- A four-year-old boy whispers pitifully and starts crying. Tears run down his cheeks. In the boy’s eyes, one can see such immense suffering and grief that it hurts even to look at it!

“Don’t cry. You know, there is no food, it's over. Hang in there a little bit, okay? And then we will give you yummies,”- his older sisters try to comfort their little brother. But the child cannot stop crying, tears keep pouring from his eyes. He is hungry... He does not yet realize that life is full of troubles. Yes, he should not at such a young age think about where to get food!

This story is not about the starving children of Africa. These are the realities of modern Georgia. How is it possible that such things happen in our country?  

There are five children in the Matsonadze family: Lika (15-year-old), Lizi (14-year-old), Mariam (12-year-old), Irma (7-year-old), and Ivane (4-year-old). They don't dream of new toys or good marks at school. Everything is much more simple in their case - these children dream of food! They survive every day! For several months now, a large family has almost nothing to eat.

Irina Matsonadze, one raising five children, admits with tears that she can no longer stand the lack of food and constant hunger. A poor woman addressed our Fund hoping that caring people would help her children.

Dear friends, the Matsonadze family is in dire need of foodstuffs and your empathy!

- Irina, could you please tell me what made you address our Fund?

Irina: My children are starving! The lack of food is our main problem. I have five kids and I raise them alone. I have been trying to cope with problems for four years now. But there are more and more of them. We live in difficult conditions! But you forget about the troubles and bad conditions when your children are starving. Sometimes there's not a scrap of food in the house. And the children are hungry... The elders understand this, but Ivane, he is still a baby, he cries when he is hungry. But it happens that I have not even a piece of bread to give him... I try to hold on for the sake of my children, I try not to give up ... But I well understand that I will not be able to cope with all the hardships alone.

- Is this your home or you rent it?

Irina: It is not ours, we rent it. I pay 150 GEL per month for this house, plus utility bills. There are absolutely no conditions for a normal existence here... 

- How did you find yourself here?

Irina: Four years ago, I divorced my husband - I had a profound reason for that. It's hard for me to remember those days ... My husband started drinking, became addicted to alcohol, and raised his hand against us. Once he got so drunk that he almost killed me. The children got scared, and my Lizi, who was only ten years old then... Oh my God! My poor girl decided to defend me. And my ex-husband beat our daughter so badly for this, hitting her directly in the head... It hurts to recall that! (Cries.) It still hurts...

- And you divorced...

Irina: Yes, the same day! I packed my things, took the children, and left him. We lived in a shelter for six months. All employees of the shelter helped us a lot. And Lizi has been visiting a psychologist all these six months. She was stressed. She was afraid even to leave the room, she did not speak...  She is still a little bit stressed. After the shelter, we moved to my mother’s place. But there was a little space, it was hard to live there. And I decided to rent this house.

- How did you meet your husband?

Irina: Friends brought us together. We immediately liked each other. Revaz romanced me, he was so courteous. Then we got married. At first, everything went well, we understood each other, he helped me with everything. But suddenly at some point, he became a different person. Sometimes I think that he just played the role of a good husband in front of me. Or maybe alcohol really changed him so much? I don’t know! Revaz spent two years in prison for beating our daughter.

- What do you live on now? What is your income?

Irina: We get a social allowance - 400 GEL and food coupons for children - 150 GEL. This is our whole income.

- What that money is enough for?

Irina: Almost for nothing. We have to pay for this house, plus utility bills. I have five children who need a lot of things. But you forget about everything when you have nothing to eat, when you starve all day. And the worst thing is to see your children starving are crying because they are hungry.

- What do your children eat?

Irina: Soups and cereals. I weigh each gram, count it so that it will be enough for the next day. It's horrible! And sometimes we have absolutely no food at home! Sometimes bread and tea are our entire daily diet.

- Does any of your relatives help you?

Irina: No, unfortunately. Everyone has their own problems, their own worries. My brothers and sisters give us some foodstuffs whenever they can. My mom is a pensioner, she barely survives. And dad has been dead for a couple of years. My children and I are all alone...

- Did you address the local authorities for help?

Irina: I addressed them many times but with no result. They refuse all the time - they say that there is no money in the budget to help us. So, I addressed your Fund. I have no one else to ask for help! You are my last hope!

- What particular help do you need at the moment?

Irina: We don't have enough food! This is the most important thing my children need now! If you can help us with food, you will make us very happy!

- What do you need for your home?

Irina: We don’t have enough beds. And those that we have are falling apart. Now six of us sleep on two beds. We barely fit, but there is no other way. I can’t let children sleep on the floor. We don’t have water in the house but there is a well in the yard, so we collect water there and bring it to the kitchen. We really need a fridge. We have no place to store the food that I cook. If it turns sour, we will have nothing to eat. It happened several times when the food got rotten, and we had to throw it away and starve for several days. If not for our neighbors and relatives who used to help us then, we would have starved to death.

We also need a washing machine. Now I wash laundry with my hands in cold water. You have plenty of laundries when there are so many children in a family. My girls are trying to help me, but I don’t want them to powder wash with their young hands...

- Could you please tell me about your children?

Irina: Lika is grown up, she loves drawing. She and two other older girls - Lizi and Mariam - help me a lot around the house. Washing, cleaning, cooking - they are not lazy, they take on everything. If not for them, I probably would not have time for anything around the house. Girls attend dance classes, participate in competitions. The youngest daughter Irma plays with her brother all the time, entertains him. This is a huge help for me. I really want my children to have a normal childhood! And I cannot buy even the most basic things for them. I don’t even remember the last time I bought sweets or anything tasty for my children.  My heart hurts from refusing them everything. My older children are quite grown-up they understand everything. But I can’t explain to Ivane why there is no food. He is just a baby, and he is shy. When I say that I have no money to buy foodstuffs and cook dinner he starts crying. These tears just kill me!

-May I talk to you children now? Lika, could you tell me about yourself? What do you like? What are you dreaming about?

Lika: Most of all I want everything to be good with us! It's very hard for our mom. She tries to hide her tears from us, but I often see her crying. I really want my mother to smile more often!

- What do you want for yourself?

Lika: I have ambitious plans - I want to achieve a lot in my life so that I will never live in need. I dream to become a stylist. I watch various videos, read books about that - I do my best to develop. I like to do makeup, hair style. I hope I will succeed.

- I am sure, you will manage to make your dream come true. I wish you all the best from the bottom of my heart. And what about you, Lizi? What do you want to become?

Lizi: I want to become a cook. I love to cook when we have foodstuffs at home. But unfortunately, I don't often get the opportunity to cook ... Sometimes we have only bread and water at home, that’s what we eat. And I really want to become a cook and then I will prepare unusual and most delicious dishes for my sisters and brother!

- What dishes are your favorite to make?

Lizi: They say, I make really delicious salads. Mom always praises me, and my sisters always tell me that I am a good cook. I am especially good at making Russian beetroot salad.

Irma: I like everything that Lizi cooks. She is a very good cook! She is as good as my mommy!

- Baby, what yummies do you love the most?

Irma: Chocolate. But I haven't eaten it for so long! When I grow up and have a lot of money, I will buy a lot, a lot of chocolate and eat it every day!

Mariam: And I will buy a lot of sausage and sour cream. And khinkali as well. It's so delicious! 

- Irina, you have wonderful children! God bless them! Do you believe in the kindness of strangers?

Irina: Yes, of course! I know that there are kind people, and I believe that they can help us. I often read stories on your site and see how you and all kind people help families like ours. This gives me hope that my children will not remain hungry and will feel happy of the attention that you give!

***

Friends, we will not leave the children of the Matsonadze family! We have no moral right not to help these unfortunate children! Let's pray for this family, let’s ask the Lord to change their lives for the better!

The Matsonadze family needs a lot of things. But first of all, they urgently need food. Let’s help them to survive!

You can visit the Matsonadze family in person and provide them all possible help. Their address is: Kareli, 1 Mgaloblishvili Str.

Don’t forget to repost our story. 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: the Matsonadze 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).

One call saves life - 0901 200 270.