Alioni- Space in Oni Providing Active Social Life for Local Youth

Alioni is the dawn, the time when everything wakes up and shines. The social enterprise "Alioni" has the same mission - it wants to bring light and new life to Oni, a district in Racha, which, in their opinion, is a little forgotten.

"The idea has been around for a long time and we are still working on it. As a result of graduating from the university and returning to Oni, we implemented it to a certain extent with the organization "Racha Youth Assembly" - says Megi Gutashvili, one of the founders of Alioni.

The idea Megi is talking about is creating a youth space in Oni. The space will be multifunctional and will solve many problems in Oni municipality. The problems, as the founders of the social enterprise note, are many, and this is evidenced by a number of studies conducted by the Youth Agency and the PMC research group.

The founders of the enterprise and the young people participating in the research note that there is practically no place in Oni where young people can gather, learn more about non-formal education, undergo training tailored to their needs, socialize and realize themselves.

It is to solve this and many other issues that "Alioni" was created, among the goals of which are to raise awareness of the rights among young people, to involve them in self-government activities, to promote a healthy way of life, therefore, to get ready for the rhythm of modern life and to reduce the outflow of the population from the region.

In response to the problems, Megi Gutashvili, Nana Maisuradze and Mariam Maisuradze plan to create a space that will be provided with training, work and exhibition spaces, a library and other necessary equipment. In addition, it will be possible to cooperate with foreign or Georgian youth centers, organize joint projects and field trips, exhibit and sell works of young people, etc.

"Oni Municipality supports young people in implementing innovative ideas. The municipality, in active cooperation with the youth workers and the youth agency, has already allocated us one room in the Oni culture house, which we use as we wish. However, we aim to expand further and independently create a space for young people", the team notes.

The team is now actively working on the project. They use the incubation period to bring their plans to fruition.