Potatoes in the Morning, Potatoes in the Afternoon, Hunger in the Evening

Everyday ration for the family is just boiled potatoes; however, there are days when they do not have it either. Nodar Inasaridze’s family with seven members in it lives in the village of Andriatsminda in Akhaltsikhe District. They are nearly starving.

Pulled down fence, a wooden house, floor in the poorest conditions, a basket for fire wood near the wood furnace and cellophane is stretched on the windows. It is the total wealth of the Inasaridzes in the village of Andriatsminda in the Akhaltsikhe district. There are two rooms in the house. Seven people live in it and two of them are disabled.  Nobody works in the family, though the past was much better.

“I was the head of the Diatomite factory. I received both good salary and bonuses. Nowadays, the only food for my family is boiled potato. This year, drought spoilt our harvest. I do not know what to do. I hate myself,” said Inasaridze.

Their daughter, Mtvarisa is mentally disabled, and the son, Gurami had his leg cut and cannot work.

“My daughter was married and lived in Adigeni with her husband. She went crazy after having born the child. Her husband left her and she has been living in my family with her child for sixteen years already. As for my son, a tree fell on his leg and we had to have his leg cut because we could not buy medicines for him. Mtvarisa receives her pension of 33 GEL a month and it is the only income for our family,” said the head of the family.

Fifteen-year-old daughter Shorena looks after her mentally disabled mother.

“I cannot go to school because my mother sometimes gets very ill, because she does not take medicines. If she gets some pills, she calms down,” said Shorena.

Very often, the family cannot buy even some bread. “We have not eaten bread for two days now. There is only one piece of bread in the house and it is for the child. How can I eat it?” said Nodar Inasaridze.

The older son, Gocha, lives in the same house with his wife and child. His daughter is fourteen months old.

“It is too cold in the house.  Once, some foreigners visited us and they went crazy at seeing our situation. They were afraid for our child getting frozen, but we cannot help it,” Gocha’s wife complained.

Though Gocha can work, he could not find a job yet.

“I work hard both in summer and in winter, but there is no relieve for us. I cannot earn enough money even for bread. Is it a life?” says Gocha.

Gulo Kokhodze, Akhaltsikhe