Visiting a neighboring country that Georgia boasts to have a long-term historical, cultural or economic ties with, has long been on my list of ‘Must see countries’ and there is no greater occasion than an intellectually stimulating visit!
Leadership school held in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan was a unique experience! Three days of the school managed to combine both cultural exchange and business meetings!
Leadership school was held for up to 15 Georgian students and has considered to enhance cooperation between young, ambitious students of Georgia and Armenia. The pinnacle of the visit was a meeting with some of the best representatives of Armenian youth. Discussion in regards to the projects that we all had in mind has been one of the many inspirational meetings I had a chance to be part of.
The beauty of the leadership school was the fact that it managed to capture students with the various educational backgrounds. We had everyone in our team, economists , future politicians.. etc. and even a dentist. Similarly we had all kinds of meetings whether those in the World Bank, with the CEO of Armenia’s largest telecommunication’s company, meeting at the Presidential Palace, where we had a chance to inquire about current political/economic aspirations or visits to various start-up or already well established businesses in the fields of medicine, IT and etc.
As the time for cultural exchange came along we had a chance to enjoy a wonderful weather in a wonderful city! One cannot simply ignore the beauty of the capital of the neighboring country when walking on the main Republic square, enjoying the nice weather and the tidiness of the city itself.
Epilogue of the project was as rewarding as we have shared the graduation ceremony with the Armenian students who have been attending Leadership school for a year. As a thank you note some of us have decided to show a bit of a Georgian culture and the audience had a chance to enjoy traditional Georgian dances and some of the most famous Georgian songs.
Leadership school will be soon held in Georgia, Tbilisi but this time for Armenian youth! I am confident that future change makers will find three days spent in Tbilisi as rewarding!
It is hardly possibly to capture all and everything in this note however it is certain that we all have enjoyed getting to know each other and each other’s countries! It is not doubtful that organizers have done a great job and the project can be considered successful!
6 FLEX and 1 GHSEP (Georgian High School Exchange Program) Alumnae took part in the Leadership School: Sophiko Beriashvili ’13, Rima Beridze ’11, Mariam Ghvamichava ’10, Nino Sakvarelidze ’10, Nino Samsonidze ’13, Ruso Zabakhidze ’13, Tamar Jibuti ’11 (GHSEP)
By Nino Sakvarelidze ’10
