Father Giorgi participated in the war in Abkhazia, he developed asthma there. He suffocates, sometimes he cannot take a breath... His little daughters see all this and pray to God asking to save their father... 

“When we can’t buy medications for him, his state gets worse,” - mother Darejan says bitterly. If we buy medications for him our children will be left without food. Such hard choice we have to do every day!” 

- Darejan, tell me your story in order, share your troubles with us.

Darejan: I have no longer the strength to look at the torment of my girls. We are complete beggars... We have no food to give to our children - they are almost starving all the time. They are quite mature, they understand what a difficult situation we are in, they don’t ask for anything - and it hurts me even more. Just look how we live! The house is cold and damp, the floor is earthen, water flows from the ceiling... What can be worse? My husband is in such a condition that it hurts me to look at him! He has been suffering from asthma for 25 years, attacks happen to him more and more often and are getting more severe. Sometimes we call ambulance 2-3 times a day... Kids get scared, they worry so much. What to do, how to help him? The social allowance is so tiny, that it is not enough for both food and medications... The cost of drugs doubled during the pandemic - I just have no idea what to do. They are very expensive, but it’s vital for him. A pitiful amount is left for food, but he won’t survive without medications... Sometimes Giorgi goes to a pharmacy but brings foodstuffs instead of drugs. How it is? To choose between food for the children and medications, which let you stay alive? I dread to think! And what if one day the ambulance will come too late? If father will suffocate to death in front of his children? (The unfortunate woman covers her face with hands in horror)

- How did you find yourself in such a situation?

Darejan: We have always experienced difficulties. But, somehow, we managed to cope. Our house was badly damaged by the explosion in 2008, the windows were knocked out, the walls got askew... We sold it for a pittance, and this shack is all that we managed to buy with the money we got. We hoped we could get it refurbished to have the basic amenities, but nothing worked. 

- It means that you have been living here for long?

Darejan: Yes, for 13 years. We have only two tiny rooms here. We use one of it as a bedroom, and another room as all in one: a kitchen, dining room, bathroom - I bathe children directly here in a plastic washbasin... Actually, we have no bathroom here. And over time, everything fell into disrepair, and we have no funds for renovation.

– What is your income?

Darejan: A social allowance and my husband’s pension, which is barely enough for medications. With the remaining amount I try to buy potatoes and pasta for the next month to avoid starving to death. My husband tries to get some part-time job, but it is hard to find job in the village. You can find only hard physical labor, which is contraindicated for Giorgi - it can kill him. I used to work as a cleaning lady in a canteen, but I had to quit and take care of my children... Oh, that's not what we dreamed about... How could we imagine that there would be no food to give to our children?

– Darejan, how did you meet your husband?

Darejan: I used to live with my sister then, I worked in the canteen, and Giorgi often dropped by there to catch a bite. There we met. We liked each other, and very soon he asked me to become his wife - and I agreed with no hesitation. My heart told me that he was the one, my one and only. We thought that we would manage to get on our feet, to overcome all difficulties ... But his health failed – and he got unemployed... We addressed the local administration for help, asking to repair the roof, but they have only one answer: “There is no money in the budget”

- It means that the state does not help you at all?

Darejan: Just with social allowance and Giorgi’s disability pension - that’s all we managed to achieve. But he developed this terrible disease during the war in Abkhazia! When our soldiers wandered around the forests and fields hungry and freezing, getting soaked in the slush and rain, he caught a cold, and when he returned to Tbilisi, it was already too late to treat him - so he became disabled forever. Besides that, he was wounded during the war and they did not even manage to get the bullet out - so he lives with it. His leg itches to this day, reminding him of those terrible, bloody days...

- And what about your parents or relatives? Do they help you?

Darejan: I became complete orphan 20 years ago. My mother died from cancer and my father had liver disease. I have a sister, but she has children too, her family can barely make ends meet. My husband’s parents live in a barrack next to us. But how can they help us, when they live only on their pension, which is barely enough for medications and food. We should help them and it’s embarrassing that we can’t.

- Do you believe in the kindness of strangers?

Darejan: I do! Our neighbor, a young girl, is a great example. Seeing what a terrible situation we are in, she bothered all her acquaintances, gathered clothes for the children, brought us foodstuffs... You know, I constantly pray and believe, the Lord hears my prayers, because whenever it seems that we’re in a desperate state, suddenly help comes. Someone will bring food, or something for the children. 

- Darejan, do you believe in God? You said that you pray. Probably it is exactly faith and prayers that do not let you fall into despair in such a difficult situation.

Darejan: It’s exactly like that! The prayer instills hope in my heart. I know God will not leave us - all that is just a temporary trial which we must go through. On Sundays, when there is no rain, we together with girls go to the church. They don’t even have warm clothes, that’s why they stay at home when the weather is bad.

- How did the girls manage to study during the pandemic? Did they attend online lessons?

Darejan: They have only one old phone for two of them. They did their best to attend, but you need to pay for the Internet too. When their lessons coincided, they had to miss them. But I hope they will manage to complete this year successfully - they are very smart.

- May I talk to your girls, please? Mariam, let's get acquainted. Would you tell me about yourself? Do you study well?

Mariam (12-year-old): I do my best. But this year I failed. Our phone is very old, Internet does not always work properly... I am so happy that we will go to school soon.

– What is your favorite subject? 

Mariam: English Language. I dream to become a model when I grow up. I will have a lot of beautiful clothes; I will travel a lot and it will be very useful form me to speak English! I want to earn a lot of money and buy my mom, dad, and sisters anything they want.

Manana (10-year-old): And I dream to become a math teacher!

- Your dreams differ so much! Why have you chosen that profession, Manana?

Manana: I love our math teacher very much and I love math too!

- Do you help to your mother, girls?

Manana (10-year-old): Of course, because our little brother is in our mommy’s tummy, she cannot get tired. She worries and cries all the time.

Mariam: We sweep, and wash dishes, and look after Lile (18-month-old). When daddy gets sick, we call the ambulance for him.

- Does you dad get sick often?

Manana: Yes, almost every day. He starts to suffocate, collapses on the sofa, and passes out.

Darejan: The girls see that every day... They already know what to do, they take the phone themselves and call the ambulance.

- Darejan, you have wonderful daughters! You are expecting a boy, don’t you? Have you already chosen a name?

Darejan: Yes, our son will be born in four months. The girls are arguing about his name: Saba or Daniel... The most important thing is that they can’t wait for his birth! They already have a live doll - Lile. They play with her, entertain her when I am busy with housework... And they have been dreaming of a brother for a long time too.

– Darejan, what is your biggest dream? Don’t be surprised - we ask this question to all our beneficiaries.

Darejan: As a loving mother I only dream for my children to be happy and healthy - that is most important. Day and night, I pray for their happy future, for them to get away from this poverty and to get on their feet. They are deprived of anything now. My girls do not have a childhood... (bitterly sighs)

- What do you need first of all?

Darejan: Foodstuffs and medications. The social allowance is sorely lacking to buy both monthly. Every time we face a terrible choice...

- What else would make your life easier?

Darejan: I am embarrassed to bother anybody but since you are asking... I just dream of a washing machine - in my situation it is impossible to wash in a cold water by hand - the tap is outside. I also would like to have a refrigerator. And a computer for my daughters to study. Well, we will be grateful for any help, for any support. Our situation is simply hopeless... I addressed you in despair, with a timid hope that good people would lend a helping hand to my poor children.

***

We met another kind Georgian family, which is in trouble and really needs our support. Parents of little Lile, 10-year-old Manana and 12-year-old Mariam face a terrible choice every day: what to buy food or medications? Their dad defended our homeland, he shed his blood for it, throwing himself in front of a gun, and today he and his family are deprived of absolutely everything. 

The Tsariashvili family lives below the poverty level. They need absolutely everything: foodstuffs, medications, clothes and footwear for children, computer for children to study; a washing machine and fridge would make their life much easier.

You can visit them and provide all possible help to the Tsariashvili family.Their address is:Gori, Mejvriskhevi, barrack #4

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: the Tsariashvili family).

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

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