“I am looking at myself and wondering, why was I born at all? I have not seen anything in my life, except for illness, pain, and hunger ... Mom! It would be better if you had an abortion - you have not seen anything good from my father, right?! Why did you give birth to me, why?” - this is how Mary started our conversation and tears rushed streaming from her eyes.

 “So many problems bother me, I wonder how I am still alive...”

         Coming to this family, it is impossible not to burst into tears at the sight of a helpless mother and daughter; you will certainly want to help and comfort them. One must be a stone if his heart does not ache from Meri's tears and Leila's groans.

           Meri Umekashvili is 34 years old. She has had epilepsy since birth. At the age of 19, her left kidney burst because of an injury, and it had to be amputated. Soon, she was operated on her right kidney. The remaining kidney could not withstand the additional load and now functions only a quarter. Besides that, Meri has hepatitis B and ascites. Her stomach is filled with fluid, which needs to be pumped out periodically. About 7 liters of fluid have accumulated in Mary's stomach now. It is not a baby! This is a deadly fluid that can make this woman suffocate at any moment.

"My body is covered with scars, my stomach is full of water, and my life is full of suffering"

         Once every two months, Meri spends 15 days in hospital. These days are hell for her. Sometimes her mother has no means to take Meri to hospital and pay the remaining part of the amount that is not covered by state. Her mother is sick now - it hasn't even been a month since she had the surgery. They cannot buy medications. Although, what kind of medications can we talk about when the mother and daughter are almost starving.

        Meri: It's been a month since my mother fell ill, and our troubles have multiplied a hundredfold. I still existed somehow hoping for her, and now she needs care herself. We haven't paid rent for two months, if we get kicked out of here, where should we go? We don't even have a chicken coop to hide in.

“How will I live without mom?”

     Leila (Meri’s mother): God knows, I did not hesitate to take any job, I worked hard to buy at least medications for my poor girl. You know, she is constantly under treatment, she needs a lot of medications. But here was the end! The end of my endurance! Do you see, my slashed belly? I had a volvulus. Believe me, there was nothing good inside... I also had a hernia, and a bunch of female problems. I need to be operated on once again. I can’t walk. It is hard for me to get up. We can’t pay rent. What rent can we talk about - today Mary bought two potatoes for the last penny. And fed me. She didn’t eat - she lied to me ... My poor girl, I would not have touched food if I only knew. (Cries).

Two potatoes for mom...

        Meri: Today I ate only garlic. It was the only thing I found. There was not even bread to eat. Mom needs to recover and gain strength - she can’t starve in any way. She has diabetes. If something bad happens to my mom, who will take care of me? I won’t be able to live without mom, what’s the point?

      Leila: Dear, mother should remain hungry and give her part of the food to her child. I will have no rest now!

“What is the point to live if I can’t help my daughter?!”

        - Meri, your situation is quite hard too. You also need to eat.

       Meri: I know that my situation is hard. My suffering is boundless... Is there anything that does not bother me? Sometimes I have epileptic attacks 4-5 times a day.  I have only a quarter of my kidney left. I don’t know for how long it will stand in such conditions. My stomach is full of water. I had to visit doctor last month, but I still did not manage to.

“We have neither food nor medications...”

        Leila: Meri needs water to be pumped out her abdomen urgently. The situation can worsen at every moment and the water will strangle my daughter... It can happen in sleep as well. Meri tries to sleep during the day, so that I could watch her. And she is awake at night.

“I knit at night to stay awake. And I forget about my pain for a while.”

      I have no idea, how we, two women with poor health, can help each other? I don’t know what can save us in such situation... The doctor prescribed us both diet. He told us to eat boiled meat ... I don’t remember even how it smells ... We dream of boiled potatoes and buckwheat ... Our life has never been prosperous, but now you are really our only hope, good people ... Help, unhappy, sick mother, and daughter.

       Meri: Mom's blood sugar rises as well, but we learn about it when they take her to the hospital. We have neither blood sugar monitor, no blood pressure one at home. And she needs both of them like an air.

       - Do you pay rent for this room?

      Leila: We have been living here for two years. There is nothing ours except this iron bed ... While I could work, we still managed to pay rent. For poor people like us it is very hard to pay 300 lari per month. We have not paid for the rent for two months! How would we do it? Our income is a social allowance and Meri’s pension. Bank keeps 100 lari from the pension, due to the loan. We took a loan not for the fun - we needed money for medications and treatment. Our total income is only 295 lari, what can we afford with that money? Medications, food, or maybe paying rent? It won’t be enough even for one single thing. Our landlady told us to move from here. I can understand her - she needs money to keep her family. But we have nowhere to go if me move from here.

“Nothing belongs to us in this house except for this iron bed...”

       - Did you always live in a rented apartment?

       Leila: I had a hard life. I had a house in a countryside which I sold because of Meri’s health condition. I could not take care of such a patient in the countryside anyway. She may need help at any moment, or we might need to urgently rush to the hospital. There in the countryside, she has less chance of survival. That’s why, 16 years ago when she started having problems with her kidneys, we moved to the capital. First, we lived in the garage of the bakery where I used to work. Then we moved to some abandoned house. The owner of the house lived abroad, and the neighbors stored there all kinds of stuff. Everyone took pity on us and allowed us to stay there until the owner came back. The house almost fell apart.

        I put it in order as best as I could. Everyone gave me something - a window, door, bed... Then the owner came back, and we had to look for another home. Since then, we pay rent with the meager pennies we earn with our hard work. Now we don’t have that either. I don’t know what awaits us tomorrow...We will probably perish...

        - Does your husband help you?

        Leila: My husband died seven years ago. But he did not do anything good for us while he was alive. He constantly shouted and violated me... He was chasing us with knives ... After a while we broke up ... I don’t want to recall this ... He is no longer alive, you know?

        Meri: I have not seen anything good from my father, but still he was my father ... When he died, we barely found him in the morgue, after a week - it hurt a lot... by that time, my mother and father no longer lived together. I cried a lot. Then I got sick, and they took me to hospital

       Leila: I have two more children - they live in a village. My older daughter has many children, and she barely makes ends meet. But my poor one, she still helps me. My younger son always helped me until he started having problems.

        He divorced recently. He barely pays child support. He works physically in the countryside - you know how much they pay laborera. They are lucky if they manage to buy bread.

        - Did you address the local authorities?

       Meri: We are not registered in Tbilisi, so we were redirected to our village. But I can’t go there - I can't stand transport. I don’t believe that anyone will take care of us.

        - Meri, I can’t tell you anything about the authorities, but the friends of our Fund will certainly be concerned about your hard situation, and I believe, they will support you. Many times, they managed to save people.

         Leila: Dear, please help my unfortunate daughter! She will not stand it without medications for a long time. She certainly needs to go to the hospital so that they pump out fluid from her abdomen. She sits on a power keg. I beg you, don’t leave us in such a hard time. I will pray for you. And when God takes me ... (cries.) Pity and help us.

***

       Friends, this family is in dire straits, indeed. Meri urgently needs treatment - she will die otherwise! Leila needs examination. If they don’t cover their debt for rent, they will end up in the street! Mother and daughter have no food. If you can visit and do at least something for them, it will be very generous – you know that good is never lost!

        Address of Meri Umekashvili is: Tbilisi, 1/6 Bessarion Chichinadze Street, apartment 4. 

          If you have a heavy heart because of everyday problems or unresolved issues, as a distraction just see our posts on Facebook, or better call any of our beneficiaries, and all your problems will seem unimportant to you, compared with the problems of those to whom you helped in the most difficult moment of their lives.

        Our problems are noting if compared... Here are true misfortunes, in front of your eyes! Just thank the Lord for what you have. You are the happiest person in the world! Remember this and help those in need. 

        Every time you can help someone, just do it and rejoice that God answers someone's prayers through you! We are sure that together we can warm their hearts and give them confidence in the future!

       Please don’t forget to repost our story. Let your friends know about the grief of this family! It’s extremely important! 

      Friends, there is one more request: if you know about the misfortune of a neighbor or friend do a godly deed, drop us an email at: office-fsp@fsp.ge. 

Our Fund’s accounts are: 

#GE15TB7194336080100003

#GE42LB0115113036665000

#GE64BG0000000470458000

(Purpose: The Umekashvili family)

     You can also transfer money from our website 

    It is also possible to transfer money from TBCpay and ExpressPay terminals. Find our Fund under "Charity" section (you can read more about rights and responsibilities of the Fund following the link https://goo.gl/GY2Gus).

     We have already helped thousands of disadvantaged people! Let’s support this family too! And who knows, maybe someday we ourselves will need help of strangers! Life is always unpredictable!

     We have good news: now you can read the stories of our beneficiaries on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chernovetskyi.fund/ and Telegram: https://t.me/ChernovetskyiFund. 

     Even if you dial once this special number, it might save someone's life: 0901200270! God bless you!