Help Poor Children in Georgia to learn English for a Better Life

As a native Englishman, I have taught English to both adults and children free in Turkey from 2005 to 2015 and previously to immigrants of many nationalities, in Darlington College, which is an annex of Teesside University in north east England. I took my teaching qualification from Trinity College London in 2001.

I now live in the Republic of Georgia in a fairly poor rural area. Georgia is an upcoming European country with thousands of visitors annually from many countries.

I want to start an English school for the whole of this region with native English being taught. There are no such schools in this part of Georgia. English teachers who come to Georgia tend to be located in the cities teaching English one-to-one with their students. There are many children here with no financial means of paying for English lessons and these children will be taught free. The best chance these children have is to look for employment in the cities in connection with tourism. Young people with a knowledge of English command a far better position when applying for jobs.

After discussion with the local council leader in my adopted village, which is one of the largest in the region and centrally located, I have been offered help by the council with regard to a suitable building in which to open a school. An unused but sound building which had previously been the "Cultural House", has been offered to me free for the purpose but as village finances are limited, there is no money to provide the work and materials necessary to turn the run down building into classrooms and provide toilet facilities.

I have the support of Lela, a young trainee teacher and Maya, a Georgian English teacher who will become a teaching assistant. My English wife will also provide conversational English support. As my only income is my British government state pension, providing the finances necessary for the work needed is not possible for me. There are several rooms from which I can choose to begin. All are in sound condition but in desperate

need of maintenance. I must also provide desks, seating, teaching aids and various other equipment. Some form of heating for the winter and cooling for the summer. Much of this work I am prepared to do myself to reduce costs. I originally trained as an engineer and have experience in many fields, not only teaching and much of this practical knowledge comes in very useful for such purposes.

There are many children here looking for English language education and parents looking for teachers. There are also children, who without a free school, have little hope of acquiring this knowledge. The most practical way to provide this is not one-to-one teaching but in classes in a school.

I hope you can help me to give these children a better start in life by giving them a place to learn the English language.