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This holiday season, give back to Georgia!

A mere $10 will send students affected by the conflict back to school, provide services for underprivileged youth, and support microloans for IDP women.

To make a difference, please email megobariproject@gmail.com for donation information.

Megobari Project members say "thank you"

Megobari Project members met in Tbilisi the day after Thanksgiving last week to discuss Project activities. Everyone expressed their gratitude for the work being done, both in Georgia and back home.

Gori Regional Educational Fund to Award Ten Scholarships

The Gori Regional Educational Fund is pleased to announce that on December 9th, 2008, it will recognize 10 student winners with GREF scholarships. These 10 students will receive tuition scholarships for the Spring 2009 semester at Gori University and will represent a broad cross-section of the GU student body, including Master's and Bachelor's students from all three faculties. During the application process in November, 139 students submitted applications and 20 semi-finalists were invited back for interviews with GREF volunteer staff. The 10 finalists were chosen by a 3-member selection committee. The December 9th event will coincide with the opening of a new training center at GU, sponsored by the United States Embassy.

The Gori Regional Education Fund has also forged a partnership with the Bank of Georgia and will be one of the featured charity organizations eligible to receive donations on the Bank of Georgia website, where donors can contribute even less than 1 Georgian lari ($.64) using their Bank of Georgia card. GREF has planned other fundraising initiatives stateside, including presentations to churches and Rotary Clubs in RPCV home states. The organization's leadership is very grateful to the local Georgian volunteer staff, including students from the University of Georgia, who have helped to lead this effort and have volunteered their time so tremendously.

For more information, please visit the GREF website at www.gorifund.org

Thanksgiving Thank You!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, The Megobari Project expresses the deepest of gratitude to Trinity Lutheran Church (Moorhead, MN), Calvary Lutheran Church (Perham, MN), Edgewood United Methodist Church, St. Lawrence Catholic Church (Perham, MN), and Eve Christoffersen (a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Georgia).

The day before Thanksgiving, The Megobari Project travelled to four collective centers in Kutaisi with eight boxes of hats, scarves, mittens and quilts in tow. The Kutaisi team organized warm weather gear into sets for age groups.

Upon hearing that the items were handmade and from America, people were dearly touched. Many of the items had notes of love attached to them and upon translation, children blushed and mothers could hardly compose themselves.

At these four shelters, we distributed six quilts (for families with children under 5) and over 55 hat, scarves and mitten sets. One refugee had just arrived from Tschinvali with his family and newborn baby the day before. We gave every member of his family a warm winter set and a quilt.

Thank you from all of us here at The Megobari Project. People have been hard at work organizing donations to send. Jen McFann, another Peace Corps Volunteer, has been busy raising money to send boxes of blankets to Georgia. To donate - check out her website at http://jeningeorgia.blogspot.com/.

For more photos of the donation drive (will frequently be updated) - please see picasaweb.google.com/joholtan/TheMegobariProjectDonationDrive#

The Megobari Project: An Introduction

Who we are? We are a group of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who are bringing their experiences in Georgia back home to raise funds for Georgians affected by the recent conflict with Russia. Throughout our time as Peace Corps volunteers, we developed strong relationships with the Georgian people and the country. We want to give back.

The Megobari Project is working under The Megobari Foundation. Based in the US, The Megobari Foundation is currently a nonprofit corporation working on achieving its 501(c)3 status. All donations made to the Foundation will be retroactively tax deductible.

What we are doing? In response, Returned Peace Corps Georgia Volunteers are initiating a fundraising campaign – The Megobari Project – throughout the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom. Partner Georgian organizations have been chosen as recipients of these funds – Charity Humanitarian Center “Abkhazeti” (CHCA), Abkhazintercont (AIC), The Gori Regional Education Fund, and the Information Education Center Kartli XXI. These organizations serve different communities in Georgia.

Donations can also be made to a small fund program, which will go to sponsoring small projects as identified by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers currently in country.

Why are we doing this? Since August 8, 2008, Russia has launched attacks on Georgia, damaging both military and civilian areas throughout the country. In Tbilisi alone, 278 more collective centers have opened to house 28,000 internally-displaced persons (IDPs). Overall, Georgia has seen an increase of over 130,000 IDPs on the already 220,000 from previous conflicts.

Where will donated money go? Donations to The Megobari Project partners will be used to purchase various materials for each project. Much of the funds will go to collective centers where living conditions are less than ideal. Read about each Project Parnter for more information.

How can you make a donation? Please make checks to: The Megobari Foundation. All checks can be sent to:PNC Bankm 1900 Greentree Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ 08003. We are currently working to support online donations. More to come later!

Microloans for IDP Women in Shida Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti Regions

Funds raised through the Megobari Project will finance microloans for IDP women in Shida Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti. Loan payments will be used to issue addition projects in the future.

Through a 20-hour business training in Khashuri, this project will provide low income IDPs, specifically women, in the Shida Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti regions with the capacity to increase family income and standard of living through improved business activity by building human and financial capital.

Training topics include:

1. Money, cost, budgeting and household saving
2. Basic market-based economics and basic accounting
3. Defining the mission and business goals of your business
4. Basic marketing
5. Pricing and distribution
6. SWOT Analysis and Risk Management
7. Production plan of operation and production process
8. Management
9. Sales and Promotion
10. Business Planning Financials

Throughout the course, participants will write a business plan for their own business. Week 11 of the project, participants will make business plan presentations to a panel of actual micro finance lenders working in Georgia. This panel will choose the best plans to receive financing.

The Gori Regional Education Fund: Scholarships for those effected by conflict

Mission: To support families in the Republic of Georgia affected by the August2008 South Ossetia conflict by providing scholarships to students inthe Gori Region

About GREF:The Gori Regional Education Fund (GREF) is a registered NGO in theRepublic of Georgia and a partnership between the University ofGeorgia, Gori University, and former Peace Corps Volunteers. The Fundwas established in August 2008 as a result of Russian military actionin Gori and its surrounding villages.

GREF raises money to providescholarships for students from Gori University, recruits and selectsparticipating beneficiary students, and manages the transfer of funds from GREF to Gori University. The Fund collaborates heavily with student volunteers from the University of Georgia, who contribute their time and energy to help those affected by this crisis.

GREF Scholarships: Scholarships are awarded to students of Gori University unable to paytuition due to the effects of recent Russian military action in the Gori region. Participating students must complete an application andare selected by GREF based on academic performance and need.

Scholarships are awarded each semester and cover the cost of tuition(the cost for one student, each semester, is 750 Georgian Lari orapproximately $535). Tuition funds are transferred directly to the University from the Fund on behalf of each participating student.

Charity Humanitarian Center “Abkhazeti” Information: Child Friendly Spaces

www.chca.ge.com

Funds to CHCA will fund resources for Child Friendly Spaces. These spaces provide IDP childen and youth with activities and resources to take a break from the reality of collective center life.

Charity Humanitarian Center “Abkhazeti”, established in 1995, is the Georgian, non-Governmental, non-profit organization, striving to increase the role of individuals and communities in building civil society and strengthening democracy, to improve the social and economic conditions of internally displaced and other vulnerable populations through building capacity and increasing self-reliance. The activities of the organization are carried out transparently, and are based on the principles of professionalism, equality, long-term partnership and sustainable development.