The Poor Denied Free Meals at Telavi Charity House

The Poor Denied Free Meals at Telavi Charity House

‘A Small Paradise’ - that is what single and lonely pensioners call the Charity House on the first floor of the Administration building. This is a place where they can get a free meal once a day. The gates of ‘paradise’ however are not open to every poor and lonely pensioner. Many pensioners, living in extreme poverty, have been denied the free meals on offer and only a small number of people can actually use the service.

Some pensioners still hope that one day the doors will open for them too, but they refuse to name themselves for fear of losing their chance to get such benefits. They state that if the authorities find out their names “they will never be permitted to have free meals there”. Liana Beriashvili, an inhabitant of Telavi, is one of the only people who dared to name herself and criticize the administration.

Liana Beriashvili, 66 lives on Megobroba Street in Telavi. The lonely pensioner says that her only income is her pension. Liana suffers from various illnesses such as diabetes and heart and liver diseases, therefore the 33 laris pension is not enough even to buy the medicines she needs. Although Laina asked the director of the Charity House, Nino Vashakidze, several times for free meals, she was denied them because the beneficiaries are supposed to be those who are on the verge of extreme poverty.

“Nino Vashakashvili told me that there are people who need the assistance more than me and that they could not let somebody else die in order to help me”, says Liana Beriashvili.

Nino Vashakashvili considers the pensioner’s allegations unfair. She stated that no one addressed her with such a request. What is more, it appears that the only document needed to make use of the services at the Charity House is for a pensioner to fill out an application.

“The person you speak of has never addressed me, if she comes to Charity House, we will satisfy her requests immediately. If she is lonely and helpless, we will assist her; that is why our service exists. She will just have to fill out an application”, says Nino Vashakashvili.

However, some pensioners confirmed that Vashakashvili not only refused to provide free meals to Liana but also to other pensioners as well. Mrs Eteri, aged 71, who also told us her name said, “I contacted her because I was really hard up. I live in Kurdgelauri. Nino told me that they do not feed villagers and added that if I could get there from the village I could just as well work to support myself.”

The pensioners often discuss the fact that the majority of the beneficiaries at the Charity House are relatives of those employed with the administration - although they do not talk about it in public.

Although the authorities consider such Charity Houses as one of their recent successes, opening new ones nearly every day, the number of people who starve in Telavi still increases.

Veriko Kobiashvili from Kakheti