I was taken to a huge hospital in Rome. I was thinking it was as big as Tbilisi. There were only 12 patients including me at the time because the pandemic hadn’t peaked yet in Milan. But I saw that the number was growing every day. So, I often wondered, what if doctors couldn’t come to me physically. I was alone in the chamber and after three days I realized that the flow of patients had increased so much, that I was taken to another chamber with the second patient. After I left, the situation got out of control, nobody knew how many patients were in one chamber, because they physically didn’t have enough places.

There was one patient lying in the chamber next to me. I had never seen him but could hear his coughing. I can never describe the sounds he made. I thought, one day his lungs would have to be replaced. He probably couldn’t stand the suffering anymore and I often heard him crying or screaming in the middle of the night. One day I found out that his voice had stopped. It scared me so much. I asked myself – did he die? Then I hoped, that maybe, like me, he would have been taken elsewhere. I still don’t know what really happened. There were a lot of stories like this one. The doctor’s answers were completely hopeless. They avoided giving us a guarantee for life or health.

I really didn’t expect so much attention from the embassy. Thanks to them, I didn’t feel alone, away from my family. They brought me everything I needed, including Georgian books, that said ‘’we are with you’’. I really thought they were my friends. I needed that emotional support because back then no one knew anything about the disease. When I asked them at the hospital, what was the danger, or if it was dangerous at my age, they told me, that they didn’t know anything neither and I had to wait. Eventually, most stressful was this uncertainty. I kept thinking that if things turned worse, no one would be able to help me in the hospital and I would be left completely alone. I still don’t know how I managed to stay psychologically strong. I was trying to calm down everyone – my friends and family members.

In the end, the ambassador personally came to the hospital and took me home himself. If I hadn’t seen these attitudes and support with my own eyes, I probably wouldn’t have believed someone else. I arrived in Georgia with their help when only special flights were available and I really needed to return home. So, when there was a meeting with the Prime Minister with the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I expressed my sincere gratitude there. My three-minute speech got responses on the social network, people were cursing and swearing in such words that I couldn’t believe it. They wrote, that the government had paid me, that they wrote the thank-you note for me and that I should be ashamed to do an act like this. It was my first encounter with publicity, I had never experienced such attitudes before. I remember the first time I read hundreds of aggressive comments, most of which were comments from fake Facebook profiles, I was still in the hospital. Apparently, I became emotional and cried a lot. After the meeting with the Prime Minister, when the new wave broke, there were so many absurd accusations, that I was already laughing about it. For example, people said, that government was preparing me to become the new Minister of Finance and that was the reason for public speech. In fact, I wrote about it in public, because I wanted to encourage people who had the virus and were depressed. There were a lot of people writing to me from different countries. They thanked me for talking about my diagnosis in public. My recovery has calmed these people down.

This story somehow took me out of my comfort zone. I realized that you can’t please everyone and that’s fine. I rethought many things, I realized that the greatest power is support. When the cluster of Marneuli appeared, I saw some xenophobic comments and I was very angry. I expressed my support and wrote a post about how I had never felt in Italy that I was from a foreign country and was a threat to them. Ethnically Azerbaijanis are full-fledged citizens of this country and that aggression I heard in those days is absolutely not right. The fact is, Corona doesn’t recognize borders or ethnicity.

As for my plans, I decided to return to Italy in September and complete the master’s program that led me to Rome. It’s a two-year program and I study finance. I have a bachelor’s degree from the Tbilisi State University Faculty of economics and I would like to say that education systems between Europe and Georgia are completely different. Studying economics and finance are very different. So, I really have to learn again what students there have already learned. Most of our universities don’t even provide basic knowledge. Studies in Georgia are not based on real-world practice and I need to put double the effort. After graduation, I’m going to return and work in Georgia. Before I go back to Italy, If I had an opportunity, I would love to be involved in the new economic recovery program that is just now implemented by the government.

Author: Ida Bakhturidze
Photographer: Nino Baidauri
Translation: Mariam Kajrishvili

The post Tako Iluridze, 24 years old, Gori appeared first on WomenOfGeorgia.

Pisa and Tuscany aren’t in such a dire situation as other Italian cities and regions, but we are still terrified. People also say that number of patients is, in reality, higher and the state hides real numbers. Since the quarantine was announced, we are no longer able to move even from one commune to another without a special permit. The police are constantly checking us. I’ve moved to a friend’s house for already a month now. Because of my schedule [ed. note: Nino works as a manager in one of the supermarket chains], I’m in the high-risk category and I don’t want to have daily contact with my child.

I believe, that Georgia right now is more organized than Italy. For example, when I moved here, all of us had a mild fever, some of us had coughs as well. You can’t call the ambulance directly – you have to call the police which will then transfer the call through a special line to a doctor. I had a mild fever and cough for three days. The operator prescribed antibiotics over the phone and told us that if I didn’t have breathing problems, nobody would come neither bring me to the hospital. So, we had to stay at home and take the prescribed medications. They won’t even test you unless you’re in a very serious condition so we don’t even know if we already had the virus or not. Three days ago, my friend’s husband was diagnosed with the coronavirus. He had the same symptoms as we did and doctors told them over the phone that there was an 80% chance that he had the coronavirus, albeit in mild forms. They advised him to stay home, even though they have an 8-months-old baby in the family. Nobody can go to the hospital on their own initiative; even if you do, they’ll call the police.

I’m a manager at one of the supermarket chains. I work seven hours a day, either in the first or the second half of the day and have one free day per week. Now, because of the state of emergency, we have to work under different conditions and I have to do a lot of additional work. For example, sometimes I stand with the cashier and help him operate faster so that we avoid long lines. In addition, our employer provides special disinfecting liquids, gloves and face masks.

When I work in the evening shift, I’m the one who has to close the store. Our boss picks all of us up in his car and takes us, all of the staff (4-5 people), home. Sometimes, he calls me in the morning and offers a ride to work, even though public transport is open during the day. Regarding work, all of our needs are fulfilled. Also, since I have more responsibilities as a manager and in this situation, we have twice as many orders and other tasks as well, sometimes I have to stay an hour or longer to finish my tasks. However, no one will force us or even demand from us to do that. Last month, we stayed late a few times and worked more, so they paid overtime. Employees are protected by regulations, therefore, employers cannot treat you like an animal and lock you in the market all night long. I feel assured that my rights won’t be easily violated because the law is on my side. Consequently, I also feel respect and appreciation of my hard work from my employer, which also increases my motivation.

When I hear about working conditions in Georgian supermarkets, I’m so disappointed – how can they treat their employees that way? Here, a starting salary for a regular cashier-operator is at least 850 euros and increases with experience. When they pay 300-400 GEL and make you work like a horse for the whole day and on top of that, force you to stay there for the night, how is this a humane treatment?! Why is the government not doing anything about it? Is there not a department in the country that could control all of this? How is it, that salaries are so low, but prices are higher than in Europe? When I was in Georgia this summer, I wanted to buy meat and I remembered the price from two years ago when a kilo of meat cost 12 GEL. It turned out that it has been increased to 18 GEL in 2 years. How did such an increase happen? Sometimes, I’m really surprised by how people in Georgia are even able to live.

The Government helps us in various ways. For example, the local government has already announced a decision – all employees, who worked in emergencies, will receive an additional 600 euros per month as compensation. Legal migrants will also receive unemployment benefits, they are distributing food vouchers and etc. After the 3rd of March, schools have been closed. Children are at home and since some of us have to work outside, babysitter costs will be covered by the government as well. I didn’t need to hire one because luckily my mother is here and takes care of Andria, but whoever needs it, the government helps them.
However, the Italian government can’t help illegal Georgians. Many Georgians live here illegally, who lost their jobs and stayed without any income. These people don’t even have any savings. As you know, the life of migrants is not easy – whatever they earn, they send all of it to Georgia, and here comes the time, when they need money themselves, but they can’t even buy food and have to live in very difficult conditions. Imagine 11-12 different people living together in one house. Due to this situation, many people want to return to Georgia. But when I called the embassy, they told me that there are three thousand people in the queue. Anyone who wants to leave has to wait in the line, which means waiting for an unknown period of time.

When I look and listen to the migrants here, I sometimes think to myself, I’m a ‘’princess’’ compared to them. They have so many problems in their daily lives. I probably don’t have anything to complain about and I’m lucky to have my mother here, who always stands by my side and I can leave my child with her without second thoughts. Also, luckily my workplace didn’t close and I didn’t become unemployed. At the same time, the government helps you when you have a small child and especially when being a single mother.

Work and going outside the house in this situation is for me more relief than stress. I think it would be very difficult for me to stay at home all the time. I have one day off in the week and sometimes I even work that day. I try not to panic, because I have to deal with many people and I have a high risk of contracting the virus but I try to calm myself that since I follow all the recommendations, nothing will happen to me. The hardest part, though, is that I can’t see my child every day. I don’t know how, but the kid understood this situation perfectly. I think he has already grown up and knows, that I need to work, otherwise a lot of things will be lacking.

When I call him, he asks me that if I don’t have the virus, why can’t I go home to him? Then I explain that well, I meet a lot of people and I may have the virus and not know. After the explanation, he neither argues nor cries. Probably, he feels safe and happy with my mother. I didn’t see my child for almost three weeks and I couldn’t take it anymore. The day before I took longer disinfecting procedures than usual and on Sunday I went to see him. I wore gloves and a face mask when I arrived and he did the same. Then he told me, that he’d sit farther and we could talk like that. It was very funny to have such a distant meeting.

The attitudes have changed. For example, before that, I couldn’t imagine that the locals would visit or invite each other for coffee. But in fact, they manage well. The only place for interacting with people is on the balconies. We are getting to know each other during the quarantine – two student girls above us, student boys on the side and other neighbors as well. We have different ways of communicating. Sometimes we listen to music, or we drink beer and discuss different topics. Of course, the main topic is the virus.

At first, it was really tragic for Italians to change their lifestyle, but gradually they got used to it. Now the shops have become a place for many of them to take a walk and have fun. We are observing them the whole day and we see some people come 3-4 times per day to the shop. We have to give a warning regarding that. At first, it was difficult for everyone to follow safety procedures. They couldn’t understand what was all about. But now almost everyone is taking it very seriously. I also observe the behavior of people in the shop and day by day they are more organized keeping the distance.’’

Author: Ida Bakhturidze
Photo: Nino Gvelesiani / Geda Darchia
Translation: Mariam Kajrishvili

The post Nino Gvelesiani, 25 years old, Pisa, Italy appeared first on WomenOfGeorgia.

While living in Georgia, I had a very successful career for my age. Over the years, I have worked in top positions in the financial sector. In 2019, I turned my hobby of culinary into a business. As a result of winning a grant competition, I opened a Georgian Bakery ‘’Satskhobela’’ in Natakhtari which was meant for tourists. However, like all businesses, it was very difficult for me to grow with zero profits and subsidized the bakery’s expense with my main salary.

Legislative changes in the financial sector have cost me my job, which brought me to the personal financial crisis. That was the major reason I found fresh opportunities. I was always the one who cared the most about the family. I have always had more knowledge and employment opportunities. So, I had to work out a plan to overcome the crisis. I had to be the person who had to go into labor migration to the US to save my family.

I knew from the very beginning that it wouldn’t be a short voyage. I also knew that I didn’t come here to continue my career. Even though I have never considered any job as a shame, although it’s not acceptable for many to do the work I do, I see myself in a winning position. Cleaning the house and preparing dinner, which always has been extra free labor for a woman, I get a decent salary here. The key is to look at things positively and hopefully. I found positivity in learning the value of time, both my own and someone else’s. I also understood another level of independence and responsibility ¬– if I used to make decisions collectively with my friend or family, now I have to do it alone. Whatever I do, I know it’s for my and my children’s better future. When I first came here, I worked in a bar. I told one of my American friends, that I had my restaurant in Georgia in the past and now I was working as a waitress in someone’s bar. You know what he answered me, I’m always remembering those words, when I have a hard time: If you didn’t work as a waitress in someone else’s restaurant, you could never have a successful restaurant on your own. I don’t feel ashamed but proud of the fact that I could start a new, difficult, but interesting life – at the expense of missing my family and friends and giving up social status.

COVID 19 and Georgian emigrants

It turned out that I had to stop working after the New York Lockdown. At first, I felt insecure, but soon I received checks from my employer by mail. It turned out, that even though I wasn’t working temporarily, they considered my situation and still paid my salary. I was lucky to work as a helper in the family of artists; they loved Georgian cuisine, so they declared that twice a week they’d have a day of Georgian dishes.

Georgian diaspore is distinguished by special solidarity. Many Georgians lost their jobs during the pandemic. However, those who work help those without a salary: they often find food or money in an envelope at their door, they also help each other pay the rent. We all live here collectively and help each other.
The U.S. government has fair social services. Not paying attention to legal status, anyone can receive medical care. We have medical centers in every second block and everyone has an opportunity to use them if they notice the first signs of the virus. On the 16th day after lockdown, I got a fever of 37 degrees. However, only antibiotics were prescribed, and they didn’t consider it necessary to test for the COVID virus. Now it’s very easy to do the test: when you find symptoms, you can drive to specific addresses and without getting out of the car you’ll be tested for antibodies, which is obviously not for free and costs around $200.

I’m mostly at home. I only go out to buy groceries. Being at home has awakened one of my biggest fears, not being useful to others. Imagine, living in someone else’s land, in someone else’s house, in one room, and doing nothing. I always want to feel needed. So, I started posting live on Facebook: I want to share important information with people. Last week I covered the topic of green card.
During the pandemic, the Georgian community formed solidarity groups to help each other. We have a Facebook group, ‘We in the USA’’, in which we plan to raise money and distribute facemasks, sanitizers, and vitamins (since the is no medicine) and donated to clinics with Georgian doctors and patients.
I’m constantly thinking about what I need to overcome this situation. I would love to have the chance to hug my children, but I can’t hug them, right? Now, most of all, I need to be of use to others.

Women from Georgia in American Emigration

There are a lot of immigrant women around me who have escaped the violence of their husbands and these women are different and strong people today. Some of them have such tough stories, that it’s hard to even listen to them. One woman was forced to go to emigration by her husband to support their family financially. She spent 5 years here constantly working and was sending money home. After 5 years, her mind lit up. One day, when she left the work and looked at her nails, she felt sorry for herself. She realized that life had passed, and she didn’t leave a single day for her own pleasure. By the way, this woman soon changed her job to a lower salary to have more time for herself. She got divorced from her husband online and now she says that she is doing everything for herself to compensate for the lost 5 years.

Once I was walking down the streets of New York City talking to my mother in Messenger. I went to an Armani store, liked a dress, and when I looked at the price, I left right away. At that time, my mother suddenly asked me to go back to the store, and instead of sending money to Georgia, I had to buy that dress because I deserved it. It was such a big show of support and encouragement that migrant women are missing from their families. I would like to thank my mother for always standing by my side.

Many women here work as mother-ATMs, wife-sponsors, and although many women can follow their dreams –to travel, buy beautiful dresses, go to beauty salons – they cannot give themselves permission to do it. Actually, it’s the pressure their families put on them. ‘’how can you take care of yourself, – you are there to work and you have to send money’’, this is the criticism that makes women forget about themselves and turn into robots. That’s why for such a woman’s life often flies by them, years go by and one day they discover that the best part of their lives has been spent in hard work and the pleasant memory cards are empty.

Even though motorsport is my hobby, and I have taken part in many competitions while living in Georgia, I refrain from enjoying this sport because of its high cost. However, travel is something I can’t reject. Actually, when I was planning my trip, I didn’t post it on Facebook, because of the same criticism. But I repeat that family support is of great importance to migrant women. And if you have such women around you, never spare warm words to support them.

There is a time when I have emotional days and I avoid sharing this sadness with my friends in Georgia. If I feel sad here, I don’t want to make other’s days harder. There is no time for sentiments. You fight independently, and you’re certain that it contributes to your personal growth. Here we all have our own USA, but we still have some common rules: rule #1 – Don’t think about the past. Rule #2 – look at the problem as a lesson that will strengthen you. Rule #3 – find the difference between loneliness and independence. Deal with your problem and grow together. If you need crutches now, you will be stronger tomorrow, and finally, you’ll become someone else’s guide.

Author: Maiko Chitaia
Photo: Bela Maghlaperidze / Nina Baidauri
Translation: Mariam Kajrishvili

The post Bela Maghlaperidze, New York, 34 years old appeared first on WomenOfGeorgia.

,,I was 29 years old when I emigrated and came back after 14 years.

My sister was very young when she had a brain aneurysm. The chance of survival was only 2% but I wanted to take our chances. I was married then, living in Tbilisi with my husband and child. I did everything I could: I got money from private creditors and after a surgery and 46 days in a coma, I saved my sister’s life. To be honest, I didn’t get any support from my husband. I couldn’t forgive him that, and I no longer live with him. 

I returned with my three-year-old child and my debt to the village, to my mother. I have suffered such poverty! When people came to visit my sister, I was looking at their hands and what they brought. When our neighbor gave us one pot of meal, first I would feed my child, then my sister and my mother. Back then kindergarten cost 5 GEL but sometimes I didn’t even have that 5 GEL so that my child would get a free meal there. I was very worried about my responsibility: when you’re taking your child with you and take on the responsibility to raise him, either you should provide more for him, or at least the same as before. I started thinking about going abroad for work, but my mother was against it, concerned about what people would say. So, I took it into consideration. Women who went abroad for work had a bad reputation in our village. But once, when I saw my child coming back from kindergarten with wet feet because his shoes were ruined, nothing could stop me. I saved 50-50 Tetris and with 6 GEL went to Batumi in hopes I could move from there to Turkey and find a job. 

It turned out like that – I worked for 3 years in a family in Bulgaria, then a year in Azerbaijan and the last 10 years in Turkey, taking care of an old man. In the beginning, I only had a one-way ticket and a sandwich and I remember I didn’t even have the money for the toilet and the driver gave me 10 liras.

I had to work in very difficult conditions. Before I learned the language, I was working on a very low salary. I was paid 400 dollars for 24 hours a day, mostly without any breaks. I was doing a very hard job: taking care of an elder, who couldn’t do anything by himself, and also, I had to do the household chores. I only had one day off per week and on that day, I was going to another job – cleaning houses so that I would earn a bigger monthly salary. Most of the women there were struggling like that. In addition to that, you couldn’t feel safe there – if you don’t have documents, you may not even get a salary. I know many cases when women got abused, but nobody cared about it. Nobody was interested in us. Many of us didn’t have health insurance either, because in that case, you have to pay taxes and get legal documents, which, of course, means you get paid less. Everybody is trying to survive. If you’re strong enough, you’ll survive and your main goal will help you through. I know a lot of women who work like that for years, sending money, but they’re not improving their living conditions. They are wasting their life dreaming. Do you know why? because the money they send is easy money for their family members and they are spending it easy too. Once I transferred 300 dollars to my family and I arrived soon for a couple of days. I found they didn’t even have anything to eat. After that, I decided that I would not send money directly, but pay the store for the month and my family would have credit in the store to buy products. I went intending to return. Indeed, I’m very sorry for women who are slaves to their family credits and can never afford to come back. 

Migrant women have to work under pressure: First of all, we are very cheap labor abroad, women support family members and for them, that money is never enough; plus, we have to live with ”what people say about us”. A couple of times, when my mother was talking to me on Skype, she went to the neighbor to convince the whole village that I was really working in a family and not doing anything ”wrong”. Now when I see a migrant woman uploading a photo on Facebook, I know she’s doing that to show people that they are taking care of their elderly, to satisfy people’s curiosity. 

When I moved to work in Turkey, I already had a salary of 1000 dollars. I could still make some savings even when I only earned 400 dollars. My first goal was to pay back the debts, I already had up to 50,000 GEL in debt with additional costs. I contacted all the private creditors and asked them to extend the payment plan. I paid all of it in 4 years. The next goal was to build a house. All of us lived in a small kitchen. I remember when I walked by some shops in Turkey and saw some kind of beautiful trousers or jackets, I calculated its price and thought about what I could do with this money for my house. So, I resisted, always. 

I spent my best years in a struggle like this. I never saw my child go to school, neither his dance performance. I watched him grow up in photos and videos. But the only thing I knew was that I had to come back. After paying back the debts and building the house, I had one more wish. I wanted to buy a car. Before I left my husband, he told me ,,he’d enjoy watching me crash and burn”. I thought to myself, the day will come when I’ll have my house, my income, I’ll raise a great child and will have a car too. When I returned to Georgia, I visited my ex-husband. When he appeared, I horned the car and blinked the lights. He was speechless. It was such a great pleasure that it was almost worth 14 years of struggle. 

I returned to Georgia in 2016. I had some savings and I started thinking of what I ought to do. Once, in winter, I saw greenhouses in Kutaisi. I thought, if a Georgian went outside in winter, there must be money in that. I got interested in greenhouses, but I didn’t want to risk without having any knowledge. I went to consulting centers and would listen to some men in the village, what they were saying about farming, I also checked prices in the market. That’s how I collected information and decided to make a greenhouse for cucumbers. The first thing I learned was that I had to install a drainage system for a successful harvest. So, one day I brought excavators, I dipped the land, put stones in the ground and build 2 greenhouses. My mother was worried about me, telling our neighbors that her daughter put her savings in the ground. Neighbors were looking at me suspiciously, everybody looked at me like I was crazy. They gave me advice, to go to Tbilisi and buy a condo there, so I could live off of rent. 

Then there was the state grant with 60% co-financing. Most of the banks refused to give me credit, but one followed up. I wrote a business plan and got financed. After a few months, I already had 5 greenhouses. After some time, I got the trust of donors and after some time, the agro-farmer association gave me 9,000 GEL for the heating of greenhouses. 

Now I have cucumber harvest all year round. I harvest 20 tons a year. In winter prices go up to 6-7 GEL and I try to have more harvest in this season. I started at 800 square meters and now it’s 2000. In addition, I built a pig farm. When I get some additional income, I always buy land around me. I built an orchard for Alucha (Caucasian fruit) and I’m waiting for the harvest the next year. There’s demand for asparagus on the market and I’m planning to cultivate it the next year. 

In the village, who thought that I was crazy before, now there’s people asking for jobs. I have several neighbors employed. I have my own management style: everyone has their part of responsibilities and nobody does the same thing, so they can’t blame each other for mistakes. I’m a strong parent but I rather prefer him to be a hard worker and I pay him for his work, so he can take care of his needs than depend on me and my income for the whole life. As you know, in Georgia, a 40-year-old man is usually still a child and needs care. 

I don’t get profits at this moment, because all of it goes to the bank loans. In 2 years, I’ll be able to pay for it completely and then I can talk more about the income. Anyway, during this job, I grow up every day and I’m getting better knowledge and a lot of experience. I will be very strong without debt. Some time ago, I saw boys were building a greenhouse in the upper side of the village. I went there and saw their work. I told them they made a mistake using thick pipes, which can’t get hot enough and the heating can’t power them. They didn’t believe me since I’m a woman and wouldn’t know a thing. They finished harvesting in February; I’m still getting the harvest.

Lately many men ask me to marry them. Where are so many divorcees and widows coming from?! I told them I have a child, a house, my own business and a car; why would I need a husband? To just take care of them and wash their socks?! Just why? No men can bring me happiness! Any one of them would start sticking their nose in everything I already do. And then they will start putting me in their frame; I’m just independent like that, I can’t live in someone else’s frame. So, I prefer to be on my own, moving slowly, but always forward.”

The post Keti Tomeishvili, 48 years old, Vani appeared first on WomenOfGeorgia.

I took a loan for the travel and arrived here two years ago. My sister-in-law has been living here for the last eight years and I went to her flat in the beginning; I didn’t have a problem with shelter. Then I found a job.

‘I haven’t seen the sea yet’

‘My first job was to clean the flat of a Cypriot family; it was a one-time assignment. I knew if they liked the work I did they would recommend me to others, and this is what happened’.

‘I regularly visit several families now; from Monday to Saturday, every day is busy for me. I clean two houses a day working 9–11 hours. This is quite hard work, because I do it almost without break. The families are too demanding, and fearing for my job I do crippling physical work and am tense all the time.’

‘One of the most difficult obstacles for me was the language barrier. Now I have managed to study some words and phrases, but my knowledge of the language is only really related to housework. No one talks to me in the families I work in.’

‘I used to earn €4 ($4.70) an hour at first. This was the minimum wage I could be given, but I had to send money to my family in Georgia so I agreed to it. Now I’m paid €5–6 ($5.90–$7.10) per hour, depending on the family and the difficulty of the work. My monthly income is €1,150 and I send all of it to Georgia except for what I spend on rent, transport, and food. Of course, I can’t buy many things for myself. I’ve been in Cyprus for two years and you might not believe it, but I haven’t seen the sea yet. I prefer to give up my own interests and pleasures but have my children and grandchildren happy.’

‘The only happiness I have after a long workday is a Skype call with my children. This is my holiday. I try to spend my free hours at home to restore my energy for the next day and be strong. This is how I’ve spent the last two years.’

‘We stand side-by-side’

‘You will never understand how hard it was for me emotionally. We women can bear being tired and bear physical labor, but the emotional battle is very difficult to fight. I never experienced anything like this before, but now I know the pain to the soul of missing children, when you feel like a foreigner in a foreign country, feeling spiritual loneliness and helplessness. A day will not pass without me crying.’

‘Here I meet women who owe money to people or banks. Some people owe 20,000 or 30,000. They take these loans for the welfare of their families, hoping that economic conditions in Georgia would improve for them. When you don’t have any other choice in your homeland then you are forced to leave. These women work and pay interest and take care of their families from here. Some people plan to come here for 2–3 years and stay for 9–10 years without going back. We, the women, cannot help each other financially, but we cheer each other up, we stand side-by-side and it means a lot.’

‘I prefer to take the responsibility on myself’

‘My goal is to save some money, improve living conditions at home, and probably go back in two years. Then I hope I will find a proper job, to have enough income for myself and be happy with my grandchildren. I don’t feel ashamed of working for other families. I can do a job of any difficulty.’

‘I have left two married daughters and a husband in Georgia. None of them work. My husband sometimes does painting jobs, but it’s not stable. He tells me often that he will come to Cyprus with me, but I doubt he could work in the same conditions. I would have to bear the burden and it would just be a double expense for me.’

‘Maybe it seems that we women justify men, cover up for them, but I can bring one simple example: he left to Sweden once to find a job, but came back in two months because he couldn’t find anything and also didn’t want to violate the visa rules. I paid for his trip and it was just a waste of money, I had worked for nothing. This is why I prefer to take the responsibility on myself, to rely only on myself and not to make similar mistakes.’

‘We are lost between the two countries’

‘Society lied to us women, about our obligation to sacrifice ourselves for our children and families. This is not right, but it has become part of our nature and we can’t do things any other way. I think at such times you should hope for your country to help you to somehow carry this burden, support you at least in getting employment, or sharing experience and advising how you can correctly invest money earned here.’

‘The hardest thing to realize is that the state doesn’t support you either in your homeland or here.’

‘I’ve never thought about what a woman who lives here illegally could do if she were subjected to violence. We don’t have any information about it. Even getting medical treatment is difficult and expensive. If it’s not a big problem, we just rely on home remedies and self-treatment.’

‘I’ve lived in Nicosia for two years now. The Georgian consular office is here nearby, but I’ve never heard them organizing any meetings to listen to our problems and troubles. We don’t feel like citizens of Georgia at all.’

‘We are lost between the two countries and no one, except for our families, knows that we exist.’

Special thanks to Ida Bakhturidze and Salome Sagaradze for assistance.

This article was originally prepared by Maiko Chitaia for Women of Georgia. Its English translation was prepared by and first published on OC Mediahttp://oc-media.org/voice-from-cyprus-women-of-georgia-mai…/

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When I first left Georgia I felt like I left my heart there. I was not alone. 45 women travelled together by bus. Everybody looked so downhearted. We tried to keep up our spirits. Even though this was our first time abroad and we should have been interested in everything, nothing made us happy. Feeling sad and brokenhearted, we didn’t care much about anything.

What did I find most difficult? Leaving my children and my family, of course. I had never left them before and I was not sure what was going to happen. I was most concerned about my youngest child, who was only 12 years old when I left. I want to thank my children for doing so well and not causing me problems. Hearing good news from them helped me go on. I have had to go through many hardships since I arrived here. For example, I was not able to come to Georgia when my husband died. But I have had things to be happy about either – I have helped my children to get education and find their way in life! What else do we have here to be happy about?! We are actually prisoners! Yes, you are not able to freely go anywhere. I have been out for two hours now and run back like crazy. This lady would start calling me even if I were one minute late. We have a great responsibility. These two hours belong to me and I can go out. Even though I will not be responsible if anything happens during that period, this is a big stress anyway–what if she falls down or something else happens to her?! The most difficult thing is that we live with the lives of the elderly we take care of – we have to do whatever pleases them. Very often you want to open a window and let some air in but you may not because she is cold; you want to switch on TV when you like to watch it but you may not because she is bothered and does not like that. You feel restricted in everything because you are not in your home! I have lived in other people’s homes and have not had my own life for thirteen years. Moreover, it is rather difficult emotionally when a person you look after dies. I have had several such cases and those people have taken a piece of my heart away. This was the person you used to take care of. So when I see their belongings in the house after their death I feel horrified. This job is difficult morally rather than physically.

When I observe the relationships between women and men here, I see that men help their wives more and show more respect towards them. For example, when the son of the lady I take care of visits her, he is often in a hurry because he has to do laundry or cook. When I see that and compare the environment with that of Georgia I understand that women in Georgia have really had a miserable life. I think this is the reason why many women do not want to return there.

I am also afraid of getting old. I won’t be able to live on the pension that is provided in Georgia, will I?! Here the elderly are happy because they can hire a caregiver and buy their medicine themselves, so their children do not have to spend even one euro on them. This is why recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the old age…
Most of all I am afraid that I will not be able to find a job at this age when I come to Georgia. I think all the time what a women of my age should do when she arrives in Georgia! Should I count on getting financial support from my children? I do not want to come back to a poor life but there is nothing to make me sure that this will not happen. I already got used to living here, I also got used to being far from my children. After all I am not that old, I can still work, so I will continue working here!”

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