At 12 o’clock today I attended a Press Conference at the Public Defender’s office with ICCN staff. The topic was “Freedom of Speech” within the media, where they addressed the problem of public news stations being controlled by the current government. This obviously goes against the ideas and principals of a true Democracy, which the Georgian people strive for their government to be, and this has been a concern for Georgians since November 7, 2007 when a peaceful rally in Tbilisi turned violent. Little news was distributed on what really happened that day, and the news station that attempted to broadcast footage was shut down and equipment destroyed. Then soon after the station director mysteriously died. There has been a lot of controversy since that incident and this Press Conference was in response to the one year anniversary of November 7th.
After the Conference I met up with Jenni (my American friend) and a few Georgians and we took a forty-five minute bus ride to Public School No. 40 which is a site for IDP families (internally displaced persons). When the war first broke out there were about a hundred families in this school, but now there are only thirteen remaining. These are families from South Ossetia who have no homes to go back to because they were completely destroyed during the war. We met in one family’s room and whoever else wanted to join us came over as well. We talked with them (of course I had someone translating for me), played UNO (which they love!), and just listened to their concerns.
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| From IDP Site |
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| From IDP Site |
We also engaged them in an activity of writing down or drawing the things they were most burdened about. We played music as they thought about these things and and put them down on paper. After about ten minutes we told them they could share what was on their heart if they felt led to do so. At that moment I looked around and noticed that three of the women were in tears. They began to share their fears, their grievances, and expressed their lack of hope from getting out of their current situation. All they had was gone and the government was slow at providing financial assistance or coming up with solutions for permanent housing. These people no longer have jobs to go back to either since businesses were destroyed, and new jobs are hard to find during these economic hard times. Most of the families also lived on farms so they were able to sustain themselves with their crops, but now they no longer have this option. After they were finished with this exercise they were each given an envelope to put their note or drawing inside, then on front of the envelope they wrote a verse from the Bible, Matthew 11:28, which says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” We encouraged them to continue adding any future concerns to this envelope, and when doing so that they remember God is always with them and they do not have carry such heavy burdens on their own. God is there to help them, even through the most difficult situations. I know it’s sometimes hard to see the face of God during such trying times, but for the most part these people still believe in a loving God. I was so touched when I heard that one of the ladies had requested a new Bible since hers was left behind during the evacuation from her village, and she wanted to continue studying and meditating on God’s Word because this gave her strength when hope was starting to fade.
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| From IDP Site |
This is still an operating school and only the second floor (out of four floors) is being used to house IDPs. These classrooms, which they call home, have small electric heaters which are also used to cook on, they have beds that are made from boards lined with mattress pads and propped up on chairs, and have clothes lines hanging in the corridors to dry their laundry.
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| From IDP Site |
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| From IDP Site |
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| From IDP Site |
We finished our visit around 5pm and from there I went with Jenni to eat lobio and apple cake, then we went to a few shops on Rustaveli Street, including an English Bookstore and a jewelry store where I bought a new silver chain for my cross pendant and shamrock medallion. My original chain somehow broke last week while I was sleeping. I never take this necklace off so it was probably more than ready to retire!
At 7pm I went with Jenni to her Georgian folk dance studio and stayed for a bit to watch the class before hers. By 7:30pm I was heading home and it hit me that it was my birthday. I was another year older but I felt I had lived enough life to equal at least two years! I thought I would be okay with just ignoring my birthday this year (especially since last year, my 30th, was such a disaster when I relied on others to plan my party), but the moment I was alone and not distracted with various things, I began to wish that I would have at least organized a small celebration. I ended up getting stuck on the bus because of a traffic accident, which made it even worse thinking that I was spending my birthday in traffic. I was looking around at everyone, wondering if it might be someone else’s birthday, and like me they were spending it alone on a bus. I was definitely beginning to feel sorry for myself and thought the least I could do is buy myself a bottle of wine and a piece of cake with a candle to blow out and make a wish. Unfortunately since it took me TWO hours to get home (because of this traffic accident and having to transfer to a different bus) the super market by my house was closed. I was completely bummed. I know it may seem a bit selfish considering my whole vision of [G3] is to give back, but at that moment I felt I had given so much of myself in the last 3 months that I just wished that part of this day could have been about me. Don’t get me wrong, I love planning and doing things for others (I consider it one of my gifts), but I have come to realize that my birthday is the one day that I wish someone else would plan something for me. Is just one day out of the entire year too much to ask! Okay, I suppose I should stop now before I express too many more emotions…. 🙂
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