In the Pankisi Gorge, the Jokolo Educational Center, which has operated since 2014, is vacating its building at the demand of the local City Hall. The center’s operations were supported by the Kakheti Regional Development Fund.
The center’s director, Iza Bekauri, published a video message on social media stating that City Hall had refused to renew the lease agreement and that the organization had received an official letter demanding it vacate the premises.
As Bekauri explained, the center had already suspended its work on February 28 due to the entry into force of new legislation, but it had maintained hope of resuming activities and had been waiting for the situation in the country to change. According to her, the organization had hoped City Hall would permit them to remain in the building temporarily until circumstances changed; however, following the receipt of the official notice, they were forced to remove their equipment.
“Every year, more than 150 students studied English and computer literacy here. Women also acquired vocational skills, and various training sessions were held. I would like to address those who came to this building to meet with the children—the psychologists, the representatives of various organizations: they know what was happening in this center and what a vibrant life was bustling here,” noted Iza Bekauri.
The head of the organization believes that the municipality’s decision is targeted not at the NGO, but personally at her, and that the authorities are fighting against her specifically.
“Fine, I will vacate [the building], I will leave, but that does not mean you will drive me out of Pankisi the way you did from this building. My mother is buried in Pankisi, and I have no intention of losing Pankisi.”
Concluding her video address, Iza Bekauri reached out to former students of the center and the youth. She categorically ruled out any anti-state activities having taken place at the center and emphasized that neither children nor staff were ever coerced into political activism at the institution.
The community and educational centers of the Kakheti Regional Development Fund in the villages of Duisi and Jokolo had been operating since 2009, promoting the integration of the local population. They served as venues where schoolchildren and university applicants from 17 villages across the Pankisi Gorge could deepen their knowledge free of charge in the following subjects: Georgian language, history, general skills, mathematics, geography, civic education, English, and arts and culture. They also provided training in IT literacy, culinary arts, tailoring and sewing, felt making, ceramics, dance, and folklore.