not in Armenia.”

Read More »Exhibition within Armenian Walls: The British Collection of Worldwide Modern Art in Yerevan

New Year, Amanor (New Year), Kaghand (Armenian Santa Claus), Tareglukh (the first day of the next year), Avetis (good news), Navasard – it doesn’t matter the name, as in all cases the meaning is the same – a start for something new. The oldest nations marked New Year in March. Then the cultivation activities began and March was considered as the first month of the year. January 1 was declared the New Year beginning only in 46 B.C. by Julius Cesar.

In Armenia, the New Year is celebrated since the times when, according to a legend, the forefather Haik defeated Bel. Navasard was the first day of the year and was celebrated in August. Then the pagan Armenians began to celebrate New Year in November and since the 18th century – on January 1. According to Armenian mythology Amanor was Amatur’s wife – the God of nature and harvest, Kenats Tsar (Tree of Life) – symbol of fertility. According to artist Lusik Aguletsi the New Year ceremonies lasted 12 days and were closely related to church rituals.

Read More »Тraditions: Old Armenians Met New Year Focused on Spiritual Values