Last training at Batumi State University!

Financial Literacy…. who would have thought this would be my last training with some of the students at the local university.

For the past two years I have been working off and on with Nino Inaishvili the director of Batumi’s branch of Education USA which helps students with their English skills and prepares them forthe TOFEL exam (Test of English as a Foreign Language).  This is a requirement  young women and men in Georgia need to achieve before  applying for admittance to universities in America.

This financial literacy training is designed by the Peace Corps and has as it goal “to increase their knowledge and awareness of money”.  Topics covered: “The Value of Money”,  “How to understand and determine the difference between  wants and needs”,  “How and why to create a budget”, “Why save? coupled with creating saving goals”, and “Loans, what they are and what to consider before getting a loan”. I also spent time discussing the differences between debit and credit cards and the pitfalls of credit card misuse.

In a country where savings is not always practiced or practical because of low incomes, it is very important to teach the concepts of good financial practices.

The students were very engaged and did express their satisfaction with the knowledge they gained.  It made for a good closure of my work here.

Here are some pictures of the sessions.  I started with 16 students, but because of exams and other commitments only 7 finished.  Still this was a good exercise.

Click on a picture to bring up the full size album.