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Residential House That Turned into “Asylum”

April 24, 2008
Gulo Kokhodze, Adigeni

Adigeni starts from the Meskheti Street, five families live in the first two-storied residential building in the street. “All widow and impoverished people live here,” said residents of the building. Adigeni inhabitants call it asylum for homeless people.

Locals recall the construction process of the building: “The building was built when soviet governments organized mass cleaning days on Saturdays and employed everybody who was in the street. The “builders” had no idea how to construct the house…”

The windows are covered with cellophanes which also look shabby and are torn. The walls are damaged and the window-frames are half-broken too.

Locals gather just behind the building. They hide from the sunshine in the shade of the building, take their places on the shaky bench and complain about their problems.

“I live alone, and my only income is pension. I cannot hear and see properly. But when somebody tells me that the pension is being distributed I easily hear that news,” said seventy-four-year-old Kristine Tabatadze.

The lonely pensioner receives 55 GEL as a pension and thinks that it is not suitable for her working experience: “I initially worked at school as clean-woman, and then I worked at the gas Distribution Office. I have worked for twenty-five years and 55 GEL cannot reimburse such a long working experience.”

Four more families live in the building besides her.

“I have lived here alone for 34 years. I do not work. I buy the food only with my pension. In the past I worked in the fruit factory as a worker and earned five GEL a day,” said Izolda Chagunava.

“I was a worker in the factory; we prepared fruit juices and cans. I earned good money. Then was good time,” recalls sixty-two-year-old Klara Turmanidze.

The residential building is not supplied with water and residents have to fetch water from a spring four hundred meters away.
 
Only one family has TV set out of five families. Granny Kristine, visiting the family with TV kisses the screen when Saakashvili appears on TV. She hopes that she would spend “happy elderly years” during his governance. However, she cannot see anything promising yet. “My neighbors and I live in poverty.”  

The roof of their “asylum” is damaged. The rain leaks to the ground floor. “All of us put bowls under the ceiling when it is raining,’ said the inhabitants of the building.

Old people love speaking about politics.

“God blessed Saakashvili’s mother, he granted us with vouchers on fire-wood and electricity,” said the old people. However, none of them have ever used the voucher on fire-wood.

“Why should I need this voucher? How can I fetch wood from the forest? With my pension?” asked Klara Turmanidze. “Anyway, I trust Saakashvili. I cannot see anybody else better than he is. If he makes some mistake, we will overthrow him too.”

Children are not playing in the yard. We cannot see children’s clothes among the laundry hanging in the yard. The eyes of the residents of the building shone when we mentioned children. Only Klara Turmanidze has grandchildren who live in the capital.

“My grandchildren arrive here in summer and I am afraid to take them into house. Everything is shaking here; if you move a bit fast in the room the furniture is making strange voices,” said Turmanidze.

The hostess offered coffee to us; they have not received guests for so long time. “We are not that much impoverished not to offer coffee to a guest.”

Granny Kristine made her hair to look nice in the photo; hid her stick in the corner and whispered, “Why am I so old?”

“We do not need much. The district starts from this building and they should take care at least of the appearance of it,” local old people suggested the local government.

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