How can anyone fall in love with a girl who does not have a beautiful dress? How can other girls be friends with her if she doesn’t have toys of her own? If she lives in a house where little girls shouldn’t live in? These questions worry little Liza a lot. She wants to grow up faster. Maybe she thinks that adults don’t care about such problems? Or maybe she thinks that, when she gets adult, she will be able to buy toys and dresses for herself?

“Do you know what mom did once so that we wouldn’t freeze? She broke our wardrobe. She broke it like that: she beat it with her hands and feet, so that it turned out like firewood, and then put it into the stove. There was an unusual smell. And it was like a black cloud in the room… But it became warm,” eight-year-old Nino says, showing us what is left of their wardrobe.

“When we are very hungry, mom cuts us some bread. A piece for each. Sometimes mom and dad don’t eat at all so that we can eat,” says Jemal. He also shows me holes in the floor. He is happy when he sees rats appearing from there, but his sisters are afraid of them and scream. It makes him laugh, but I want to cry…

Neither girls, nor boys, nor even their parents should sleep on such a bed. But what to do when you’ve got nothing else? When the allowance is only enough for flour and pasta, and there is simply no money left for other needs. Suraji and Natia have six children: five girls and one son, Shmagi. The two eldest daughters have started their own families and live separately. Anna, Nutsa, Elene, and their little brother Shmagi live with their mom and dad in a squat building with no amenities. Everything they have at their home is things found at the garbage dump.

“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!”

“Quickly come in and press your ears tightly with your palms, because it will start now!” – Amiran, six years old, tells me. “It has already begun, that’s it! It’ll take a long time – get used to it,” – says Reziko, pinching his ears. Five-month-old Nino and three-year-old Luka cry in unison. Nino is hungry and Luka cries for company. “He just wants to cry,” – Amiran says, and leads his brother out of the room to calm him down and talk.