Care for 20 homeless people in Tbilisi, Georgia

Our shelter is an open place, where we welcome members of our local community who wish to get involved and visitors from further afield.  Recently, Theresa Tollemache visited from the UK.  Seeing our work with fresh eyes, she gives a good rounded picture of our set up, which we hope you will find interesting. 

"We spent a very happy and extremely impressive two hours at the Mkurnali House and the centre where several young people and families live having been rescued from poverty and a criminal past.  They are all suffering from punishment for petty crimes and in some cases an action that should not be considered as a crime.   Our host Nino Chubabria has dedicated her time to finding legal support for these teenagers and pledges to look after them in the Mkurnali house until they find permanent work.  Jamil has been with her since he was 14 and arrested with a prison sentence for stealing an apple in a neglected garden in his village where he tended the cows.  A few years later Nino has put him in charge of running the house which he does in the most efficient and loyal way.  

We visited Pavel who is working on restoring cars in a garage near to the home.  He is determined to set up a business with a local business man restoring and selling cars and he already had an apprentice who was working with him.   We were shown a little work shop in the house where some of the residents are filling cartridges with ink for re sale.  Pavel’s brother and others also make beautiful enamel earrings and pendants for sale.  

A fine Georgian feast was laid on for us and prepared by Inga who is one of the volunteers.  All those in the house joined us at the table to enjoy really delicious food.  Most were still out working so we did not meet all the residents.

The house itself is spacious and has its own courtyard where they are able to light a fire and make shaslik (kebabs).  The building is in a very quiet area on the edge of Tbilisi, with leafy courtyard gardens, chickens wandering and helpful friendly neighbours mainly from Azerbaijan.  The houses are dilapidated and the Mkurnali house itself is in need of attention.  Their neighbours are going to help them with renovating a concrete stair case and adjoining party wall but the roof of the building badly needs repair. 

Nino Chubabria is an exceptional person and is working tirelessly to help the young men, “her boys” in her words!,  to forge a new life away from the despair they had been living in before.  From her gentle and firm kindness they are learning to build up trust in the world around them and become honourable hard-working citizens.   We were so impressed by everything we saw and know that the support the GlobalGiving community gives them is extremely important for the future of these young people and the people who are caring for them."