Even in her worst nightmares, the young 27-year-old caring mother, Gvantsa Tvlidiani, could not have imagined that, in the prime of her life, she would one day find herself with her beloved sons and daughters in a crumbling, dilapidated house in the Shanghai settlement near Tbilisi. Seven children, the youngest just 4 months old, live with rats in a room where the ceiling has collapsed. Flies and poisonous wasps are everywhere, ready to sting the poor little ones at any moment. Six children sleep with their mother on one old bed, while baby Jaki sleeps in a basket serving as a cradle. The house has no bathroom or toilet.

Have you ever seen the sad eyes of a child? Not, of course! Children’s eyes always radiate an endless joy! Children never have problems, but not those who are we going to tell you about, friends!

“We will never have anything, our parents are poor,” – the children whisper quietly to me when I ask them about toys. Slum kids! How do they live, it’s a real nightmare! Can it be called life? This is not a house, but a concrete cave from movies about prehistoric dinosaurs. They have no water, no toilet! Just a concrete floor, walls, ceiling! How did these angels make God so angry? What is their fault?
Every day, they look sadly at other children who drink lemonade and eat cookies, while these slum children have tried them only a few times, and buying this at least once a month is a luxury and a dream for this poor large family. Can you imagine?! Lemonade and cookies!!!

Friends let me introduce: Mariam (1-year-old), Barbara (2-year-old), Lika (3-year-old) and Giorgi (4-year-old) – kids, who can only dream about sweets and toys. They are still too little to realize how difficult their situation is, but they already have to endure hardships, and they know by heart: “Mom has no money now… She will buy it later, someday …”

Every single morning poor Kristina prays standing in front of icons and begs Lord for well-being of her four sons: Saba (3-year-old), Levan (6-year-old), Vano (8-year-old) and Giorgi (10-year-old)

What is a really big family for you? 4-5 people? Maybe 6? Would you be surprised if we are talking about a family consisting of 8 people living in one room of this dilapidated building?