By Nino Chubabria | Project Director
It usually takes several years for a young person to go from living on the streets or being released from prison to being fully rehabilitated. We had all thought that Vanya, who takes the lead in our enamel jewellery workshop, had found stability at last after two years with us. But on 29th January 2017 the boys were hit by a huge loss - the Precious Metal Exchange building completely burned down. This is where they take their enamel work to be sold outside the tourist season so they were hit hard. The State provided no compensation. They felt a terrible injustice had been done and their reaction was to stop working completely.
The enamel jewellery is a core income-generating activity for our shelter, as well as providing training and work for our residents. At our Mkurnali shelter everyone has to work but some of them began to show signs of depression. It was a big struggle to get them to put the nightmare behind them and to start work again. One of the directors of St Gregory’s Foundation was actively involved in this process and regularly talked with the youths by phone from London, persuading them not to give up. Finally, our effort bore fruit, and on the 18th of April Vanya and another boy delivered their products to the newly re-opened trade centre. Then, one week later on 27th of April they made a second delivery. Now we can say that our workshop has risen from the ashes and successfully continues to work and that Vanya has found stability and hope again.
Another boy, Vakhtang, also lost his job because of cuts where he worked. Although he had been with us at Mkurnali for a number of years, he became very despondent and it took a while for him to feel ready to start looking for work again. We are proud to say that he has now got a job in a restaurant and they are very pleased with him.
With the ups and downs in our revenues it has been a great help to have donations from Global Giving for providing food for our young people who come in from the streets or are recently released from prison. They are with us for the long haul, though, as quick fixes are not possible when it is only patient rehabilitation that enables them to face new kinds of adversity in their young lives.
By Nino Chubabria | Mkurnali Director
By Nino Chubabria | Mkurnali Director
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