“I screamed, cried, and Nata, Nitsa, Sandro, Lali, and Taso the bear were burning and crying inside. Even my bike was burning and crying there - I heard it!” says 4-year-old Nia and hides her head. Several months have passed since this tragedy happened, and the baby still wakes up at night screaming and thinking she is on fire... And every time she asks her mother: “Can people burn twice?”

"I don't want us to burn"

A frantic scream of 16-year-old Anna sounded at 4 am on March 16, when everyone was asleep. She woke everyone up and shouted: “We are all going to die now! We are burning! We’ll burn! Let's get out of here!"

They managed to run out of the house barefoot, in pajamas, they didn’t manage to take anything. We got out and for the first minutes could not understand what was going on. Does everyone have the same nightmare? Is this really happening, or will everyone wake up now? In a few minutes, a large, beautiful house burned to the ground. Nothing that could remind them of their beautiful and happy life was left. Seven people found themselves in the streets dressed in pajamas. And there - inside - toys, clothes, furniture, books, and everything that had been acquired, bought, made by their hands over the years, were burning. 

“This was my room. And it seems to be my doll"

Inga: No, dear, it’s terrible to lose your loved ones. And this can be fixed. When my son was hit by a car - that was really terrible. He was in a coma for 22 days, and we did not know if he would survive or not ...

Inga: Four years ago, his class went to the theater, and then they had an excursion. When they brought him home by the school bus, I went out to meet him. I was waiting in the street by the house. Suddenly I heard a terrible metal scraping, the sound of brakes and the cry “oh my”. I felt that something terrible had happened to Luka… I ran out onto the road and saw him in a pool of blood… And I don’t remember anything after that. I only prayed during these 22 days, I asked the Lord: "Don't take my son, take whatever you want, just let Luka live."

Inga: As you can see, Luka is now safe and sound, he walks on his own feet, talks, plays with his peers, goes to school. Although no one gave us a guarantee that he would survive and not become a “plant”.

Luka (12-year-old): Yes, I'm safe and sound, except for my throat tube. Sometimes it hurts a lot. I have to go to the hospital quite often and change it.

“The tube in my throat makes it difficult to speak, but I'm already used to it. My dad cleans it like a real doctor.

Inga: My husband and I have already learned how to clean this terrible tube. You need everything sterile: alcohol, bandages, betadine. We can’t afford calling a nurse every time, so we learned to do it ourselves. You need to clean it every day and change it once a month. To do this, you have to go to Tbilisi. Each time they give him anesthesia. Each visit to the doctor costs about 300 GEL. But, thank God, we managed to get a pension for Luka, so we can say that he pays for his procedures himself.

“I am a pensioner, like my grandparents”

Luka: Yes, I'm a pensioner, like grandma and grandpa. And who has a better pension?

Inga: You have, son, but it would be better if you didn't have it.

Luka: It’s a pity I can’t save it up.

Luka: I have one dream. I want a computer or a tablet. I want to make many friends and talk to them. I love to communicate. And I have friends at school. 

Inga: You can’t imagine what I went through when he came out of the coma and kept silent. He has always been so sociable! He just laid there, looked and was silent... He did not speak for 45 days. He didn't even recognize us. And when, after 45 days, I entered his ward, and he said “MOM”, I screamed with joy and surprise so much that doctors from all floors came running. Everyone was so happy for us! “Mom” - it was the happiest day of my life!

  

“And when I say“ mom”, mommy does not yell with happiness. Why?"

Nia (4-year-old): I also can say "mom". And I also know how to dance. But I can't dance now - my throat hurts. But if you bring me a beautiful dress, I will dance!

Nia: Bring me everything that was burned down. My bike burned down, and Taso burned down, and the scooter burned down, and my bed burned down. They cried and burned. No one heard, but I heard my teddy bear Taso shouting for me: "Help!" I can still hear them crying in my sleep.

Inga: Oh, Nia still wakes up at night in tears and asks to save her and her toys. She's so afraid. Every time when she goes to bed, she asks: "Won't we burn?" It's such a stress for her. Well, for all of us.

"I think I found pieces of my doll"

Anna (16-year old): I miss my room. It was so beautiful. Our whole house was beautiful. We live in cramped quarters now. Our neighbors sheltered us. We live separately from grandfather and grandmother. I have only one dream, I hope someday I will have my own room again.

Nia: And I have a dream: dolls and teddy bears, and a scooter, and a kitchen, and exactly the same dresses as those that burned down.

Luka: Wow, what desires do you have. Is there anything left?

“Luka, do you think we’ll have any more toys?”

Nia: Yes! Candy, lots of it! Do not be afraid, Luka, I will give you some too!

Inga: Now it's so hard to talk about it... These are not dreams but needs. We need everything. Nothing was left. Everything we wear belongs to someone. Everything we have is donated by our neighbors and kind people. We are starting our life from scratch! We have no beds, no tableware - nothing! The social allowance and pensions of the parents are only enough for basic food, but it is impossible to save it up. 

“I will help dad to repair the house”

Inga: To repair what's left. The second floor burned down completely, and only the walls remained from the first floor. The state promised to pay 300 GEL per month if we find an apartment for rent. But it is impossible to find anything suitable for seven people to live for such a price in Kobuleti! Maybe some of the readers will manage to help in solving this issue?

Inga: We need beds, a wardrobe, clothes, dishes, a refrigerator, a TV, a tablet or a computer, medications. I can't remember everything. Imagine that you have nothing. What would you ask for?

“Please, make sure that we don’t burn anymore.”

Inga: Addressing you, I hoped that the more people learn about our grief, the easier it will become for us to live. It's not even about financial help. If someone prays for Luka's health, says a few words of compassion to us - this also would be a great help for us!

***

Friends, the Surmanidze family has lost everything. Their house, belongings - everything that was acquired over many years of hard work, was consumed by fire. They have absolutely nothing left. The couple, along with their children and elderly parents, found themselves without a roof over their heads. They live either with neighbors or with relatives. But their conscience does not allow them to use the kindness of these wonderful people.  They really need our support right now!

The Surmanidze family needs any help, the most basic things, because they actually have to start their life from scratch. First of all, they need food, tableware, building materials, appliances, beds, a table, chairs, and tablets for children. And there is also a special request - toys and sweets!

If anyone is willing to visit them and help them in person, here is their address: Kobuleti municipality, Kveda Bobokvati village.

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 Surmanidze 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!