Kate (1) is an internally displaced person (IDP) from Sukhumi. At present she is living in Gali. She remembers the hard days of her childhood when she was left homeless, together with her mother and sisters, after they were displaced from Abkhazia. Kate and her family moved from town to town in search of shelter. Finally, they were provided with a room in a hotel. Kate returned to her relatives in Gali after graduating from university, as she found it easier to get a job there. Nowadays she works for a non-government organisation in Gali. The story was recorded in Georgian.
"I could see people falling, dying..."
When the war broke out in Sukhumi, I was very young and I don’t remember it well, but I do remember that we were all at home. There was gunfire. My sisters, my mother and I were there. Suddenly it was announced that we had to leave. We boarded a ship. It was going to Batumi (2). Our ship sailed earlier than scheduled. Everyone was shivering; people were crying; (‘shells’ in Russian) were exploding and I could see people falling, dying, running.
Another ship that was sailing behind us was hit by the and exploded. I don’t remember how many days we were sailing, but we arrived in Batumi. Aslan Abashidze (3) met us at the port. It was a very warm reception. He took us to the Mtsvane Knontskhi holiday home. We settled there. At the beginning the conditions were very good and we lived there.
At the beginning we were very warmly received in the holiday home. There was my mother, three sisters and my grandfather. The room was very small []. There were two beds. There was very limited space.
It was September but none of us went to school. Then we started going to school. All the children staying in the holiday home would follow the railway track to go to school in Makhinjauri (4).
Back to top"We had come in summer clothes"
We went to school until winter arrived. As for the winter, we were not ready for it. We had come in summer clothes [when the war broke out]. When it started to snow, we stayed at home. We didn’t have winter clothes. We were already running out of food. At that time we three sisters started crying and asking our mother to take us [to Zugdidi (5)].
At the beginning we were provided with some assistance - a kilo of beans and some simple food - but we didn’t have a cooker to cook the food on. There were no facilities in the room in the holiday home to cook food either. So we decided to come here [to Zugdidi]. My grandfather had left earlier because my maternal grandmother lived in Gali and he came to look for her. Gali was occupied later [byfighters] and we didn’t know where she was. My grandfather left and we followed, to look for them.
Back to topAlmost left behind
We left. There was a lot of snow and we were wearing (‘sandals’ in Russian). We were freezing, crying; it was torture. My youngest sister was about five years old at that time.
We came to Makhinjauri, where the train [to Zugdidi] should have passed. We were standing there in the cold. There was a guard post and they allowed us in. Life was hard everywhere and when the train stopped it was completely packed with people. Even the passageway was packed. My sisters and my mother somehow managed to get on the train. At that time the train moved off and I was left outside.
I’m running, the train’s leaving, the train is about to go into the tunnel, I’m still outside. I’m shouting and running along beside the train. At that moment, a policeman noticed me; he picked me up and raised me to the door. We passed into the tunnel just as I was bundled through the door.
Back to top"We were crying; we were cold"
It was not a direct train. We had to change trains at Samtredia (6). We didn’t have money to buy tickets for the train to Zugdidi. We had some macaroni and things like that, distributed earlier. My mother sold them in the station and got some money. She bought us some food with part of the money. We ate it and felt a little better. I think we stayed in the station that night, because there was no train to Zugdidi. At last the train arrived the next morning. We got on it and went to Zugdidi. When we arrived there was no transport from Inguri station and we had to walk. My sister was very young. Sometimes we carried her, sometimes she walked. We were very young as well.
We got to Zugdidi but there were people there. We were crying; we were cold. The Mkhedrioni guys told us to go inside and get warm. They treated us so well. They made tea for us. When we got warmer, we set off to Tsalenjikha (7) on foot. There were no buses. As we were walking a horse with a cart caught up with us. We asked for a ride and got on it. We travelled half the way and then we saw the bus coming. We jumped off the cart and got on the [crowded] bus with a lot of difficulty.
Back to top"So many people slept side by side"
We got to Tsalenjikha. This was my grandfather’s homeland. We had to go to his brother’s place. When we got there, all our relatives were there. We stayed for quite a long time - about five or six months. So many people had to sleep side by side. There were no [proper] conditions and we had to find another solution. We decided to move to the town.
There was a hotel where a certain number of (IDPs) were admitted. We, the IDPs, occupied almost three floors. The hotel was on the first floor because it still functioned at that time.
Then I went to school. It’s only now that I can talk about it easily - at the time there were all kinds of problems. There was no food, no electricity. The conditions were very bad. My sister and I went to school together; we went to the fifth form. My youngest sister stayed at home. She was too young [to go to school].
Back to topGradual improvement in conditions
We just made ends meet on our own. There was no help from the government. There was just [an allowance of] 11 laris (8) and I don’t even remember when they started that. At the beginning there were some free cafeterias; they distributed some bread and food, I don’t remember well. There were some one-off cases of assistance. A tuition fee of 10 laris existed at that time, but the refugees (IDPs) were given free tuition.
The first three years were the hardest. It became a bit better later. Little by little the situation improved. We settled down. My grandmother started to work in the market. My mother was a teacher; she started to work but the salary was just 20 laris a month - it was not worth leaving the family without anyone to look after them.
Little by little our living conditions improved. I finished school in Tsalenjikha. That year I was supported by my family to go to study in the foreign languages department in Kutaisi (9). But I moved to the tourism department later, because we couldn’t afford the tuition fee. Tuition was free of charge in the tourism department. So I completed the course in tourism management.
Back to topLife in Gali
When I graduated from university I came to my relatives here in Gali. I was offered a job and started it the same year. I worked as a teacher of English in a non-government organisation in Gali. The salary left much to be desired but it’s better than nothing. We taught English, Russian, Abkhazian, and - unofficially - Georgian as well. This was the reason that the Gali residents preferred to come to us than to other preparatory schools, as Georgian was not taught elsewhere. So, I’m living at my relatives’ because I don’t have my own home; my home is in Sukhumi.
It’s been two years that [I’ve been here] and have really wanted to go back to Sukhumi. All I’ve done is get by .
Now I’m all right in Gali. But at the beginning I felt awkward. I was scared here. The Abkhazians too were different. When I was walking in the street, they almost jumped out of their cars. I wore a hat for a while and they were even trying to peer under that hat to find out who I was. They would even stop the car and talk to me. I was scared; I was just a girl. It was still dangerous for the young. I didn’t want to come to Gali. But when I came, I started to work. They too got used to the situation of Georgians and Abkhazians living side by side. Now I’m not afraid any more, because they haven’t done anything wrong. They were just watching me at the beginning and that’s all.
When I got a local passport (10), I had contact [with the Abkhazians]. They received me politely and prepared the document. I haven’t had a problem so far.
Back to topProblems crossing the border
It’s very difficult for me to stay with relatives here, away from my family, who are in Tsalenjikha. I came to Gali because I couldn’t find any job there. Since starting to work here, I’ve been thinking about my career. It’s difficult; it’s complicated to go through the Enguri bridge граница (‘border’ in Russian). You have to produce the пропуск (‘pass’ in Russian), the documents. So you can’t do that every day just to see your family. This is the problem, and it hurts me.
[My family] doesn’t come here. My mother has her прописка (‘registration’ in Russian) in Sukhumi. Several times she’s had a problem crossing the border. She is not allowed to enter [Abkhazia]. Besides, she’s afraid - perhaps not quite afraid, as it is possible to come in - but she’s nervous now. Once, twice, three times she was not allowed in and now she’s nervous about coming.
Back to top"Something has to improve"
Whatever happened, it was very bad for us... The lives of children my age could have been completely different if there hadn’t been this war and conflict. We were living a completely different life, we had a completely different pace of life from the one we have now and this is very bad.
Something has to improve. It’s not right that we should live on our land as if we are guests. We come as guests, get a пропуск (pass in Russian) as guests, and I don’t feel at home here. It has to improve, and I want it to improve. I would like to return to Sukhumi, work there and feel that I’m at home.
(1) Not her real name
(2) Town on the Black Sea; capital of the Ajaran Autonomous Republic.
(3) Leader of Autonomous Republic of Ajara, 1991-2005
(4) Hamlet near Batumi, Ajara region
(5) Town in western Georgia
(6) Town in western Georgia, in Imereti region
(7) Town in the Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti region
(8) Georgian currency: 1 US dollar equals 1.6 laris
(9) Second largest city in Georgia, in Imereti region
(10) Form N 9 - temporary identification card provided together with a pass, which enables a person to enter Abkhazia
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