Word Demonstration-What Would You Like to Tell Abkhaz People after 15 Years?

“I want to meet Abkhaz children,” the youngest participant of the “Word Demonstration-What Would You Like to Tell Abkhaz People after 15 years?” wrote on the board in front of the Opera house in Tbilisi on July 27 2007. She does not remember the war and has never been to Abkhazia. Anyway, she has similar wish.

The demonstration, organized by the Human Rights Center (HRIDC), lasted one hour. The aim of the demonstration was to collect those words and messages what Georgian people want to tell to Abkhaz people. Several of them not write anything on a small board because they had too much to say. There were people who wrote their messages in Abkhazian language. Others wrote only two words about their feelings.

Initially, passers-by were afraid of the white board where they were to write their messages with colorful paints. Some people thought they had nothing to tell to the Abkhaz and did not write messages. Most part of passers-by (mostly young people) “talked” with Abkhaz people. That virtual contact was expressed in following words:

“Hello”…”A friend in need is a friend indeed,”…”we are holding out our hands to you”…”Show me New Afoni”…”Look through our eyes”… “Let’s live together”… “It will be better if we live together”…”We are missing you Abkhaz brothers”…”tell us something”… “Let’s start from the beginning”…”Let’s forget the war-it is in our past”…”Let’s build our future together”…”Mother take me to Abkhazia”…”Russians cannot care of other Russians”…”let us love each other like fifteen years ago”…”Don’t you miss us?” “We have one future”…”I do want to have Abkhazian friends”…”it is time for reconciliation”…
 
One of volunteers wrote a rhyme on the paper:

“On the bridge, on the other side
I am building ruins as a mad,
You are not sure about me and why?
Come on, give me your hand.”

“The demonstration exposed that Georgian population has less aggression regarding the problem now. It was very strange that nobody wrote negative message to Abkhaz people. The demonstration showed that there are more resources to bring two nations together, though it can remain unobserved from one sight. Initially, everybody was surprised, but they were coming and telling their feelings. We are planning to hold similar demonstrations in regions too. Let us see what kind of reaction district population will have,” said Thea Tofuria, the head of the Public Relation Office within the Human Rights Center.

In order to make the demonstration more interesting, the Human Rights Center was symbolically offering participants to learn Abkhazian language -they wrote Abkhazian and Georgian phrases on small papers fixed to candies. Candies were in the basket and passers-by could pick them up before writing messages to Abkhaz people.
 
“Sara uara bzia uzboit” means “I love you” in Abkhazian language;
“An” is “mother”;
“Amshin” is the “sea”…

That is enough for the beginning…

Eka Kevanishvili