A family reunites in Tbilisi
Thankfully, Mariam wasn’t aware that ‘work’ for her father Dimitry meant standing as a guard at the block post in Sveri, the conflict zone. According to Dmitry’s wife Elza, 32, he was one of the last soldiers to leave the conflict zone and for more then two days his family didn’t know if he was alive.
On the same day that Dmitry joined his unit, Elza left her village of Kekhvi, located just 5kms from the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, with her two children for the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
But Elza couldn’t persuade her mother-in-law to leave the family home. “We could not reassure her to go with us, and now we are receiving terrible news that our house has been razed. She has likely died there”, shares Elza quietly, not wanting her children to know at this time.
After several days with no word from her husband, Dimitry finally managed to reach Tbilisi and located his family.
“The children were so happy to see him. I tried to hide from them that he was involved in the conflict but still I think they sensed he was in danger,” says Elza.
‘Home’ for the family is now a kindergarten building in Tbilisi, which they share with some 88 other displaced people- 20 of whom are children.
“There were lots of people asking for shelter but when they saw our children they received us immediately”, says Elza of the Mayor’s office, which provided the shelter.
Elza’s mother who is also living in the same shelter, explains, “We left everything behind - even our documentation. People ask,’ how could you forget documentation’, but these people don’t understand under what circumstances we had to leave our village”.
“A mini van was bombed in front of my eyes and my neighbours died there. Nobody could even bury them because we were afraid for our lives,” she shares.
World Vision Georgia has provided the kindergarten where the family is sheltered with food and mattresses. The organisation is distributing food in cooperation with the World Food Programme to 174 centres with more than 11,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Nearly 100,000 people have been driven from their homes by the conflict in Georgia according to the United Nations refugee agency. More then 210 public buildings are providing temporary shelter for the displaced.
World Vision is also distributing non-food-items such as hygiene kits, as well as providing medical supplies to Tbilisi’s main ‘Republican’ hospital.
As of August 14, World Vision has helped more than 2,000 IDPs. 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.
On the same day that Dmitry joined his unit, Elza left her village of Kekhvi, located just 5kms from the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, with her two children for the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
But Elza couldn’t persuade her mother-in-law to leave the family home. “We could not reassure her to go with us, and now we are receiving terrible news that our house has been razed. She has likely died there”, shares Elza quietly, not wanting her children to know at this time.
After several days with no word from her husband, Dimitry finally managed to reach Tbilisi and located his family.
“The children were so happy to see him. I tried to hide from them that he was involved in the conflict but still I think they sensed he was in danger,” says Elza.
‘Home’ for the family is now a kindergarten building in Tbilisi, which they share with some 88 other displaced people- 20 of whom are children.
“There were lots of people asking for shelter but when they saw our children they received us immediately”, says Elza of the Mayor’s office, which provided the shelter.
Elza’s mother who is also living in the same shelter, explains, “We left everything behind - even our documentation. People ask,’ how could you forget documentation’, but these people don’t understand under what circumstances we had to leave our village”.
“A mini van was bombed in front of my eyes and my neighbours died there. Nobody could even bury them because we were afraid for our lives,” she shares.
World Vision Georgia has provided the kindergarten where the family is sheltered with food and mattresses. The organisation is distributing food in cooperation with the World Food Programme to 174 centres with more than 11,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Nearly 100,000 people have been driven from their homes by the conflict in Georgia according to the United Nations refugee agency. More then 210 public buildings are providing temporary shelter for the displaced.
World Vision is also distributing non-food-items such as hygiene kits, as well as providing medical supplies to Tbilisi’s main ‘Republican’ hospital.
As of August 14, World Vision has helped more than 2,000 IDPs. 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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