Care for 20 homeless people in Tbilisi, Georgia

I first met Fedya and his brother Artur in 2002. They were sleeping near Dighomi market along with other “street children”.  He was always cheerful and friendly despite all the difficulties. After the death of his father, Fedya, his mother and brother were thrown out of the house by their uncle and had no other place to go. They had to live on the street and sleep in cellars or wherever they could find a shelter. 

One morning, Fedya’s mother didn’t wake up and 6-year-old Fedya and 8-year-old Artur were left alone on the street, surviving thanks to strangers who fed them.  Nevertheless, neither of two brothers has ever stolen anything. They were highly respected by the market traders who trusted them to look after their market stalls from time to time.  In the streets, both brothers met other homeless children. Fedya’s dream was to go to school but sadly it didn’t work out.  

Fedya is a hard-working person. He worked in the market of Dighomi during the day and as a night watchman at night. A little while ago, Fedya got married, and the market management allowed them to live at one of the market premises for a while. This became impossible when his wife became pregnant and they were told to move out.  

Fedya turned to us for help. Even though we didn’t have any rooms free at our shelter, the boys gave up their small room and moved into a small room at the garage run by Pavel, a former beneficiary of Mkurnali. This garage already provides training and employment to formerly homeless young people. 

We have been working on building a new room and fitting out a new bathroom so that we can accommodate more people. Fedya's situation makes this work all the more urgent.  We don't have a choice but to help him and his family through this most difficult time.