Georgia: The Forgotten Children

The small former Soviet republic of Georgia, on the eastern edge of Europe, hit the headlines last November when tens of thousands of people stormed the parliament building, forcing President Eduard Shevardnadze to resign. Today, a new government and president are in place, which is keen to tackle the country’s chronic economic problems. Yet unemployment and corruption are rife, and poverty widespread.

Many families cannot feed their children and place them in institutions. UNICEF’s child protection officer Maya Kuparadze in Georgia says some 4,500 children are placed in institutions, baby homes and orphanages. "The majority of kids in institutions are social orphans, and placed there because of poverty in their families and the incapability of their families to provide proper care for their kids," she explains.

Kuparadze says this development is a heritage of Soviet times. "But the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition to a market economy created more problems for families -- social, economic and political problems -- and that’s why the numbers of kids in institutions has increased."

And the situation is getting worse, she adds, both in terms of numbers, as well as in terms of conditions and the quality of care in institutions.

One of UNICEF’s projects in Georgia involves training social workers to single out the most vulnerable children. Eteri Tsakaia, who leads one of the teams in Tbilisi, says the conditions in most of the institutions are very poor.

A girl in Georgia

"They don’t get enough food and they aren’t given enough to wear," says Tsakaia. She and her team would much rather see the children at home with their families. "It is essential that they live with their own parents. Failing that, we try to find foster families for them because it is better for them to live where they are loved and nurtured. That just can’t happen in an institution."

Many of the families who put their children in homes do so with great reluctance. The social workers are also trained to target families thinking of placing their children in institutions, like Zeynab Zhizhilashvili. She takes care of her two grandchildren, even though her pension is not enough to support them.

"I wanted to put them in an institution," Zhizhilashvili says. "I couldn’t see any other way out. It was just at that moment that I was told I could get help from UNICEF. And so, they are still at home with me now. I am so glad I didn’t put them in an institution, and that we all still live together."

She says if it hadn’t been for her dire financial situation, she would never have considered placing them in a home.

"I’d say that half of Georgia is in financial difficulties like mine. Under the Communist regime, at least we received our wages and pensions, at least there was work to be had. Today, young people can’t find work, and as for old people like me, well, it’s impossible."

The Digomi orphanage in the capital Tbilisi is anything but comforting. There are no swings in the tiny yard outside and no colorful posters on the walls of the bare stone corridors. The windows are cracked and the whole building smells of boiled cabbage. 120 children live here.

A boy at a UNICEF-assisted school

Nona Magradze, the director of the children’s home, says she tried to make the place as bright and as happy as possible for the children. But times are hard.

"I wouldn’t say that the conditions are terrible, because you know everyone in Georgia lives very badly at the moment," says Magradze. "But we used to live much better. I’ve worked at this children’s home now for 23 years, and in comparison to the old days, I can tell you that conditions have never been so bad."

Magradze says she encourages the children to go home on the weekends, if they have parents. "I think that is the most important thing in the life of a child. Of course, it’s difficult when a mother only has enough money to feed her children black bread. But living with one’s parents is better than living in an institution. To live at home is the most important thing."

Some of the children in the home have only been here for a few weeks. Some have been here for as long as they can remember. But if UNICEF’s initiatives in Georgia work out, the children in orphanages like this could be given the opportunity to go back home or move in with foster families.