“Why does it happen [that] the birth of [a] boy is [a] celebration and [the birth of] a girl is far from being that? To speak bluntly, the message formed by society and this is what people really think, no matter what they say, that if you have two sons, you have two eyes, if you have one son, you are blind in one eye, and if you have two daughters, you are completely blind.
It was 30 years ago. [My] mother wanted to get [an] abortion, no more babies. There was a boy, one of the family. She made [an] appointment to get [the] abortion, but life is full of miracles. The night before the visit [to the] doctor a dream [came]; a little girl from the story is shaking hands to her. Decision changed; the nurse took the girl and imagine what, a 5-k baby wrapped up in white clothes and that’s how I came into the world. There was a protest I was born […].
Since then I’m fighting to break stereotypes. I’m not a boy but I’m taking care of my family and of course now my mom is proud of me. You must be thinking that I’m grumbling about my […] family but it does not bother me at all. I know I am capable of doing everything and it’s […]. I love being a woman. I love being a women’s rights activists and lead numerous actions, create art for the protection of women’s rights and education, and social […]. Always I wanted somehow to support young women and girls, so I founded the NGO Helping Hand. Since then […] initiated the campaign to fight gender-based violence and to empower young women and girls who are actively involved in public life.
I’m very proud of my effort to establish the club of young women leaders and working with young women and girls […]. Yes, it is crucial to increase the level of leadership of young women and provide them opportunity to gain experience, knowledge, to share their skills with others. Working with young women and girls in Georgia makes me to ensure that we as women are able to have a voice. I love being a woman. I love to support young women and girls. I believe because we are women, we can make a huge difference in our communities.
Thanks, mom, for having me.”
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Tiko Meskhi founded Helping Hand, an NGO and grantee partner in Georgia whose mission is support the personal and leadership skills of young women.
