I WILL STILL BECOME A SCAVENGER. NOTHING GOOD WILL HAPPEN IN MY LIFE!
I WILL STILL BECOME A SCAVENGER. NOTHING GOOD WILL HAPPEN IN MY LIFE!
REPOST RIGHT AWAY, MY GOOD MAN! HELP YOUR FRIENDS TO GET CLOSER TO THE WORK OF MERCY!
Lena did not know that one can lose health in one day
“Dad does not care that I live on 1 lari and 30 tetri a day. He promised to always be with me, but he left me and my mother,” - says Alex. – “I haven't come up yet with how to save my family. But I can quit school after 9th grade and become a scavenger.”
His mom Elena, young and beautiful, got suddenly paralyzed by two microstrokes. She can't work. His grandmother has senile dementia and heart attacks. The ambulances come to her all the time. Alex doesn't think life is great. Water just drips from a single tap in the kitchen, and it takes ages to fill at least a glass with water. The shelves of the cupboards are empty - they already sold everything. The neighbors bring them food. Is anything beautiful about it? He got confused, lost hope.
It is scary when a child loses all his dreams. Alex knows history, loves German language. He's going to be a scavenger. He is sure that all good things are not for him. He thinks that life will continue to beat him, and his place is by the garbage cans. It will become a reality if we don’t help him.
- Lena, how did it happen to you, why? A young woman had two strokes, it's scary...
Lena: I lost my job and was very stressed out. I got retrenched during covid. I had a stroke twice in a row, it was scary. My entire left side got paralyzed - an arm and a leg. I was like a rag. It’s terrible. I weighed 48 kilos. I started looking like an old woman. When they brought me and Alex to the shelter in Gori, everyone thought that I was 60 years old, but I was not even 40. Human being is so fragile. Just one second - and you lose your health.
- To the shelter?
Lena: Yes, I couldn't take care of myself. And there they took care of me and the child, treated me. They gave us food, they taught me to walk again. My sick aunt was left alone in a Tbilisi apartment. It is very hard when you lose a good job and find yourself in a state when you cannot buy even bread. I was an assistant cook at the Amra restaurant. I cooked cold dishes, khachapuri and kubdari. We didn't go hungry. I could bring home food and money. And now we only eat potatoes. I'm very sorry for my son. I was happy that I could provide for him, I was sure that I would put him on his feet. He also did not expect that I would get sick, and we would live in such need. I coped, slaved.
The house is empty, there is nothing to sell!
I did not want things to go like this. I thought I could raise him. Now I can’t stand working in the kitchen anymore, my leg won’t let me stand for so long. And my left hand is weak. I'm afraid to have a stroke again. I won’t be physically able to work for 12 hours. Why did this happen to me? (Wipes away tears.) I had to keep working, I couldn't get sick. My child has no one else.
- What about Alex's dad?
Lena: In 11 years, he saw him once. If I have another stroke and become disabled or die, who will take care of my son? This scares me… Aunt Sveta doesn’t recognize me, she calls me by a different name, she is like a little child. Now I stop myself when I start getting nervous. I say to myself: “Lena, look, don’t leave you child alone.” He does not have a “patron” (a person who will take care of him. – translation from Georgian).
I'm embarrassed to say that, but my relatives don't need me. My cousin lives nearby in a new building. I called her on the intercom: "Maka, it's me." When she heard my voice, she just hung up. It hurt my feelings. My late mother would be very sad to know that she did not support me. We used to communicate normally when I had no problems.
Neighbors, though are not our relatives, take care of us more. They bring us lunch, offer to pick up laundry. You can’t wash at our home - it’s good if you manage collect water for tea drop by drop. We have plumbing done in the last century. I have good neighbors - they are not indifferent.
The toilet is dry - the tap has not been working for many years
"Cooker" on a stool!
There is nothing to prepare food with...
Lunch that neighbors brough is in a pot at the balcony. But it will be impossible to save it like this in summer
Aunt Svetlana calls from her bed: Ninel, Ninel! You didn't give me food today!
Elena: Aunt, you have eaten recently.
Svetlana: Ninel, let me eat! I am hungry. You eat what you want, but you don't give it to me.
Elena: Wait, I'll give her some bread.
(Comes back from the kitchen.)
If only our turn to the social canteen would come sooner - there are still three months left to wait. My aunt has severe sclerosis, she is always hungry. I would be able to give her at least something.
Aunt Sveta has dementia and a sick heart. She's been down for a long time.
She needs serious medications, there is a list for 300-400 GEL. My biggest fear is that my aunt might have an attack of cardiac asthma. I only have Corvalol. Yesterday I took a nap, and she began to choke. I kept her with Corvalol until the ambulance arrived. They wanted to take her to the hospital, but I refused. My aunt has no social allowance, and we had to pay ourselves. But I can't pay. She was diagnosed with stable angina. I am a nervous wreck because we have no medications.
“Nineli, give me some heart pills”
- Your aunt calls you Ninel.
Elena: She thinks, I am her sister. My mother's name was Ninel. She used to live here. We got this flat from her.
My aunt, in a way, is a sort of being lucky - she does not realize what we eat. She can eat bread and think it's cake. My boy, you know what he does? He sprinkles salt and sugar on the onion and eats that. It tastes good to him now.
Aunt needs heavy-duty meds, and they only have Corvalol at home
- It should be hard to eat whatever when you know how to cook well?
Elena: I have dreamed of becoming a chef since childhood. It's all over now... I was good at tastes. What happy years I had in the restaurant working in the kitchen. I could not even imagine that my son and I would have to switch to canteen gruel? The truth is that no one knows what awaits him. I worked, looked good, not like now - like a scarecrow.
- Don't talk about yourself like that.
Elena: Why? I was beautiful when I met my future husband. I walked in the park with a dog, he could not pass me by. He romanced me, was delicate, gave me flowers, perfumes. He wanted to do everything for me. He asked my mother for my hand, blushed ... He was so good, I want to cry when I recall that.
(Alex suddenly interrupts the conversation.)
Alex: Stop recalling him. He forgot about us.
- Do you have a grudge against your father, Alex?
Alex (13-year-old): Of course, I have a grudge against him. He treated us badly. He throws 50 lari a month in alimony. And he doesn't want to know anything about me. He doesn't need me. At first, he said that we would see each other often. I was waiting for him. Now I stopped waiting for him. He lied to me.
Alex saw his dad only once in 11 years.
– What if he reads our post about how bad you feel and decides to help you?
Alex: I don't know... Why is he doing this? How can you do this to your child? Doesn't he know that you can't live on 1 lari and 30 tetri a day? I know it very well. I don’t ask my mother for cheese and meat. And chips and cola. Though, I really want it. I remember how delicious it is. But now we live bad. They give us social allowance of 220 lari and a pension for grandmother Sveta. Poor grandmother Sveta, she is sick. I tell my mother: "I will quit school and start working." I would buy something tasty for my mother and grandmother Sveta.
Alex studies sitting on the bed. He does not have his own table, where you can sit normally. In the same room, aunt Sveta speaks loudly to herself
- Where do you think to work?
Alex: On a garbage truck.
- Do you really want that?
Alex: It does not matter what I want. It doesn't work out the way you want. Maybe I want to become a cook, like my mother. I cook when my mother and grandmother are sick or a historian. I love history, I really do. But I'll still be a scavenger. Life is a very hard thing. I have seen a lot of bad things.
It hurts Lena to listen to her son. Mom so wants him to learn, live well
– Alex, it’s hard to hear these words from a child. But all our readers must read them to know the truth. And maybe together we can change something.
Elena: I really hope on you!
- What kind of help do you need first of all Lena?
Elena: Food and medications come first for us. See the rest for yourself. There's nothing here. Lunch is in a pot on the balcony floor. We live without a refrigerator. We wash clothes at the neighbors. It's embarrassing, but what else to do? I cook on a stool, squatting next to it. That’s a “cooker” I have. There is no water in the entire house... There are so many problems.
Bare light bulbs hang on black rotten wires here
The cabinet is almost falling apart – the doors constantly fall off
Alex: Please, help my mom if you can. She needs to heal her leg.
- We'll talk about that too. Lena, if you could change your life, what would you change in it?
Elena: Nothing. Only the Lord decides what tests to give us. If I live in poverty and sickness, is this a test to see if I will become a bad person? Will I do something terrible? It's hard, I really want to cry. And I cry. But you have to be patient. The dark time will pass with God's help. I hope that it will pass since you have appeared.
***
When you are a single mother, you have no right to get sick. You have one fear - to have enough time to raise your child. Elena spared no effort for work and was very worried when she lost it. In one day, her health has gone. This can happen to any single mom in Georgia. When you do everything alone and you fizzle out... When there is no help.
This little family depends on our mercy, on our kindness. Let their dark time end. You can personally visit Popov’s family and help them. Their address is: Tbilisi, 116 Gorgasali Str.
Every time you can help someone, just do it, and rejoice that God answers someone's prayers through you!
Let’s show our mercy and make them believe that miracles happen, that they can live in a warm and cozy home and have a lot of food! They believe in us. Don’t let them down. Show them what generous people live in Georgia
We are sure that all together we will manage to give them unforgettable moments.
Please 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 Popov family).
You can also transfer money from our website.
It is also possible to transfer money from TBCpay and ExpressPay terminals. Find our Fund under "Charity" section (You can read more about rights and responsibilities of the Fund following the linkhttps://goo.gl/GY2Gus).
We have already helped thousands of disadvantaged people! Let’s support this family too! And who knows, maybe someday we ourselves will need help of strangers! Life is always unpredictable!
We have good news for you - now you can read the stories of our beneficiaries on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/chernovetskyi.fund/ and Telegram: https://t.me/ChernovetskyiFund.
Even if you dial once this special number, it might save someone's life: 0901 200 270! God bless you!
