Care for 20 homeless people in Tbilisi, Georgia

We believe generosity is catching! We’d like to share with you a couple of heartwarming stories about infectious generosity which have changed lives.  One of the families you have been helping at our shelter, and some children we didn’t know have a new start thanks to the kindness of strangers.

Back in June we told you about Artur and Christine and their four children.  Having lived at our shelter for some time, they have been able to buy a small shack in a village near Tbilisi.  It doesn’t look like much, but this shack offers a great opportunity for the family to live independently at last, particularly since it comes with land so they can grow food.

Artur and Christine are trying to bring the shack into shape as a house and have already done a lot of work on it. Now they need to have basic living conditions to move in. Each month they pay towards the cost of the house, but that leaves them with nothing to furnish it.  Our assistant, Jemal, posted their story on social media and had a fantastic response. One kind woman gave them money, so that they could buy a water pump to put in their yard. (The water pressure brought to their house is so weak, they would have not have proper water otherwise.) Other people donated furniture, household items and even doors and window.  Jemal asked our neighbour, who owns a truck, if he could help us move these items to the village. The neighbour agreed to help and only took the money for petrol.

Christine and Artur now have beds, cupboards, chairs, duvet covers, mattresses, clothes, books and toys for the kids. The whole family is so happy. Now they just have to build on another room and then they will at last be able to move in and live as an independent family for the first time in their lives.

Our aim of course is for all of our residents to go on and live successful, independent lives.  A couple of days ago we were delighted to hear from Marta, who lived at our shelter for many years with her two children.  After a great deal of hard work and determination, she is now living independently and has a stable job.      

Marta read on social media about two orphans who lost their mother, father and uncle in one year. The orphans live with their elderly grandmother in Tserovani refugee settlement (they are refugees from South Ossetia, where there has been a war). Marta asked me to help her find them so that she could help the little ones. The telephone number that was indicated in the social media post was always turned off. Fortunately, yesterday the phone was on and we could contact the grandmother and ask her what the children needed the most. The grandmother told us that financial help would be the most helpful, as school and kindergarten are about to begin and the little ones need to prepare. Today we drove go Tserovani. Marta bought a lot of sweets on the way to make the children happy. She gave 300 Lari to the grandmother for their needs. As a thank you, the grandmother picked some fruit in her garden and gave it to Marta.  

We can’t claim credit for Marta’s kind heart, but nevertheless we are still very proud that a person who was raised within our walls is now trying to find ways of helping others. She remembers what she went through herself and so she tries bring joy to other orphans’ lives.

Social media was a key to unlocking the generosity of strangers in both these cases.  If you were moved by the stories, please share them with your networks so we can give a home, food and job training to more young people in need.  Who knows what might happen!