Displaced brothers wait for mother still in conflict zone
The family is among some 264 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who found refuge in kindergarten #151 located in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, when conflict recently broke out in South Ossetia....
Kindergarten director ‘Irma’ has heard many sad stories since the conflict erupted, but the story of Temur and Zaza Goiaevs especially touched her.
“I found them in the kindergarten sitting on ctairs and crying. Although they have relatives here the children still feel very alone without their mother around”, says Irma.
During the initial days the boys cried constantly. They couldn’t adjust to living here. Our staff tried to cheer them up, but those first days were hard”, she adds.
When the conflict began their uncle took the children from their village in Tskhinvali region to Tbilisi, but their mother and elder brother remained in the house.
We don’t know if their mother is alive or not “I did not want to leave the house. I wanted to stay there with my brother and mother, but they did not let me”, says Temur who does not understand why he had to leave the house and could not stay there with his family.
Now his younger brother Zaza enjoys playing with the other children in the kindergarten.
“I like this place”, he says, referring to the toys and children in the kindergarten. Thankfully he is too young to realise the challenges his family faces in the coming days and weeks. He knows that his mother will come soon and simply waits for her.
The children\'s innocence and optimism is, however, world’s apart from the worries of their adult relatives who fear the worst “Their mother did not leave the village at the beginning and later the roads were blocked, so we do not know if they managed to leave the village or not. Of course their mother knows that the boys are in good hands”, says another relative.
Temur and Zaza spend most of their time in the former concert hall room of the kindergarten together with 25 of their relatives.
Two small beds where the boys sleep occupy the room – their relatives all sleep on the floor.
The boys are slowly adjusting to their environment, but they wait anxiously for the arrival of their mother. The childrens innocence and optimism is however world’s apart from the worries of their adult relatives who fear the worst after failing to receive word of her well-being in the past two days.
“Of course we are taking care of them, and will not leave them alone but they need their mother”, says one of the relatives.
World Vision has been assisting IDPs in the kindergarten and many other centres for the displaced, focusing on providing food and other basic necessities.
“The people now have enough food but all of them are so depressed that they cannot eat normally,” says the kindergarten director.
“People found this kindergarten by themselves - they just came in the kindergarten yard and, we let them all in and gave everything we had, but of course they lack so many things; they don’t have enough mattresses, beds, clothes.
The director says that the local population is helping the displaced, together with organisations like World Vision, by bringing food and clothes. World Vision will soon provide mattresses and other items to the kindergarten and other centres like it that desperately lack the essentials.
Nearly 100,000 people have been driven from their homes by the conflict in Georgia according to the United Nations refugee agency. More then 580 public buildings are now providing temporary shelter for the displaced.
World Vision Georgia is responding to the urgent needs of IDPs by distributing food in cooperation with the World Food Programme. It is also distributing non-food-items such as hygiene kits, as well as providing medical supplies to Tbilisi’s main ‘Republican’ hospital. At present 300 centres with more than 42,000 IDPs are allocated to World Vision for food distribution.
To date World Vision has helped more than 7,500 IDPs in 37 centres. World Vision is currently working in partnership with the UN and other agencies carrying out needs assessments in all the centres in Tbilisi, with a special focus on the needs of children.
Kindergarten director ‘Irma’ has heard many sad stories since the conflict erupted, but the story of Temur and Zaza Goiaevs especially touched her.
“I found them in the kindergarten sitting on ctairs and crying. Although they have relatives here the children still feel very alone without their mother around”, says Irma.
During the initial days the boys cried constantly. They couldn’t adjust to living here. Our staff tried to cheer them up, but those first days were hard”, she adds.
When the conflict began their uncle took the children from their village in Tskhinvali region to Tbilisi, but their mother and elder brother remained in the house.
We don’t know if their mother is alive or not “I did not want to leave the house. I wanted to stay there with my brother and mother, but they did not let me”, says Temur who does not understand why he had to leave the house and could not stay there with his family.
Now his younger brother Zaza enjoys playing with the other children in the kindergarten.
“I like this place”, he says, referring to the toys and children in the kindergarten. Thankfully he is too young to realise the challenges his family faces in the coming days and weeks. He knows that his mother will come soon and simply waits for her.
The children\'s innocence and optimism is, however, world’s apart from the worries of their adult relatives who fear the worst “Their mother did not leave the village at the beginning and later the roads were blocked, so we do not know if they managed to leave the village or not. Of course their mother knows that the boys are in good hands”, says another relative.
Temur and Zaza spend most of their time in the former concert hall room of the kindergarten together with 25 of their relatives.
Two small beds where the boys sleep occupy the room – their relatives all sleep on the floor.
The boys are slowly adjusting to their environment, but they wait anxiously for the arrival of their mother. The childrens innocence and optimism is however world’s apart from the worries of their adult relatives who fear the worst after failing to receive word of her well-being in the past two days.
“Of course we are taking care of them, and will not leave them alone but they need their mother”, says one of the relatives.
World Vision has been assisting IDPs in the kindergarten and many other centres for the displaced, focusing on providing food and other basic necessities.
“The people now have enough food but all of them are so depressed that they cannot eat normally,” says the kindergarten director.
“People found this kindergarten by themselves - they just came in the kindergarten yard and, we let them all in and gave everything we had, but of course they lack so many things; they don’t have enough mattresses, beds, clothes.
The director says that the local population is helping the displaced, together with organisations like World Vision, by bringing food and clothes. World Vision will soon provide mattresses and other items to the kindergarten and other centres like it that desperately lack the essentials.
Nearly 100,000 people have been driven from their homes by the conflict in Georgia according to the United Nations refugee agency. More then 580 public buildings are now providing temporary shelter for the displaced.
World Vision Georgia is responding to the urgent needs of IDPs by distributing food in cooperation with the World Food Programme. It is also distributing non-food-items such as hygiene kits, as well as providing medical supplies to Tbilisi’s main ‘Republican’ hospital. At present 300 centres with more than 42,000 IDPs are allocated to World Vision for food distribution.
To date World Vision has helped more than 7,500 IDPs in 37 centres. World Vision is currently working in partnership with the UN and other agencies carrying out needs assessments in all the centres in Tbilisi, with a special focus on the needs of children.
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