Multimedia project “Youth for Social Changes” presents twelve young persons from different regions of Georgia who dedicate their actions and enthusiasm trying to change the society, achieve gender equality and contribute to creation of a healthier environment.
Natalia Bukia, 23, Tbilisi
When I first asked myself a question of who I would have been without the wheel-chair, I did not like the answer. On the contrary, I even got angry for asking myself this question. I do not think at all anymore about what it could have been, I am only thinking of what it shall be. I think that this internal or external fight that comes into your life together with the wheel-chair, made me who I am, taught me to love myself and others around me. When others see you as a stranger, you still learn how to love them, how not to get upset with them. Most importantly, I understood that I do not give in easily and at the same time, I learnt that nothing is easy on the wheels, especially in Georgia, where you are surrounded by stairs or meet the pointed fingers at you. Today what I fight for and what I want to achieve are the dreams of that little girl who, yet being very young, was asked by her peers: “why do you not play with us and why do you walk like that?” However, I have passed a long way to get here; every time I had to prove that I had the right to study and express my opinion, because when you are in a wheel-chair they think that others have to speak for you always. I want to share my story with the young girls who are scared by the looks of their wheel-chair next to their bed every morning and to tell them that this feeling is natural, that this is what they are going to feel every morning, but the most important is to learn how to live with it, that they should head to schools, universities, work and look nice and cutely dressed and fight for themselves. I know how difficult it is because in these spaces initially they do not see your place, it is even difficult to get there, you have to overcome so many stairs and judgmental looks, and then keep proving that you deserve to be there. That is why my one and only dream and goal is that they read my story I wrote down for them, where I tell them that the fight does matter, and they can read this story anywhere, in an adapted library, school, park, university, bus, at home or just strolling in the street, as long as they get there themselves, independently, without any help from others and nobody should be surprised to see them with a book in their hand, thinking whether they could read. I was inspired by literature and journeys to an unreal world. This is where I got my power and will to see a better world full of opportunities and to dream of creating a world where everyone could be what he/she wants to be.
“Youth for Social Change" is an initiative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office aimed to promote gender equality, eliminate gender stereotypes and harmful social norms.
It is part of the three EU-funded programmes: “Ending Violence Against Women and Girls in Georgia (EVAWGG)” programme (Kvemo Kartli region), “Addressing Gender-biased Sex Selection and Related Harmful Practices in South Caucasus” (Samtskhe-Javakheti region) as well as “EU4GenderEquality: Together against gender stereotypes and gender-based violence" (Guria and Imereti regions).
About the authors:
Dina Oganova is a Georgian documentary photographer working in Georgia and other countries on different long term projects. She has been a laureate of prestigious awards, including the EU Prize for Journalism and Litera. Ms. Oganova has been named among the best woman photographers under the age of 30. Her photo projects include: “I Am Georgia”; “My Place,” “Frozen Waves.” Ms. Oganova’s works have been exhibited in Italy, France, USA, Spain and other countries. She is an author of the first Georgia handmade limited edition photobook “My Place”, which is a part of collections of several museums, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Dina Oganova has cooperated with UNFPA Georgia since 2016 on different projects: “A Girl is Born” (“Silent Garden”), “Girls from the Future”, “Mothers and Daughters”, etc. Women’s and girls’ rights remain in focus of her artistic work.
Tatia Nadareishvili is a freelance Georgian illustrator, co-founder of studio “Illustrator” (2016), who writes and illustrates children’s books. One of her books “Sweet Dreams” was published in 2017 and translated in several languages. Tatia Nadareishvili has cooperated with UNFPA Georgia since 2018. In 2020 she illustrated a bestselling bedtime story “Luna and The Planet of Fireflies”, which will soon turn into a play.
