- Maria Veniaminovna, tell me about yourself, please.

  Maria: I was born in Tbilisi. My parents’ apartment was right in the center of the city. When the war began, I was 18 ... I realized that I definitely would not stay at home, that I should be there, at the front, by my people! I registered as a volunteer without telling my parents about my decision. When I received a mobilization notice, they were simply shocked. But they couldn't stop me. After training in 1943, we were sent to the front, to the North Caucasus. I was a scout of the 381-th anti-aircraft artillery regiment, and ended the war on the 1st Ukrainian front. You know, the Lord had mercy on me, I came back unharmed, without a single wound! But, you know, there are emotional wounds which can’t be healed ... It was hell on earth.

  - Please, share your memories with us.

  Maria: Well, memories... It hurts to remember all this ... It hurts when people, your comrades, die next to you. Or writhe in pain, of terrible wounds. It’s hard to believe that we went through all this ... I will never forget how our foreman got his arm blown off by a shell, and he was standing right next to me! Death, death everywhere ... The entire Kerch Strait was red with blood. Finally Germans retreated, fled ... The joy of victory is unforgettable!

 - What happened after the war, Maria Veniaminovna?

  Maria: I returned to Tbilisi in April 1944. I got married, gave birth to a daughter ...

I wanted to live like everyone else, to be a good mother and wife. But even then the war took its toll. My husband was our neighbor, a good man. We had known each other for a long time. When he returned from the front, he could not stand everything he had experienced, exactly like me; he started drinking and raising his hand against me. I don’t want to remember what was happening in our family ... And my daughter, my Svetochka, my little flower, my beauty, my porcelain doll with huge eyes, she was born sick. Poliomyelitis - damage of the entire nervous system, unbearable pain in the limbs, fever, vomiting, headache - it was a death sentence! We lost her ... But she is still alive in my heart.

  Maria: My first marriage broke up even before the death of my daughter, if that's what you mean. And in 1954 I met my love! Joseph was an amazing person, an intellectual in his bones! Originally he was from Krasnodar. He went through the labor camps ... Before we met, he had been in exile twice. He was sentenced to 13 years for a bold verse about Stalin. And six month after his release he was sentenced to another six years for unreliability - until Stalin's death. He returned from a place, from where people usually do not return.  In the Republic of Komi ASSR, the air temperature is than 50 degrees below zero for about 200 days a year. First Mishenka was born, then Lenochka ... We were happy together, we lived very well by the standards of that time. My husband had an excellent education and soon he was appointed as a director of a grocery store in Ortachala. My children had all the best things. But Joseph’s health was irrevocably ruined, he died in 1992 from cirrhosis in terrible agony ... It was hard, very hard. And in 2002 I lost my son Mishenka. He was only 45 years old! A healthy young man was burnt to death by bilateral pneumonia. He lived in Petersburg, but I was not allowed to go there. Imagine, I could not even say goodbye to him! I have one daughter, Lenochka, the apple of my eye. She was also seriously ill and she was operated on many times. It was then that we had to sell our apartment ... It's been 18 years since we have been renting a house, only three years ago we got the state pay the rent, and even then not completely ...

  - Don’t you have relatives? Is there absolutely no one to help you?

  Maria: I have nieces in Russia, they call me from time to time, thanks them for that. You know, life is very difficult for everyone now. Everyone thinks how to keep their family. I have a granddaughter too, she is married, and has two little angels. But she and her husband are unemployed, and live in a rented apartment. How can she help us?

– Did you address anybody for help? The local authorities, for instance?

Maria: Oh, for many years my daughter has been knocking at the doors of various authorities! Asked, demanded, begged! Telling them about my service in battle ... Once my husband Joseph managed to get an apartment in the Central Committee. He went to Moscow, sat in the corridor and went on a hunger strike ... Maybe I should also visit the ministry and go on a hunger strike? But this is unlikely to help. We were even denied of getting social allowance!

- Maria Veniaminovna, do you believe in the kindness of strangers?

Maria: Yes, of course! I have lived in this world for almost a century, have seen a lot ... There are different people. Some are good, some are evil, some are envious ill-wishers ... And there are good Christians who always lend their helping hand to neighbor...

- Do you believe in God?

Maria: Are you joking? We, Assyrians, are considered to be the first Christians! Of course, I don’t go to church, I just can’t ... I can hardly hear, I can hardly see, I can hardly move around the house. I’m alone at home almost all day ... My daughter has to work. But, by the way, she always carries small icons in her bag and prays.

- How are you coping alone the whole day? How do you manage to?

  Maria: Six years ago, I fell down at home and broke my ribs, they still hurt. And this year, on April 17, I fell again and broke my hip. I had to be operated on, fortunately it was for free. But the postoperative period cost a lot - 700 GEL. Fortunately, I am quite strong, somehow I managed to handle it. I can move with a stick, but without it I cannot. My neighbor sometimes comes here to warm up dinner for me. Recently I forgot to turn off the gas, I didn’t feel any smells for a long time ... We almost exploded ... It's good that my daughter came home for lunch ...

  - How did you learn about our Fund? Why did you decide to address us?

  Maria: My granddaughter Lolochka learned about you. She saw your posts on social networks and visited your page ... Then she told us that there is a Fund helping those in need. That, perhaps, you will respond to my request and will support me.

  - What did you need most right now?

  Maria: Life is very hard for us. There is not enough money even for medications ... My heart is sick, my blood pressure is spiking. I need pills. Lots of pills. I can't hear very well - I just need a hearing aid. I’m alone at home all day. My daughter worries, because, she can’t call me and talk to me on the phone since I don’t hear!

  – Maria Veniaminovna, what is your biggest dream?

Maria: I do not want to pass away from here, having lost contact with this world, deaf and blind. Vision is okay, at least I have glasses, no matter that they are fixed with an adhesive tape. But hearing! My daughter and I cannot even talk calmly, she has to shout to make me hear... But communication with her is my only joy now!

And I also dream just a small, but our own room. At my age I have to move from one rented apartment to another... We have absolutely nothing left of our own ...

- I am sure that our readers will hear you and help you!

Maria: I am grateful to you even for coming and listening to me... That you showed attention! This already means a lot. May God grant everyone health and a peaceful life!

***

  Maria Arzumanova risked her own life for our sake, friends. War time may seem distant to us, but in fact it was quite recently. Not long ago, blood was shed and people were dying ... Maria returned from the war safe and sound. But here and now, very close to us, she suffers from loss of sight and hearing, she lives in a rented apartment, and no one heeds her requests for help. Doesn’t the state remember her merits? And where are we, friends? We cannot ignore the misfortunes of a person who has put herself at risk for our peaceful life.

  Maria Arzumanova, 97, needs a hearing aid and medications. It is in our power to make her life easier, she has suffered so much, friends.

  You can visit the Arzumanov family in person and provide them with whatever help you can.Their address is:Tbilisi, Moscow Av, 43/3, apartment 18.
  Or you can call Maria and cheer her up with your kind words! Phone: 593 40 51 41.
  Please repost our publication. Let your friends know about the grief of this family! It’s extremely important!

  God gives us chances to care about people who are unable to take care of themselves. Do not pass by someone else's trouble! Those poor people are sent to us by heaven so that we could prove not by words, but in deeds that we trust in God!

  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: Maria Arzumanova)

You can also transfer money from our website.

It is also possible to transfer money from Nova Technology, 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 many disadvantaged people! Let’s support the Arzumanov family too, as no one is immune to bad luck! And who knows, maybe someday we ourselves will need help of strangers!

One call saves life - 0901 200 270.