Rusudan Samushia. (Facebook.)

GALI, DFWatch–Classes have been suspended in public schools in Abkhazia as in the rest of Georgia because of the pandemic, and also here in Gali, local teachers try their best to assist students with distance learning. 

Despite many difficulties, including the interruption of electricity supply, local teachers are still more or less able to continue classes remotely.

DFWatch found one teacher who not only trains students on the ground in the Gali district, but also volunteers teaching five students via the Internet in the Georgian-controlled area beyond the Enguri.

Rusudan Samushia lives in the village of Saberio, in Gali district. She is a historian and a legal scholar and a doctoral student of law and international relations at Georgian Technical University.

Samushia tells DFWatch that it is possible to do good even under lockdown conditions, and she has chosen this path.

“I am in Abkhazia today, in a closed space. I teach the university entrants here as well, but these five students, across the Enguri, study remotely. I teach them for free, of course. These are five outstanding girls – one from Abasha, three from Tbilisi, one from Sachkhere and one from Rustavi. I teach them via [Facebook] Messenger for 2 hours once a week,” Rusudan Samushia told DFWatch.

One of the students, Nino Kacharava, tells us how she found a volunteer teacher.

“There is a Facebook group for university entrants, where we write about our needs and problems. One day the moderator asked if there was anyone volunteering to train the entrants for free. It was how we discovered Rusudan. I am very grateful and it gives me great motivation. Last year, due to some problems, I could not pass the exam, and this year I am going to go with double motivation, not only for enrollment, but also to gain funding. We have small delays when the electricity supply is cut off, on the other hand I am very satisfied,” Nino Kacharava told DFWatch.