It is very difficult to describe the life of this family because it is impossible to single out just one problem - every day becomes a trial for them, test how strong and durable they are. Before meeting them, I was worrying how to communicate with them, what to talk about, how to ask questions, which are probably hard for them to answer. But right at the entrance I realized that I found yourself in a magical, wonderful world, and it is this world that I will try to disclose to you too. 

Maya is blind since birth. Her mother left the girl in the orphanage - the mother, who was supposed to become the girl’s guide in the world of sighted people, abandoned the girl to her fate. But we are not speaking about that now. 

“You know, I am grateful to her.  If not for her I would never have met the love of my life - Zura,”- says Maya and tenderly takes her husband’s hand. That’s how they see each other - through touching each other, through voice and hugs. They even look at each other with love.

- Maya, how did you meet each other? How is it possible to fall in love with a person you never saw?

Maya: I will ask you the question back. How is it possible to love God? Have you ever seen Him? I learned at a boarding school for blind children, and they brought Zura there. A tragedy happened to him - boys were playing with a shotgun and accidentally shot him into his face. When I heard his voice for the first time my heart began beating so fast... Since then I started searching for his voice everywhere, it sounded so sweet. Then we got acquainted. When we shook our hands, we realized that we found each other, we realized that together it would be easier for us to withstand the hardships of life, and we decided to start a family. We are together for 35 years.

- When you learnt about your pregnancy, were you worried?

Maya: We were very much worried, and we prayed for our baby not to inherit our terrible disease. Fortunately, Tinatin was born perfectly healthy, and she can see. It was quite difficult for us to raise a child! Imagine for a second how it feels to cook food, feed the baby, bathe her, change her clothes, wash, and iron the laundry when you are in complete darkness. But together we managed to cope. And now our Tinatin takes care of us, she is our support, our eyes, our ears, and feet... It would be very difficult for us to cope without her.

Then Mariam, Salome and Ketevan were born, but unfortunately, they inherited our problems with vision. Girls were operated on and since then they manage to distinguish shapes, they can draw and write. Mariam and Ketevan go to school for blind children and they study very well! Salome can see with one eye and she goes to a regular school. The eldest - Tinatin - takes care of the younger sisters, helps us, her blind parents, and manages to do sports. She’s very smart. 

- And what about Giorgi? 

Maya: Giorgi is our long-awaited son! He brought a lot of joy to our family! He is a gift for us! Is not he cute? We and his sisters can’t stop caressing him!

- Maya, I suppose that you addressed the Fund not because your life is too good. It is difficult for everyone now to find job and keep family, and you... 

Maya: Don’t be embarrassed - call things what they are. It’s a hard time even for sighted people, and even more – for the blind. Our only income is disability pension and social allowance. But we don’t get it completely - we took a bank loan for surgeries and treatment of our children, and now we are paying it off. Our monthly income is about 600 GEL. Do you think it’s possible to live on this amount?

- How do you manage to survive?

Maya: Before the pandemic, before the city transport was stopped, I and Zura used to sing in a subway. It was hard for me to dare to do this, but you know, we were earning money by our work and we should not be embarrassed by that. I thought it would have been a big blow for our children to know that their mother was singing in the subway, but, you know, they supported me very much. My eldest daughter said that everyone should hear my voice. And Salome says that she is proud of us, that she, will do everything she can for her children as well. 

- You are very happy parents!

Maya: Children are happiness and a priceless gift from God, but now, our situation is simply catastrophic! Our tiny social allowance is enough for nothing: either food or medicine. And if children do not take the necessary medications regularly, their eyesight can get irreparably impaired! We don’t have our own housing, so we rent an apartment at the outskirts of Tbilisi. We can’t heat our room properly – it is impossible to heat it with only love.

Giorgi (5-year-old): I love to warm everyone! I hug my mom and dad, and my sisters hug me. 

 You are so friendly?

Giorgi:- No! We are just “huggy”! Tiko tells me I am handsome! I will become a Spiderman when I grow up!

Salome (11-year-old): He only wants to hug and play! He needs to go to a kindergarten because he gets bored here. What can he do at home? He watches cartoons all day long... And I like studying. I miss school. 

- You love studying? What is your favorite subject?

Salome: All of them are my favorite! I participate in Olympiads! I’ve got 100 points out of 100 at Math, and 95 in Georgian Language. Mom is so proud of me!

Keti (9-year-old): I will become a painter! Most of all I like to draw! I don’t see well, but Salome says I am good at drawing. She also tells us how beautiful we are! Her one eye sees better than all ours together! Mariam can’t see well either - but look what beautiful things she makes! Touch it and you will see!

- Mariam, what about you? What do you like doing? Have you already decided what do you want to become?

Mariam (19-year-old): This year I will graduated from school and I am planning to enter Philological Faculty. I am very fond of sculpting, they say I am good at it, but I don’t know. Do you like it? 

- I like it very much! Have you ever thought about selling your arts? 

Mariam: Clay and beads are very expensive. My parents can buy them for me just occasionally ... For my birthday, for instance. But if there were materials ...

- Maya, what do you need now most of all? How can we help you?

Maya: Our situation is simply hopeless, otherwise I would have never bothered anyone ... We will be grateful for any help. Children have nothing, they are constantly malnourished - my soul hurts ... You see for yourself how we live. I really need a washing machine, this one has completely gone out of order, and washing by hand is a real torment for me because I can almost see nothing. If there were some extra beds and a normal table - it would be great. Our fridge went out of order too - if I cook soup, for instance, it gets spoiled next day. My situation makes any housework, even the easiest one, a thousand times harder and much more time-consuming...

 I am so grateful for your empathy, for coming and listening to me... The most important thing in life - is the relationship between people, the love of others. May God bless you for your kindness!

***

 As it said in a Holy Book, "He who has ears of the heart to hear, let him hear, he who has soul - let him help others!" We also should see this story and this pain with our hearts! There is no other way. 

The situation of the Kavelashvili family is just terrible! The parents - Maya and Zura - are disabled, they can’t work, they have no housing of their own and they live in rented apartments. The family lives in poverty, fighting for survival, they have gone through so much pain and sorrow ... And they simply need our support now!

 These wonderful people are in dire need of foodstuffs, basic furniture, and appliances: beds, table, refrigerator, washing machine.

 You can visit them and provide all possible help to the Kavelashvili family.Their address is:Tbilisi, Varketili, 5th Microdistrict, building 2, 2nd entrance, Apartment 33.

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 Kavelashvili 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 Kavelashvili 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.