The work of the Roddy Scott Foundation (RSF) has been praised in local and international media for its contribution to education in the valley, and its overall positive impact.
Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge Fights Terrorism Stereotypes
Eurasianet, 19 June 2018
Meanwhile, locals are proud of the levels of human development their small region has achieved. “The children here have some of the highest test scores in all of Georgia,” Fatima says with evident pride.
The Little Georgian Schoolhouse that Could
Deutsche Welle, January 2015
The Pankisi Gorge in Georgia has gained notoriety as a breeding ground of terrorists. But one little school in is fighting back. It is tackling extremism by connecting its kids to the outside world.
Georgia Today, March 2017
A group of students from Pankisi Gorge visited the US from January 20 to February 17, in the framework of the ‘Youth, Inspiring Leadership & Civic Participation in the Pankisi Gorge’ project. The three-week stay was organized by the US Embassy in Georgia and Roddy Scott Foundation.
I was recently alerted by a colleague that the school made it into another international newspaper recently.
Vlad,
two friends sent this NZZ article to me today. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung is one of the top newspapers in the world arguably, for int coverage, and if you had not seen it, it ends on a very positive note — with reference the Roddy Scott Foundation.
Good to see that your great work is getting recognized!!!
Congrats,
Hans
Die Nachfrage nach Englischkursen ist dagegen gewaltig. In einem kleinen Gebäude in Duisi bietet die Roddy Scott Foundation Kurse an, sie wird förmlich überrannt. Die Stiftung ist benannt nach einem jungen britischen Journalisten, der 2002 in Inguschetien ums Leben kam, als die tschetschenischen Kämpfer, die er begleitete, in ein Feuergefecht mit Russen verwickelt wurden. Es sind vor allem junge Kisten, die hier pauken, die Mädchen sind wie so oft in der Mehrzahl. Knapp 250 Schüler eignen sich die Sprache des früheren kapitalistischen Erzfeindes an, mit rührender Gewissenhaftigkeit und sichtbarer Freude. Keiner muss, alle wollen, «es ist paradiesisch», sagt Eka Tochosaschwili, die Lehrerin. Gleich gegenüber sitzt die Redaktion der Online-Zeitung «Pankisi-Times», ebenfalls eine Initiative der Stiftung. Was sie publiziert, ist so prowestlich und proamerikanisch wie die Stimmung im ganzen Land. Sich vorzustellen, eine islamistische Organisation könne hier noch erfolgreich Kämpfer rekrutieren, fällt schwer. Das Pankisi-Tal ist auf dem besten Weg, die Schatten der Vergangenheit loszuwerden.
Aus dem NZZ-E-Paper vom 19.11.2020
Translation.
The demand for English courses, on the other hand, is huge. The Roddy Scott Foundation offers courses in a small building in Duisi, and it is literally overrun. The foundation is named after a young British journalist who died in Ingushetia in 2002 when the Chechen fighters he was accompanying were involved in a gun battle with Russians. It is mainly young boys who cram here, the girls are in the majority, as is so often the case. Almost 250 students learn the language of the former capitalist arch enemy with touching conscientiousness and visible joy. Nobody has to, everyone wants, “it’s heavenly,” says Eka Tochosashvili, the teacher. Opposite is the editorial office of the online newspaper “Pankisi-Times”, also an initiative of the foundation. What she publishes is as pro-western and pro-American as the mood across the country. It is difficult to imagine that an Islamist organization could still successfully recruit fighters here. The Pankisi Valley is well on its way to shedding the shadows of the past.
roddyscottfoundation.org 