Look at these faces, dear friends! These are children of our Georgia...! These are our children and they are not to blame that they have such a life! These angels deserve much more attention and a much better life! But ... Soulless officials do not understand this! 

We can and must understand the grief of our children who are on the verge of survival! After all, "there is no such a notion as other people's children"! Or not? 

There are four children in Banetishvili family, two of whom suffer from serious and incurable diseases. 12-year old Merab was born mentally retarded, and 5-year old Khatuna was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. Six people are crammed into two tiny rooms, cold and damp; the furniture is dilapidated, and mold has appeared on the walls… 

The father of the family is a handyman, but he cannot find a permanent job. When something turns up, there is a real holiday in th family, as the kids will be able to eat thanks to the small money earned by their dad. But it happens so rarely! The children are mostly malnourished, deprived of medical treatment and special education. 

Dear friends, in restaurants tables are bursting with dishes, tons of half-eaten products are thrown to scrapyard, and somewhere near there are families for whom bread and butter or vegetable pilaf is the ultimate dream.   

We talked to Zina Banetishvili about the difficulties they were facing. 

- Tell us about a typical morning in your family?   

Zina: First, we are grateful to the Chernovetsky Fund for being interested in us. Well, our mornings are all alike: my husband gets up at 5 o'clock and goes to the station or to some construction site in the hope that at least some one-time work will turn up. Then my 2-year-old son wakes up, and then the other children. Often in the morning Khatuna has seizures, she cannot control her movements and falls into hysterics. My Lord, how painful it is for me to see her and feel her suffering?! 14-year old daughter Nino is very helpful. She is my right hand. Unfortunately, she often has to skip school to help me taking care of the little children. 

- What do you do for living? 

Zina: The children's pension and the pennies earned by my husband: that's all the income. This is good to have even such small money, as Khatuna's regular medical surveys cost 200 lari per month. But we lack money for the treatment of Merab. Thanks God that his mental weakness is not expressed in the most serious form, he even helps "to calm down" his little sister, but it does not mean that the child does not in need any treatment. My heart bleeds when I realize my helplessness with them.

- Does anyone help you? Did any representatives of the authorities or other charitable foundations visit you? 

Zina: No, no one has ever been interested in us, except your Fund.

- And have you addressed the mayor or the Deputy for whom you voted? Who are they? Tell us their names, and we will write them that it is their duty and they swore about it in the Constitution of Georgia that they are obliged to take care of their compatriots in districts from which they received the power and privileges!

- There must be some programs dealing with SPECIAL children. Have you made any inquiries? Have you applied anywhere about this?

Zina: We are ordinary people; we have no information on this. I heard that there is a special school for children with problems, but it is paid. I cannot afford the school. 

- Does your family ever starve? 

Zina: I will not lie: we are not starving in the literal sense, but the children are constantly malnourished, they do not have nutritious food. Bread, watery soup, beans, cheap margarine – that's our food. 

- Are you scared with the idea to give birth to another child after Hatuna? 

Zina:  Very scared. What if there will be something wrong with him too? Will we be able to survive this? With God's help, it has ended well. Our son Roin is a real angel. He became our reward for all the suffering. And I'm thinking about the future as well. I am grateful to the Lord that Khatuna and Merab will always have a sister and a brother.

- You are a believer and therefore you do not despair. Do you have any cherished dream that you ask God for? 

- Every night before going to bed, I stand at the icons and pray to God for the well-being and health of my children, I pray to God for all those children who suffer from disease and hunger. Of course, I pray to Him that people treat each other with more kindness, understanding, sympathy; every time, in a difficult moment people have extended me a helping hand!..

Friends, well, we introduced you to another distressed family. Oh, how many such families there are in today's Georgia! The specific feature of our situation is that we are taking care of a large group of families on the verge. They are either above the poverty line or just below it. But if the state and the public do not support such families, the social bottom can gradually be formed, because children from poor families do not have a basis for normal life... Therefore, the country will have no future! 

Dear friends, we are always in search of good hearts, which the Lord himself is looking for – and this is our main task – to serve him! And the Fund will do its job! 

At this stage, they are in extreme need for food, hygiene products, medicines, furniture, kitchen utensils and bed linen. 

Our account: GE15TB7194336080100003 or GE64BG0000000470458000 (purpose: Banetishvili family). You can also deposit funds through our website. 

You can as well transfer money through NovaTechnology, TBCpay and ExpressPay terminals. Find our Fund in "Charity" section. (You can learn about the ways of payment by following the link https://goo.gl/GY2Gus). 

Kindness always irradiates warmth and joy; it warms up human souls and hearts! May the hand of him who gives never become empty!