Twelve-year-old Erekle is the master of the house. He stands up early (at 8 o’clock), then he sees his mom off to work, then tidies up, and waits for his five-year-old brother Demetre to wake up. This might have been an ordinary story about a single mother and her two sons. Nothing happens when older brother takes care of a younger one. But! Demetre suffers from the severe disease - hydrocephalus. He cannot walk and talk, he cannot eat independently. Not every adult could be able to cope with such a sick child. But twelve-year-old brother manages to do that.

When I asked Erekle for several times whether it was hard for him to take care of his brother, he just smiled and answered me: “No, of course not. How can it be hard to take care of someone you love the most?”

Time, I spent with the boys while we were waiting for their mom passed very quickly. Enchanted, I was listening to this twelve-year-old man. And to be honest I fell in love with him. The girl who will marry him is lucky!

We talked about everything: How it is to take care of the brother alone, about good and evil, about God, friends and future. With each Erekle’s answer, I got more and more amazed. I realized one thing: it’s impossible to become a man - you are just born man.

“He usually wakes up at nine,” says Erekle. – “During this time, I manage to sweep the room and wash the dishes. When this fidget wakes up, he needs all my attention. First of all, I change his diaper, wash him, dress him, pick him up, walk with him around the room, look out of the window. Then he starts to rumble. This means that he is hungry. I have to feed him at ten o’clock. He can’t chew, and I give him liquid food. Mom makes soups for him. I can’t do that yet. I only can fry the most delicious and crisp potatoes for mom. I can teach you! Please sit down and wait for a while. I need to deal with Deme, I think he is thirsty."

"I will never leave you"

And now I will tell you about everything in order.Demetre was born seven months premature. To be honest, he wasn’t a wanted child. His dad was not happy with his wife's second pregnancy. He even offered her to get rid of the child several times. Well, it happens so too. Ketevan did not give up; she gave birth. But she gave it too soon...

"He's even more defenseless than our kitten"

Ketevan: I started giving birth pre-term. Everything went well, but the baby’s lungs did not open. So, he was put on a breathing machine, he spent two months in hospital. I have cried out all my tears then. But my husband did not support me at all.

- Why? Did he not want to accept a sick child?

Ketevan: He did not want to have a second child at all. When Demetre started having health problems, my husband kept repeating: “I told you to get rid of him, I said - you shouldn’t have another baby...” When the baby got really bad, when hydrocephalus developed, I took him to the doctors alone. I went to Tbilisi alone as well.

- Why did you have to go to Tbilisi?

Ketevan: Doctors in Batumi sounded the alarm. The baby felt very bad, his condition was critical... In Tbilisi, in the central children's Iashvili hospital, Deme spent seven months in an intensive care unit. I had nowhere to go, and even if I had a place to stay, I would not be able to be away from my son. For seven months I spent the night in the hospital sitting on chairs. I kept praying. The doctors said that there was almost no chance for him to survive, but I believed that God would not leave us. I went around all the churches, all the graves of the saints... And a miracle happened! I was at the grave of our holy father Gabriel, I prayed to him for the health of my son. At this time, they called me and said that they were disconnecting him from the ventilator, because he started to breathe on his own! Can you imagine that? I went through this hell alone, completely alone.

"Throw him away!" My husband told me. But how?! No mother could do that to a defenseless baby. That’s how helpless he was. No one believed that he would survive

- May I ask you, where the child's father was at that time?

Ketevan: He was at home in Batumi. He never came. When I called him and told him the news that the child got better and we will soon be discharged, he did not even answer. When I came back home from Tbilisi by a minibus with a sick child in my arms, with huge bags, he did not even come to meet us. It was December and there was a terrible, freezing rain. But he said that he was at work and that I could get home by my own. I started to cry... "It’s okay," I said to myself, "we will manage to cope ourselves." On this day, I decided to leave him. They said it would be hard for me to cope alone, that I would not be able to cope with a severely sick child in my arms... But, you know, this was the rightest decision in my life, and I don’t regret.

- How do you live now? How are you coping?

Ketevan: If not for Erekle, I would have died! I would not have coped alone. He’s just a golden child! If not him, I would not be able to work! We simply would not be able to live on social allowance. I am a kindergarten teacher. I leave the house early. Erekle gets up, sees me off, tidies up the house. Then he looks after his brother - he feeds him, changes his clothes, plays with him. When I come late sometimes, he fries potatoes. He says that it is not difficult for him, that everyone would have done this in his place. But do you understand how hard it is for him?

"Everything should be clean and tidy before Deme wakes up"

Erekle: Oh, please, stop - it is not hard at all. The happiest day for me was when my mother told me that I would have a brother soon! Do you know how much I waited for him? Do you know how much I love him? It is not hard to take care of someone you love very much. I have no one dearer than him.

"You are my joy, you are my happiness!"

- Erekle, you are just a wonderful boy! I am sure you have many friends.

Erekle: Sure, I am friends with everyone. Of course, I have close friends, but I love all of them. I have never argued with anyone. We are peaceful guys.

- Probably, you have a girl you are in love with?

Erekle: Oh no, it’s still too early for that. The girl you love needs your attention and gifts. I have neither time nor money for that. When I grow up, I will become a sailor, and when I’ll be back from voyage, then I can think about that. But now it’s too early.

- And why a sailor? Not a captain?

Erekle: I am not a little child - I realize that being a captain of an entire ship is a huge responsibility. What if something goes wrong? Can you imagine how many people I will be responsible for? However, I do not deny anything. Anything can happen.

- I think you are already very responsible. It is a huge responsibility to take care of a little brother.

Erekle: Well, again... It is not responsibility - it is just love. Who if not me? Who will do it better?

“Taking care of a sick brother is not responsibility, but love!”

- Okay, you convinced me. Do you have time left for yourself?

Erekle: It’s a good question. I will tell you. I know how to schedule my day. I know when Demetre is hungry, I know, when it’s time for him to sleep. And my mom is not at work for the whole day. Besides school, I attend rugby classes and English lessons. If you want to control a ship, you should speak foreign languages and you should be strong. Rugby makes your muscles and spirit strong!

“First of all I should change my brother’s diapers.”

“Then I should feed him”

“Than I should take him to the fresh air”

“Then I should entertain him” We are assembling a pyramid. I tell him: “This is red, this is blue...” and it makes him happy”

- How do you imagine your first voyage? What will it be like?

Erekle: Oh, I often think about it. I want it to be in some ocean. And I want to see a whale there!

- In which ocean? There are many of them.

Erekle: Are you kidding? There are only five of them and it does not matter for me in which one. Really.

- Well, you called me on that, I just wanted to check your knowledge. Well, let's just say, these are dreams for the future. What are you dreaming about right now? Is there any dream that can come true right now?

Erekle: Well, if I say that I dream of my own room, of a house, it will not be fair. I know that no one will fulfill this dream for me and that I must make an effort myself - earn money and so on. But now I really want to ... Please, don’t laugh, okay? I want to swim with the dolphins in the dolphinarium. Do you know how cool they are? So, I told you about my cherished dream. Isn't it too weird?

- No, of course not! I - a grown-up woman - dream about that too. It would be cool! I hope that when we’ll have a chat next time you will tell me how it was to swim with the dolphins, was it scary or not.

Erekle: Let's wait and see. The most important thing now is to cure Deme. Mom keeps saving money, but she still does not manage to save enough. He needs to have a tomography. He needs it badly. How can I spend money for my dreams?

Ketevan: That’s how Erekle is deprived of everything. I can’t give him a lot. I can’t give him back even a half of what he does for us. It’s true, that we need money for Demetre’s treatment now. Tomography costs a lot. And the medications he is prescribed are not cheap either. Diapers, food - you know that. Erekle and I are ready to do anything for the sake of the little one.

"When he hums like a kitten, I know he is thirsty."

- Did you address the authorities for help?

Ketevan: Yes, I asked them to help us with getting an apartment. I pay 200 GEL for rent. I was not planning to get it for free, I thought that I would pay these 200 GEL as a mortgage. And leave the apartment for my children. But they said: "No!" Okay... Let's break through! I endured many things and I believe we will manage to handle it. I think that we have already experienced all the bad things, and the good things will still happen in our life. I may not, but Erekle deserves it!

"I don't need anything, please just help my brother"

***

Friends, the life of this family is very hard. Although they try not to get down and to hold on with their last bit of strength, they need our help. They will not survive without a support of good people.

You can visit them. Their address is:  Batumi, 48 Demetre Tavdadebuli Str. Believe me, you will simply fall in love with this family. They do not ask for much: money for the examination of the baby, medications, diapers and a washing machine. And maybe we will manage to fulfill the cherished dream of the little hero - and give him the opportunity to swim with dolphins.

Friends, Chernovetskyi Charity Fund starts charity campaign to help Ketevan and her children.

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. Not all people are the same. Not all of them are as kind as we are. 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 Kutubidze family)

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