According to the ID card, Eter Bedoshvili is 116. She has moved to her son in Rustavi from the Nokorna village in Dusheti district. The five-member family lives in a room in the former building of a kindergarten. Despite extreme poverty, the family does not receive social aid.
Carton papers are stretched on the windows and doors in the room. Water is leaking from the roof; the neighbor shared his electricity supply for them. The building is not supplied with natural air at all. Vardo Bedoshvili and her retired husband collect tree-branches on the river bank. A short time ago, a neighbor gave them firewood and now they warm the room with it.
“I lived in the Gorge. I moved from there because I was ill and could not stay alone. I have the only son and he took me here. We live in poverty here; they even stopped my allowance after I moved from Dusheti. I cannot buy even medicine. I have been here for a year already. I could not stay in the village; nobody could bring firewood for me. If I were healthier I would have stayed in village. I have pension but I do not know how much it is. I need medicines because I have many health problems. I cannot hear and see properly. I cannot move either. I miss the village but how can I go there?!”
ICMM