“It's damp, dark, cold and there is nobody around! As in the forest! If I die, they won't even find me right away! That's the worst thing... God, why did this suffering befall me in my old age?! - laments the poor sick woman, exhausted by many terrible diseases. - I can hardly walk, do you see a prosthesis instead of my leg? And I also broke my arm not long ago!"

Driven to complete despair by loneliness, pain, cold and hunger, this old lady addressed our Fund for help. A timid hope lit up in her wounded soul that her good compatriots would not pass by her misfortune and would lend a helping hand to her.

- Dear Manana, we really want to help you!  What trouble brought you to us?

Manana: Sometimes it seems to me that my whole life is one big misfortune that happened to me. Disease, loss, poverty... Look around, do you see? Yes, I live in the street! My heart bleeds when I think in what a misery I am living out my days! Do I deserve it? I am an old sick woman, I was left homeless when my husband's daughter from his first marriage sold our house. God, I had a lot then... This hut is not registered in the public registry, so I am not allowed to install electricity and gas here, and all the amenities are right in the street. It's impossible to live here, it's dark and scary. It feels like I’m in the forest. But what can we talk about, when there is not even a road here, so if something happens to me, nobody knows when they will find me. So, I'm waiting for my death: I will either freeze to death, or the disease will finish me off.

- Are you sick? Please tell me about your health condition.

Manana: Oh, deep experiences always have consequences. Problems and need have knocked me down, and I feel that my every organ, my whole body suffers. I was operated on my stomach, during the complicated surgery ¾ of my stomach was removed; I suffer pains now, I can eat nothing, my iron-deficiency anaemia has revealed too, I have no strength to walk, I feel terribly weak, I feel dizziness. And my legs? Look, just skin and bones! I have a prosthesis on one leg, and the other one is operated on as well. It seems that soon I will have no strength even to get out of bed. I have a terrible weakness all over my body, I have attacks of terrible pain. I think about the worst, maybe I'm terminally ill? What if it's cancer that eats up my body, and I can't even go to the doctor and get tested? I'll give up soon - I'll lie down and await my death! 

- You say terrible things! But you are not alone, you have a family, don’t you?

Manana: I once had a family, I had hopes and dreams, and certainly it’s not that old age that I used to imagine. My husband and I lived in great need, we survived somehow in the years of poverty and hunger.  I thought that all the worst is over, but it turned out that before I died, I would have to go through all the circles of hell. Although my husband was a difficult man, he became a support for me. When he died, it felt like the earth disappeared beneath my feet, I was left alone with two daughters in my arms.

- Tell me about your children, please.

Manana: It hurts me to see how unhappy and unsettled they are... Nino is 45 years old, she recently underwent series of very complicated stomach surgeries, and her both ovaries were removed as well. My youngest daughter, 34-year-old Anna, does not have the financial opportunity to visit the doctor and find out the cause of the swelling of her whole body, sometimes she is so swollen that it becomes difficult for her to walk... She has two children, but, unfortunately, I can’t see my grandchildren often because of the distance and the pandemic.

- Do your children help you?

Manana: Nino and Anna used to wash dishes in the restaurant, but everything is closed now because of the pandemic, and they are left without work; the monthly social assistance of 200 GEL has also been suspended. How can they help me if they themselves live from hand to mouth? I try to eat less so that I can leave some food to my daughters, and my diet is very modest - porridge and bread with water.

- You have endured a lot, and now you are literally surviving in absolutely unbearable conditions. What helps you not to lose hope?

Manana: I almost lost my faith many years ago when suddenly my 29-year-old brother took his own life. I was blinded by the pain of loss, I could not understand why the Lord allowed such a misfortune to happen! It was then that my path to God began. Through acceptance and humility, I began to comprehend the Almighty and now I address Him, asking him not to let me fall into despair...

- Who are you expecting to help you in such a difficult situation?

Manana: There are many kind and good people in the world, dear, and the story of my survival is an example of this. How would I have survived to this day, if not for the caring people who share food, clothing, firewood, medicine with me, especially in such a difficult time as now? They deprive themselves of everything to help me. May God grant them health!

- Does the state support you in any manner? Did you address the local authorities?

Manana: I have the status of a socially unprotected person, so I get 60 GEL per month. As for the pension, I took a part of it in advance, as I needed money for the operation, now I get 130 GEL monthly. Well, I can say that this money is not enough for anything ... But I am grateful even for that, we are a poor country... I asked them to install electricity here, but as the hut is not registered in the public registry, they refused to. But I do not lose hope that one day I will wake up in a warm bed.

- You can address caring people. What would you ask them for?

Manana: I feel embarrassed of bothering anybody, everyone has their own problems, and not only I need help. So, I will be grateful for any help, food, medications, clothing, firewood... Thanks to those also who really want to help but cannot! Sometimes I imagine turning on the light in my hut and washing myself in hot water! God, how I dream about it!

- Dear Manana, why did you decide to address our Fund?

Manana: I don't know how much I’ve got left, but I am getting weaker. And I'm afraid this winter will be my last one. During long sleepless nights, numb from the cold, I ask God to allow me to live a little longer, just not to die of cold or hunger. And you are my last hope. Please save me!

***

Old lady Manana lives in unbearable conditions, she survives every day, trying not to starve or freeze to death. It is so hard seeing how an old woman suffers from pain, how she literally lives in the street and begs for a hot meal. She is in dire need of our help: maybe someone can help her to register her hut and install electricity there. She also needs food, medications, firewood.

Please do not pass by the misfortune of this person! Because one day we will get old too, and nobody knows what awaits us then! This long-suffering old lady dreams of having hot food and going to a warm bed. All together we can give her this miracle!

  You can visit missis Manana yourself and provide her with all possible help at: Tbilisi, Avchala, 10A Libani Str (the hut is located uphill) Or you can call her and cheer her up with your kind words! Phone: 557 37 87 66.

  Please repost our publication. 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: Manana Kokoshvili)

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 help Manana Kokoshvili too, as no one is immune to bad luck! And who knows, maybe someday we ourselves will need the help of strangers!

One call saves life - 0901 200 270.