On June 2, 2011, the Board of American Friends of Georgia, Inc. (AFG) in collaboration with CORUS Imports and Georgian Wine House hosted a Wine Tasting reception in New York at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.  The event was a wonderful success with Georgian wine makers and wine importers presenting the finest Georgian wines including classic wines as well as wines made the traditional Georgian way in Qvevri.  There were even wines made by monks at Alaverdi Monastery presented by Bishop David, which are not commercially available.

AFG hosted a daytime wine tasting session, sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia, from 11:00 AM – 4 PM for wine industry and wine press.  AFG then hosted a reception from 5:00 – 8:00 PM for the public.  Profits for tickets sold to the evening reception will support AFG’s kindergarten for vulnerable Georgian children.  Both daytime and evening wine tastings took place in a beautiful dance studio with views of the New York skyline at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 West 37th Street, in New York.  This was a rare opportunity for U.S. residents to taste and learn about Georgian wines from the wine makers themselves. 

Many of the wines were shipped to the U.S. for the reception via diplomatic channels.  AFG’s Executive Director, Marusya Chavchavadze, AFG’s volunteer and sponsor, Teya Beradze of Teya Jewelry and Michael Kabilnitsky of CORUS Imports arranged the reception.  The goal of the reception was to interest the wine press and thereby expand the Georgian wine market in the U.S.  AFG is a non-profit, non-political public charity with 501©(3) tax-exempt status.

Approximately 250-270 people attended the two events including Misha Baryshnikov himself.  His presence created quite a lot of excitement.  Also happily present was Timur Alasaniya, President Saakashvili’s uncle.  The wine was beautifully presented.  The mood was elated.  One attendee said, “It was simply fun to sample such a variety of wines which one doesn’t get to do very often.”  Another said “What a wonderful space to hold a wine tasting–with high ceilings and room for everyone to mingle.  It was very friendly and listening to the wine experts describe how their wine is made in Qvevri was educational, fascinating—a great success.  It was a sophisticated wine tasting experience—very informed people there.” A member of the wine press said, “It was a great event!” 

The events were special for Americans who have never tasted such wines to be able to do so.  It was also special for Georgians who live in America to experience the wines.  One young Georgian said, “I moved here as a child and I want to learn about the wines from my country.” It was wonderful for Americans to be told by Georgian wine makers that wine is for pleasure and good for you.  There was a wonderful feeling of happiness in the room.  The room was filled with cultural diversity and there was a generous and hospitable feeling—an opportunity for Americans in New York to experience Georgian hospitality, taste wines from an exotic country and learn about one of the treasures of Georgia. 

AFG’s sponsors included the American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia; Tbilisi Restaurant and Pirosmani Restaurant which donated Georgian food for the evening; Teya Beradze from Teya Jewelry; Michael Kabilnitsky of CORUS Imports; Mamuka Tsereteli of Georgian Wine House who also helped organize the reception; Lane PR who helped reach out to the press and the wine trade community; and the wonderful volunteers who helped to make this reception possible with special mention of those from the Georgian Honorary Consulate’s Office in New York.  AFG is also grateful to the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

AFG welcomed Georgian winery owners and wine tourism professionals as well as US wine importers of Georgian wines.  The trip to the U.S. was led by Tina Kezeli, Executive Director of the Georgian Wine Association (GWA) and was arranged by the American Chamber of Commerce.  It was funded by the US Commerce Department and USAID.  The goal of the trip was to support the growing Georgian wine community in developing wine tourism in Georgia.  The trip included 16 wine producers (members of the Georgian Wine Association) and wine tourism professionals who are visiting wine makers in California and New York State. 

Georgian wineries offering their wines to taste were:

JSC Telavi Wine Cellar http://www.marani.com, Teliani Valley, Pheasant’s Tears, LTD WineMan http://www.wineman.ge, Tbilvino, Chateau Mukhrani, Eniseli Wines, JSC Corp. Kindzmarauli, Bagrationi 1882, Vinoterra, Nata Vachnadze, Kakhuri, Dugladze Wine Company, Maisuradze Wines, Tiflis Wine Cellar, JSC Sarajishvili http://www.sarajishvili.com, Kakhetian Traditional Winemaking

The Georgian Wine Association is the voice of the Georgian wine sector on national and international markets, working to increase public awareness of Georgian wine and to promote and market Georgian wine internationally.  The GWA seeks to nurture local wine traditions and wine making methods, the planting and vinification of endemic varietals, support for scientific research and education in viticulture and wine making, and the development of the wine tourism sector in Georgia.

Below you will find a list of all the wines presented at our wine tasting reception.

Marusya Chavchavadze

June 6, 2011

‘Amicu certus in re incerta cernitur’. From the Latin – ‘a sure friend is known when in difficulty’. In the other words, a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Friends of Georgia, Isani Kindergarten Needs Your Help

YOUR HELP IS CRITICAL: CORPORATE SUPPORT EXPIRES IN 2011

BACKGROUND: For nearly two years AFG’s kindergarten at the Isani military hospital in Tbilisi rehabilitated children traumatized by the 2008 Russian conflict. Then in August 2010 the government emptied the hospital of all displaced families. The kindergarten’s classrooms are now closed and their furniture is stored. However, the Isani teachers plan to rent an apartment and open a new classroom in 2011 for those destitute children in Tbilisi most in need of physiological support, including remaining war victims, those whose mothers were themselves abandoned on the street and children of impoverished single mothers.

BENEFICIARIES: 20 refugee, poor and/or homeless children in Tbilisi .

CURRICULUM: Reading, writing and numbers; science; arts; speech therapy; counseling; first aid; 3 meals/day.

PROVIDERS: 3 teachers, a psychologist, a nurse, a cook, a supplier and janitor.

FINANCING: Generous funding from an anonymous corporate charity will only last 1 more month.

NEEDS: $33,000 to cover rent, salaries, educational supplies and food for 9 months.

Please visit American Friends of Georgia website to help those in need. https://www.afgeorgia.org

Dear Friends,

It is my pleasure to invite you to join us on a journey of discovery to a place about which all of us are passionate—the unique country of Georgia, Land of the Golden Fleece. This in-depth adventure combines the pleasure of touring a fabulously beautiful and welcoming place, and the “business” of visiting many of the humanitarian projects that are supported by American Friends of Georgia.

We are privileged to be seeing a side of Georgia that ordinary tourists will never catch a glimpse of – Tbilisi’s back streets, the resettlement villages and AFG projects such as a special kindergarten for vulnerable children.  In between these inspiring visits, we’ll be experiencing the beauty, hospitality and bountiful food and wine of our second home, Georgia.

Sincerely,

Marusya Chavchavadze

Executive Director/US

American Friends of Georgia

To register,  please call MIR Corporation toll-free at 877-535-9814 or email dmitry@mircorp.com.

Program Highlights

•  Enjoy a welcome dinner with guests from the U.S. Embassy and the American Friends of Georgia, a public charity.

•  Pay a visit to the Mercy Center, the first hospice and nursing school in Georgia, and meet with Mother Mariam, AFG’s first Georgian partner, at the Convent of the Transfiguration.

•  Savor a “Georgian Table” lunch at the Chavchavadze Estate, followed by a presentation by AFG’s Executive Directors and a short concert of traditional music and dance.

•  Explore the project site of the NGO “New Life,” which (with support from AFG) runs the only school for disabled children in Eastern Georgia.

•  Wander Akhaltsikhe’s Old Town and visit its school to learn how it is improving education in this isolated region.

•  Visit the Tserovani Village, one of the largest resettlement villages for  refugees of the South Ossetian conflict, and learn about AFG’s work with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across the country.

 

Day by Day Itinerary  

Days 1-4                                                                                          Tbilisi

Georgia’s strip of central lowlands has long been an important link between East and West; Tbilisi is set at the mouth of this passageway.  Admire the 4th century Narikala Fortress, pause at Sioni Cathedral, sheltering the Cross of St. Nino, and tour the Metekhi Church of the Virgin.

Visit the Mercy Center and meet with Mother Mariam at the Convent of Transfiguration.  Enjoy a special welcome dinner with guests from the U.S. Embassy and the American Friends of Georgia.

Drive out of the city to tour UNESCO-listed Mtskheta, the capital of the early Georgian kingdom of Iberia

.  Make a stop at the feudal stronghold of Ananuri with its notched fortress walls and carved doorways. 

Hotel Marriott Courtyard

Days 5-6                                                Telavi • Kakheti Region • Tbilisi

Telavi was a stop on one of the ancient trade routes from the Middle East to Europe.  Visit nearby Tsinandali village, best known for the family estate of Alexander Chavchavadze.  Enjoy a specially arranged “Georgian Table” lunch here, followed by a presentation by AFG’s Executive Directors and a short concert of traditional music and dance.

Visit the project site of the NGO “New Life” which, with the support of AFG, runs the only school for disabled children in Eastern Georgia.

Explore Kakheti, Georgia’s wine country and home to Gremi Fortress, Alaverdi Cathedral, one of the tallest churches in Georgia, 6th century Ikalto Monastery, and 9th century Bodbe Nunnery, where St. Nino is buried.  Hotel Rcheuli

Days 7-8                                                                              Akhaltsikhe

Explore Akhaltsikhe’s Old Town and visit its school to learn how, with AFG’s assistance, it is improving education in this isolated region.  Tour Vardzia, a fascinating 12th century cave town and visit the AFG-supported Youth Center.  Hotel Bonadea

Days 9-10                                                                                     Batumi

Batumi sits where the mountains meet the Black Sea.  Capital of the autonomous region of Adjara, it is the most important port and resort city on this section of the coast.

Meet with representatives of the Adjara Tourism Board and see a demonstration of the traditional  method of distilling chacha, a moonshine-type liquor usually made from grapes.  Attend a specially arranged musical performance or an art auction in the Batumi Botanical Gardens.  Hotel Era Palace

 

Kutaisi served as the capital of Georgia from 978 until 1122.  Explore its UNESCO World Heritage Site, comprised of beautifully preserved Gelati Monastery and 11th century Bagrati Cathedral.

Continue overland to Tbilisi, stopping in Gori to visit the project site of an AFG-supported NGO that works with internally displaced children from the war of August 2008.

Stop in Tserovani Village, one of the largest resettlement villages for refugees of the South Ossetian conflict.  Here, on land owned by the Georgian government, 2,200 small private cottages were constructed in a week’s time, housing thousands of displaced people.  Meet and talk with community members, tour USAID-funded entrepreneurial businesses, and learn about AFG’s work with IDPs across the country.  Gather for a farewell dinner party with AFG representatives, featuring an auction of artwork made by children.  Lali’s Guesthouse in Kutaisi, Hotel Marriott Courtyard in Tbilisi

Land Program Rate:          $3,950

(per person land tour based on double occupancy)

Single Supplement: ………….. $695

Included:  All accommodation, hotel taxes • All meals per itinerary • Arrival and departure transfers for passengers arriving/departing on scheduled start/end days • All land transportation per itinerary by private motor coach throughout the itinerary • Special cultural events and extensive sightseeing, including entrance fees • Comprehensive pre-departure packet

Not Included:  Travel insurance • Roundtrip airfare from/to your home city.  MIR can assist you with reservations. • Passport and visa fees • Personal items such as telephone calls, alcohol, laundry, excess baggage fees • Gratuities to tour manager, guides and drivers • Single supplement

Air Arrangements:  Program rates do not include international airfare.  Because there are a number of flight options available, there is no group flight for this program.  Information on recommended flight itinerary will be sent by our tour operator upon confirmation.

Reservations and Payments:  Please mail the completed registration form with deposit check ($500 per person, payable to MIR Corporation-Trust) to MIR Corporation or call MIR Corporation at 877-535-9814. You may also fax your reservation to: 206-624-7360.

Cancellations and Refunds:  Costs of cancellation if received: 91 or more days before departure, deposit paid or due in full of $500 per person; 61 days to 90 days before departure, 50% of land tour cost per person; 60 days or less before departure, no refund.  All cancellations must be made in writing to MIR Corporation and are effective upon our receipt of your written notification. 

Single Travelers:  Prices are based on double occupancy; single rates are available. We make every effort to match single travelers who request a roommate. However, shared accommodations cannot be guaranteed and a single supplement rate will apply.

Insurance:  Trip cancellation/interruption insurance is highly recommended and should be considered for your financial protection. Also important is medical insurance and emergency medical evacuation coverage. Information on insurance is available and will be mailed upon receipt of your reservation.

Responsibility:  A detailed statement of limitations and exclusions of liability of American Friends of Georgia and the Tour Operator for loss of property, injury, illness or death will be provided to passengers upon enrollment and is available to prospective travelers upon request. A signed release of liability/assumption of risk agreement is required for trip participation.

Tour Operator: MIR Corporation.  WST #601-099-932 • CST#2082306-40

©2011 MIR Corporation, all rights reserved. 

Please mail the completed registration form with deposit check ($500 per person, payable to MIR Corporation-Trust) to MIR Corporation, 85 South Washington St, Suite 210, Seattle, WA 98104 or call MIR Corporation at 800-424-7289. You may also fax your reservation to: 206-624-7360. Balance of payment for all land and air costs is due by July 7, 2011, 90 days prior to departure. Payment of balance due is by check or wire transfer only. Reservations will be processed in order of receipt, subject to availability.

The enclosed non-refundable deposit of $ _________ ($500 per person) to hold ______ place(s).

Enclosed check, payable to MIR Corporation-Trust     

Visa    Mastercard    American Express   Discover

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Credit card number                                                                                   Exp date

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Signature of cardholder

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Full name #1 (as listed on passport)                                                         Date of birth

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Full name #2 (as listed on passport)                                                         Date of birth

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mailing address (no PO boxes please)

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

City                                                                         State                                        Zip

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone (Home)                                                         (Work)                                    Email

Please note preferences:

• I am traveling alone and prefer a single room wherever available at the single supplement rate ($695).
• I will share accommodations with ______________________________________________________________

I would like to share with a     Non-smoker       Smoker  (shares are not guaranteed)

International and U.S. domestic airfare is not included in the tour price. Roundtrip economy class airfare from New York, NY is approximately $1,450 round trip. Please send me a recommended air itinerary and fare estimate between ___________________________ and Tbilisi in     Business class         Economy class

To register, please call MIR Corporation toll-free at 877-535-9814 or email dmitry@mircorp.com.

 

Days 11-14                                                                                                

Kutaisi • Gori • Tserovani • Tbilisi

Please visit us at https://www.afgeorgia.org/

And don’t forget to join us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/AmericanFriendsofGeorgia

Twitter #afofGeorgia

Thank you

Please help us fund four of our priority projects for vulnerable children in Georgia currently in need of funding by clicking onto:
https://www.afgeorgia.org/index.php?Itemid=151

1) Special Needs Kindergarten in Tbilisi, Georgia
This kindergarten will take in approximately 20 impoverished children who cannot afford fees at their local public pre-school or have been wait listed for over a year. Most of the children will be from internally displaced families or from mothers who grew up in homeless shelters. The children suffer from behavioral difficulties but the kindergarten’s teachers have 4 years experience successfully preparing similar children for Tbilisi’s elementary schools. The teachers would now like to establish a permanent program and already have 3 months funding from a corporate charity in London. They need an additional $8,000 to help cover rent, food, salaries and educational supplies for an entire year. Successful operation for a year will qualify them to apply for a permanent building in Tbilisi, donated by the Georgian government.

2) New Life School for Handicapped Children in Telavi, Georgia
New Life is the only primary school in Telavi which integrates over 50 handicapped and healthy children in the same classrooms. The school offers strong academic, vocational and arts programs while helping children develop important social skills. The school also runs a small farm and currently needs approximately $8,000 to complete construction of a combination guest house and dairy, which will provide vocational training for students and income for the school.

3) Cervical Cancer Vaccine Education Program
In May 2010, AFG helped the city of  Tbilisi initiate a Gardasil vaccination program to protect 6,400 Georgian girls ages 9-13 against cervical cancer. Merck donated vaccines valued at approximately $2.7 million which are being administered by staff at Georgia’s National Screening Center. To date only a small portion of the Gardasil vaccines have been administered even though cancer is a leading cause of death amongst Georgian women of reproductive age. Approximately $10,000 is needed to fund public outreach in schools and clinics so that mothers and their daughters will understand the benefits of the vaccine.

4) Skills for Life Program
This is AFG’s second rehabilitation program for families affected by Georgia’s 2008 conflict with Russia. Skills for Life offers classes in ceramics, cloisonee, traditional crafts and English language skills to 100 war affected children in Nikozi, a town bordering the Russian occupied zones in South Ossetia. The classes provide a beneficial form of therapy and vocational training to youth particularly in need of guidance, living in a socially precarious and economically depressed region. In 2010, the program received support from AFG’s Tbilisi fundraiser and the Democracy Commision’s Small Grant Program at the U.S. Embassy but it is still looking for up to $10,000 to continue its offerings this year.

Sincerely,
Marusya Chavchavadze
Executive Director
American Friends of Georgia, Inc.
www.afgeorgia.org

In 2011 AFG started a new round of its renowned art rehabilitation program for Georgia’s war affected population. The program is partially funded by AFG’s October 2010 Gala; additional financing was provided by a democracy commission grant from the U.S. Embassy.

Ceramics courses and a Creative theater workshop started to work in Shavshvebi temporary settlement this year.. The ceramic courses are led by George Pachkoria, a ceramic artist and educator, in a workshop created for AFG’s Skills for Life project after war of 2008. 20 children and youth participate in his classes-which are always very emotional and exhilarating for children. “It was new situation for me to work with IDP children when I start to cooperate with AFG,” George said. “They are learning about ceramics and beauty and I am learning, as well.”

He said that he has been touched by their ability to create “real art” despite the fact that many of them have never left the village. “Of course I will be happy if some of them will continue study and I will see them in the Academy of fine art later on!”

The ceramic workshop will end in June, when the children will exhibit their work. 

The creative theater workshop is lead by the Puppeteers club and Zura Kikodze. “Children in the villages have never seen marionettes before and they are very excited to try to move them-each movement, each turn of puppets –bringing lots of emotions,” he said.

“We tried this program with Xurvaleti children and were very satisfied with the result. We hope it will be just as productive now.”

According to Marika Chkhartishvili, an educator from the UMMI program who is helping with the project, the emphasis on arts helps the children overcome stress and low self esteem.

“All these art workshops help to channel children’s energy in a very positive direction-at the beginning they all had aggression and low self esteem which they overcome during classes,” she said.

AFG, MERCY HOSPICE IMPROVING QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE IN GEORGIA

Dr. Frank D. Ferris, FAAHPM, FAACE and Director of International Programs of The Institute for Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice, visited Mercy Center Hospice and Nursing school with group of his colleges and other experts. They organized a training-master class for nurses, and gave lectures on the new directions of palliative care. Dr. Ferris and his team introduced seven steps of telling the truth and new techniques of pain management.

With the increasing incidence of illness and the success of modern medicine, more people are living with advanced life-threatening illnesses for much longer. As a result, the need for pain relief and palliative care has become a major public health issue and an urgent imperative, worldwide and in Georgia.

Medical experts working with the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that more than 60% of the 50 million deaths worldwide each year, especially the six million who die of cancer and the three million who die of AIDS, could benefit significantly from palliative care services if they receive them early enough in the illness experience.

Mother Paraskeva (head of the Mercy Center Hospice) has been selected to participate in the San-Diego International Palliative Medicine Fellowship Training Program, a three-year course. This program enables physicians from outside North America to receive specialist-level training at a leading palliative care education and research facility without having to leave their home institutions for extended periods of time.

AFG which helped to establish the first hospice in Georgia, will continue to support it by starting to fundrais for Mother Paraskeva’s trip to San Diego in August 2011. Due to a grant program, only funds for airfare and accommodation are necessary for her multiple trips to the states over the next three years.

While the International Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program is based on U.S. Hospice and Palliative Medicine competencies, it is customized to the international physicians. To qualify, physicians must be from healthcare systems within countries that have demonstrated a commitment to building palliative care capacity, to provide education in the core competencies of palliative care, and that have partnered with the IPM International Programs to accomplish these goals.

FROM THE US WITH LOVE: AFG HELPS THE MOST VULNERABLE IN GEORGIA

 AFG’s chairman speaks about the organization’s history, its mission and current goals, as well its fundraising strategy with Koka Kalandadze, a journalist from Financial, a leading business newspaper in Georgia: http://www.finchannel.com/

                  ONLY TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Lena Kiladze

Executive  Director/Georgian Office

February, 2011

 

Contact in Georgia:

77, Nutsubidze St., Tbilisi 0177,

(+995 32) 397174 lenakiladze@hotmail.com

Hours after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili rejected the opposition’s ultimatum to step down, opposition leaders threatened to seize systematic control of the country using civil disobedience.
Opposition leaders announced a blockade of streets in front of parliament, the presidential residence and the Georgian Public Broadcasting headquarters every day between 3 pm and 9 pm in Tbilisi.
Levan Gachechiladze, the former presidential candidate, told EurasiaNet that the opposition plans to extend these blockades throughout the capital and, eventually, to the rest of the country until Saakashvili resigns. 

At an afternoon briefing, National Security Council Secretary Eka Tkeshelashvili told reporters that the government “will not obstruct” protestors from closing the three roads, two of which are major thoroughfares.
“We will have to see for tomorrow how the situation develops,” Tkeshalashvili said, noting that the government’s official policy is to allow people to demonstrate. “We are counting on the wisdom of our public as well.” Uniformed police in the Georgian capital remain minimal, but alert.
Roughly 90 minutes into the blockade’s 6pm start on April 10, police had partly closed access to one of the blockaded roads, outside of Georgian Public Broadcasting. Yelling slogans, opposition supporters on foot and in cars were loosely grouped on the road outside the TV station, but did not extend much beyond the building.
Meeting with foreign journalists in his office, the Georgian president showed no sign of disquietude at the protests or the opposition’s demands. “I’ve been facing these ultimatums every other month for the past five years,” Saakashvili said, calling the demonstrations a “normal part of the Georgian political scenery.”
But while neither government nor opposition shows signs of acceding to the other side’s demands, Saakashvili and one opposition leader both are repeating calls for dialogue.
“The way forward is by sitting down together, by listening to one another,” Saakashvili said. He listed the election code, constitutional amendments to increase parliament’s powers and the direct election of “some” mayors and “local government officials” as topics up for discussion. (A separate English-language statement specified direct election of the mayor of Tbilisi, now selected by the city council).
“This offer is real. This is profound. This is substantial,” he continued, speaking in English. “And I’m sure that this will produce real results.”
Within a few hours, Irakli Alasania, the leader of a moderate opposition coalition, publicly invited Saakashvili to a discussion with opposition leaders.
“[I want] to personally meet with him, to explain what is the base for the demand for early presidential elections, and, hopefully, this will be the opportunity for us all to sit down and calling from the street – and him calling from the presidential residency,” Alasania, Georgia’s former United Nations ambassador, told journalists in a briefing room set up in a downtown Marriott Hotel.
National Security Council Secretary Tkeshelashvili told journalists after Alasania’s statement that while it is too early to comment on the offer. “Generally,” the government has never been “restrained” from “open dialogue” with the opposition, Tkeshelashvili insisted, adding that the government does remain in some form of contact with the opposition, although those contacts have diminished since the April 9 protest began.
Aside from Alasania, opposition leaders gave little public sign of being ready for discussion with Saakashvili. Earlier such offers – to discuss the economic crisis, national security and election reform — have also been rebuffed.
Former Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili told supporters in front of parliament that the only matter to discuss is Saakashvili’s resignation. Koba Davitashvili, leader of the People’s Party, also dismissed the offer, saying that Saakashvili “has nothing to do” with the economic crisis so there is no point in talking about it or other issues with him.
How long protestors will opt to see the blockade through remains open to conjecture. The number of rally participants outside parliament was noticeably less than on April 9, although the turnout was sufficient to close the street, Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue.
Stressing that there will be “enough” people to force Saakashvili to resign, former Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze told EurasiaNet that the opposition is not afraid to split up into three separate protests – one at each of the street barricades.
For now, if his reading material is any indication, the 41-year-old president looks set to wait the barricades out.
On his desk, alongside copies of Jane’s Defense Weekly, the Russian tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolyets and an iPod, lay “The Hole in the Flag,” a non-fiction account of Romania’s transformation after its violent 1989 revolution. “Georgian democracy showed its maturity yesterday,” he told reporters. Holding peaceful demonstrations without incident, he added, “was a major step forward.”

Editor’s Note: Molly Corso is a freelance reporter based in Tbilisi. Elizabeth Owen is EurasiaNet’s Caucasus news editor also based in Tbilisi.
Posted April 10, 2009 © Eurasianet 
http://www.eurasianet.org

On the kickoff day of what they pledge could be ongoing protests, organizers of Tbilisi’s April 9 opposition rally gave Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili 24 hours to resign over alleged misdeeds ranging from election fraud to the 2008 war with Russia.
Tens of thousands of protestors braved a sharp spring wind to hear the country’s major opposition leaders call for Saakashvili to “acknowledge the will of the people” and step down. The protest, situated in front of parliament on the city’s main Rustaveli Avenue, lasted several hours and stretched over a city block.

“This is now the demonstration of the people’s will and they want to see change,” Irakli Alasania, leader of the moderate Alliance for Georgia coalition, told EurasiaNet after making an emotional speech to the crowd. “I believe after our address to the president . . . we will wait for the reaction. If the reaction will be adequate, of course, we would like to see things move out of this crisis so we can negotiate a solution.”
According to Alasania, Saakashvili has until 3 pm on April 10 to respond to the opposition’s demand or face continued protests. The former UN ambassador defined an “adequate” reaction as “acknowledgement” that the people demand the president’s resignation.
There was no immediate reaction from the government. Deputy Interior Minister Eka Zguladze stated that the government has already “initiated” dialogue with the opposition. There “will be more developments” in that direction, she told journalists.
Other opposition leaders, however, expressed no uncertainty about how events will unfold. Former Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjanadze told EurasiaNet in the early afternoon on April 9 that the opposition has “no illusions” that their goals will be met in “an hour.”
The English-language version of the demands distributed to journalists by Alasania’s coalition condemns Saakashvili and his government for “terror and violence, menace and harassment, reckless and injustice . . . election fraud, [and] repression of freedom of expression.”
According to Salome Zourabichvili, a former minister of foreign affairs in the Saakashvili administration, “the people” themselves will decide how long protesters should stay on the streets to secure the president’s resignation.
“I am not managing anything; it is the people who will decide how long they will stay,” she told EurasiaNet. “There is no today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. There is as long as Saakashvili does not understand what is the will of the people, and doesn’t answer to the will of the people.”
The opposition claims there were “hundreds of thousands” of protesters at the rally; the government maintains there were between 20,000-25,000 people present. The mood at the protest and throughout Tbilisi remained calm, almost somnolent. April 9 is a public holiday to commemorate a brutal 1989 Soviet crackdown against protestors that led to the deaths of 20 people. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive].
There were conflicting reports on whether or not people from outside of Tbilisi could travel to the capital for the rally. While the government and European observers maintain that there were no obstacles on roads to the capital, one mini-bus manager told EurasiaNet that drivers were obstructed from driving toward Tbilisi on the country’s only East-West highway.
In April 8 remarks to EurasiaNet, Deputy Interior Minister Zguladze had termed earlier such allegations “a blunt lie,” and stressed that police “will not be hampering traffic in any way.”
On the morning of April 9, government members and the president himself repeated that message of maintaining tolerance.
With Patriarch Ilia II officiating, Saakashvili, his wife, Sandra Roelofs, Parliamentary Speaker Davit Bakradze, Minister of Refugees and Accommodation Koba Subeliani and other senior governing National Movement members stood in front of parliament alongside opposition leaders Levan Gachechiladze and Eka Beselia at a commemoration to victims of the 1989 crackdown.
Later addressing television reporters, Saakashvili noted that, despite the differences between government and opposition, “we have one homeland” and that the two sides share the desire for “freedom and a united Georgia.”
Less than two years after the government used force to break up a peaceful protest, both opposition figures and the government are eager to show the international community that they eschew violence. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive]. International observers were invited to watch events unfold from the Interior Ministry’s “situation room” and the Public Defender’s office planned to place 100 uniformed monitors around the protest area.
There were no arrests and no violent incidents reported during the first few hours of the April 9 protest, according to Zguladze.
The early-morning show of unity, though, was sharply at odds with the ridicule leveled at the president in some protest placards. One banner to the side of the speaker’s podium declared, “Misha, don’t make us eat a tie!” a reference to a widely ridiculed film clip of the Georgian president chewing on his tie before a television interview.
Another showed Saakashvili hunched over on the ground as Russian planes flew overhead, emblazoned with the question “Is Misha cool?” (”Misha magaria?”), a dig at the president’s 2008 reelection campaign slogan.
Separating herself in protestors’ minds from such lampoons of Saakashvili proved delicate at times for Burjanadze, once a close confidante. As whistles greeted her turn at the microphone, she apologized to the crowd for having waited to part ways with the Saakashvili government. “I ask you for forgiveness,” she said.
Flanked by her teenage son and husband, Burjanadze led a crowd of a few hundred supporters who walked from Tbilisi State University to parliament. The former Rose Revolution leader, surrounded by a security detail that kept media at bay, stopped periodically to tell supporters to straighten their banners or to walk more slowly.
But which way the public will swing in this tug-of-war remains unknown. One young rally participant, Irma Khololidze, asserted that “Misha needs to go . . . he has destroyed everything.”
But a middle-aged man took a more pragmatic approach: “We have electricity. We have gas,” he said. “At this moment, compared with what we had in the past, Saakashvili is a normal president.”

Editor’s Note: Molly Corso is a freelance reporter in Tbilisi. Temo Bardzimashvili is a freelance photographer in Tbilisi. EurasiaNet’s Caucasus News Editor Elizabeth Owen added reporting to this story. Story c

ourtesy of Molly Corso. Reprinted from Eurasianet.org.

Fourteen years ago, a nine-year-old Elizbar, pictured below, came to the Dzegvi Orphanage from a well-known street gang, which had lived on the streets of Tbilisi stealing and using drugs. The darkness of the days he had left behind did not, even then, overshadow his love for animals. Today, he is a veterinary student, turning his passion into a profession, and his dreams into reality.

Elizbar’s life to date, like that of so many other children at the Dzegvi Orphanage (and like David and Alona pictured below), has been shaped by the love and respect given to them by Mother Mariam and the young volunteers who lived and taught the children at Dzegvi and Bediani. These vulnerable battered street children were given a sense of belonging, were given an education and learned by example how to give back to a community, which had shunned them. One of Mother Mariam’s strongest desires was that the children be educated so that they could reintegrate into society and become self-sufficient.

Over the years, AFG has provided financial support for the education of all the children living at the Dzegvi Orphanage and Bediani Village. Over a dozen former street children were already attending university in 2006, when an anonymous charitable foundation approached AFG to offer assistance with the students’ tuition and living expenses. In July 2007, the Dzegvi/Bediani Bursary Fund was established, through which the foundation assistance has been channeled to provide for the education of Dzegvi and Bediani children enrolled at college or university. Today, students are studying art, education, dentistry, language, agriculture, veterinary medicine, business and law.

The former street children of Dzegvi and Bediani have overcome incredible odds on their way to having successful, fulfilled lives. It is your generosity, which has made this a reality for them. Please continue to help them achieve their goals. You can donate to the Dzegvi/Bediani Bursary Fund online, or send us a donation to:

American Friends of Georgia, Inc.
P.O. Box 1200
Truro, MA 02666

(more…)

Written by Lena Kiladze, edited by Elizabeth Sidamon-Eristoff

The conflict that occurred in August of 2008 came as a shock to Georgia. It resulted in many wounded people and nearly 60,000 refugees who came from the conflict region of Shida Kartli which is the old name for South Ossetia. Many of these refugees are now staying in Tbilisi, many of them in abandoned hospitals and public buildings. Some of these refugees were staying in schools and kindergardens, and had to relocate to Gori and neighboring villages when the schools began in September. In one area in Tbilisi (Isani), 1200 refugees have been living in a former Georgian-Russian military hospital for almost three months. Only in late October, with the help of the Red Cross, was water being supplied to these buildings. These refugees get some help from the state, but it is inadequate at best. According to official information, they receive only 1kg of pasta, 300ml of sunflower oil, 0.2 kg of sugar, and 0.5 kg of beans every ten days. The refugees are unable to cook this food due to lack of kitchen facilities. Although they receive occasional donations of clothing and food, the refugees are still struggling every day.

There is another center located in the former Institute of Plants n the Bagebi area of Tbilisi where 120 IDP’s from Kekhvi, Eredvi and Dzarcemi- villages of Didi Liakhvi Valley in South Ossetia who have no place to go).

From its foundation, American Friends of Georgia has tried to lessen the struggles of people in Georgia, and with help from the Transfiguration Church, two projects, a sewing workshop and a kindergarten, have been started to help the IDP’s.

The first project is a sewing workshop for the refugee women. It is located in one of the empty halls of the Institute of Plants, where ten women are paid to provide warm blankets to the refugees. The seamstresses make nearly 30 blankets per day, and a manager of the workshop, Eliko Pavliashvili reported that, “All the women work with enthusiasm, because money is a good motivation, and at the same time it is like therapy for us”. The women are paid according to the number of blankets they make, and are very thankful for the opportunity to make money and provide assistance at the same time. Ms. Pavliashvili also mentioned to me how severe the living conditions of the refugees are. She told me that she has been wearing the same dress and jacket she arrived in in August, and that to meet the winter conditions she has only been provided with a pair of flip-flops. Nunu Kakhniashvili, a 68 year old IDP from Kekhvi mentioned how she cries almost every day and the workshop is the only place where she can forget about her own house which she no longer has and have a little hope.

The second project is the establishment of a kindergarten for the three to six year children of the refugees. The kindergarten is on the grounds of the former hospital in the Isani Center and serves as a refuge for 40 children. At the kindergarten, the children are provided with toys, healthy food, and experienced teachers. The kindergarten is a place where they can express themselves, and speak about their hopes and fears for the future. One of the children, David, who is a 6-year-old boy from the village Khsuisi, wants to become an architect.

(Another foundation –Elizabeth Gast’s foundation is participating in the organization of kindergarden.

Through projects such as the sewing workshop and the kindergarten, American Friends of Georgia is working to provide hope and a better future for the refugees living in Georgia. The refugees are very optimistic, and despite their harsh conditions, continue to have hope for the future. Your help would be greatly appreciated.