About Avtandil Mamalashvili

My name is Avtandil Mamalashvili, I am 23 years old and I come from Georgia. I had finished Tbilisi State University (Department of Social and Political Sciences) my major is Sociology and my subspecialty is Social work. I am working for MLC project in Wroclaw for 12 months, making presentations about my country at schools, conducting workshops about intercultural learning, human rights, volunteering, working with homeless people and etc. My job includes performing administrative tasks in the office, holding meeting at schools with students where I present information about EVS and how to become a volunteer and my personal experience in it.

In Georgia I was working for an NGO "Helping Hand” starting from 19 to 23. I was volunteering in Social Therapy houses (in Orfanch, Catharsis and Raidmed), organizing social events like “Race for Cure” and “Race for Women Rights”. In 2013 I have received an award from the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Georgia awarded as the Best Volunteer of 2013.

My hobbies are: biking, wrestling, judo, travelling by bike, taking pictures and hiking in nature.

Although I am in Wroclaw since four months , I have already fallen in love with this city with its beautiful bridges, old and astonishing buildings, nice parks and beautiful lakes and historical places. Wroclaw is the best city for those, who like biking as the city has a well-organized system of bike roads. My everyday way to work is an adventure - seeing many interesting buildings, meeting new people and making friends with locals.

I have very nice flat mates: even though it is not the first time I am living with foreigners, but always a good opportunity to find out more about different cultures and share about mine. Though we have different cultural backgrounds it is always interesting to compare and to find differences and similarities and to find topics that are relevant or not for our countries. Back at home I was living with my parents, so that's a first time I am living independently. This experience teaches a lot of about money management and how to manage household on my own. I have never cooked before, so now I'm making first steps on this hard path, my mother was doing laundry for me and now I know how to separate my clothes by colours. First time I was washing dishes it took me half an hour to wash just one plate and my roommates were surprised it took me that much time. They've explained me a lot of things and I've learnt a lot from them. That's why EVS is a good opportunity for self-development and learning something new.

I am interested in learning more about Polish culture and learning Polish language. I have already learnt basic words and now I am motivated to keep going this way. Besides EVS gives me an opportunity to practice my English every day. I hope these 12 months will bring a lot of interesting stories and a nice experience to me!