“We have to be strong so that no one can offend us,” says eight-year-old Meri, putting on her wrestling uniform. “Let everyone know that we are not to be trifled with!”

Ieso (11-year-old): They try to offend us! We recently played football, and the boys showed me and my friend the middle finger. Mom will probably get upset by what I will say now, but I did beat them up. It was a lesson to them how to behave decently! Girls were there! How can you behave like this in front of girls?

“No one has the right to offend children, even if they are from a poor family” 

Ieso: No! First, I try to explain everything with words. And then, if they continue to be rude, they get their lumps.

Meri (8-year-old): I can stand up by myself for whoever you want! Do you think I went to the wrestling because of my brothers? No! It was I who first decided to enroll, and then they followed me, they were afraid that I would beat them all!

Ioane (13-year-old): Yes, she is right about one thing only. She was the first who decided to go to the wrestling. And then my mother enrolled us to the sport. I wanted to go to rugby, but it's very expensive.

“If dad was alive, he would be so proud of me”

Meri: Look, only I have a medal and diplomas! And they don't. Oh, if only dad was alive, how happy he would be. 

Ieso: This is because I want to go to football. I will become a football player, you will see! All the diplomas will be mine.

Ieso: Do you know how much it costs? One million two hundred thousand! And the wrestling costs less. It’s not very cheap but still costs less.

Anzori (9-year-old): I really want to play chess! But I also go to wrestling! If dad was alive, he would certainly enroll me to chess. 

“It was I who first came up with the idea of going to the wrestling, and my brothers followed me. I'm the coolest here!"

And these are Meri's diplomas. “There will be so many that there won’t be enough walls,” says Meri

Meri: Yes! And I'm the strongest in the group! I trained only for two weeks, and then there was a competition. I told my teacher that I wanted to try. And I won second place!

Nino: My husband died five years ago. He worked in the forest, sawing firewood, and a tree fell on him. He was in a coma for 18 days, and then died in the hospital without regaining consciousness. 

We miss him so much. It is so hard for us without him. Children ask me all the time: “Would dad like it? Would he be happy? Would he be proud of us?” They are so good. They study well, go to sports. They also want to go to football, rugby and chess, but I can’t allow everything together. I can only manage to send one child to the training camp. 

“If dad sees us, he must be proud”

Nino: Our income is an allowance of 760 lari and an orphanage pension of 400 lari. we don't pay anything for judo and have uniforms for free. We save money for orphanhood only for the development of children. I tell them: “It’s like dad is paying.” Now all the children from school went on an excursion, but I couldn’t let my children go. I had to pay 60 GEL, but I couldn't. They would be left without food.

Nino: Only for pasta and fat. For utilities. It's also good that we take lunch at the social canteen. Fortunately, we don't have to pay rent. Despite my poor health, I go out to day jobs. Sometimes I earn 20-30 GEL per day. I’ll clean someone’s garden, or I’ll work in the vineyard.

Nino: I have water in my lungs. I was operated on several times. They say it's a tumor. But they don’t recommend removing it. And I can’t go to the scheduled examinations. Spending money on transport and doctors for people like us is an unaffordable luxury. I can't even buy basic things for my kids. Look where my kids sleep...

How can a mother and four children fit in two beds? Can you imagine that?

Anzori: Oh, this is just terrible! We sleep on the same bed. On one side, the springs dig into me, and on the other side, my brother pushes me. Give me a bed! Please!

Meri: And I don't need a bed! I am a fighter! I can endure pain. And I also want to be a singer.

Meri: I'm good at everything. I'm a girl.

Ioane: No matter how odd it is - girls are actually cooler than boys. You know, in our group, one girl fights the best, and the best student in the class is a girl. And the most beautiful one is also a girl. And I like her. Just dare to say her name. (He threatened his brothers.)

“Mom works a lot, and she often feels bad. We all need to help her. She can’t wash in cold water for sure.”

Nino: I would be grateful for any help, but I don’t even dare to ask for a washing machine. I have never had such an expensive item. But with my health condition it is very difficult to keep children clean. We also need a phone, at least one. May I address all Georgians? I know a lot of people read your posts. 

Despite poor health, Nino tries to keep her home clean. 

Nino: To be honest, I was embarrassed to ask for help. Well-wishers told me: “Why are you going to disgrace yourself and make yourself a laughingstock for all of Georgia?!” Do you know how many times I dialed your number and then hung up? Is it so? Is it shameful to ask for your children? Am I a bad mother that I want to give them a good upbringing? They said, if you don’t have money, don’t take them to sports, but buy bread. But is only bread enough for the development of children? Finally, I dared. I think your readers will not judge me. It's just very difficult to raise children without a dad when they want to learn and develop.

***

Nino's words stuck in my head! How can anyone shame a single mother of four orphans that she wants to ask for help to put her children on their feet?! That her children want to learn and practice, and do not hang around all day doing nothing?! The only thing I want to say to Nino is thank you! I admire her because, despite the terrible living conditions, lack of funds and outside help, she manages to raise her children. She cares not only that her children eat their fill and that’s it. She dreams that her children become great people and glorify Georgia.

All of Georgia should know these wonderful children!

Here is their address: Sagarejo, 11 Queen Tamara street, house 11. Visit them personally, get to know these children. Perhaps you meet future champions! You will be proud to know them! Children are very friendly, they will tell you about their life, about friends and not friends. 

At the moment, the family needs beds, a washing machine, a small fridge and a phone. It will be just wonderful if the children get gifts from you - sweets and a bicycle. And if you manage to pay for other sports clubs (football, rugby, chess)  or enroll them there for free, it will be cool. Maybe athletes or coaches will read this article? Maybe they'll be interested? Because such things happen not only in movies.

Every time you can help someone, just do it, and rejoice that God answers someone's prayers through you! 

We are sure that all together we will manage to save them from imminent death. 

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 Shakarashvili 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: 0901200270! God bless you!