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FROM THE FIELD

A wedding in a war zone - Nino Gvianishvili
16 Sep 2008 09:45:40 GMT
 Source: Oxfam GB - UK
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Background

•  Georgia, Abkhazia, S. Ossetia

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Tina Lavachi bids farewell to friends she has made in the displaced persons centre in Tbilisi.  Although

Nino Gvianishvili
Nino Gvianishvili

Nino Gvianishvili

they’ve only known each other a short time, they are people united through a shared experience of the conflict and its aftermath.

Tina’s new friends are returning home to their Georgian towns and villages while she remains.  Home is a place that Tina knows she may have lost forever. Her village of Nikosi is only a ten minute drive from the South Ossetian capital of Tskinvali, a town devastated during the conflict and now occupied by Russian troops.  Nikosi is located in what the Russians now refer to as the ‘buffer’ or ‘security’ zone, a swathe of territory located north of the hard-hit Georgian city of Gori and South Ossetia.

From the long, dark corridor of the Tbilisi secondary school where she now lives, Tina gestures me into her room. As we sit down, she begins to tell me her story. I soon learn that she is a mother of three and soon to be a grandmother.

“My daughter is five months pregnant so when the shooting started, the first thing on my mind was to get her out. We took her to Tirdzinsi a village further away from the fighting in Tskinvali. My plan was to leave her there and go back to my village, but the situation escalated into utter chaos and it became physically impossible for me to make my way home. We had no choice but to leave for the capital, we knew our lives were in danger.”

Tina tells me that in spite of her efforts she could not persuade her mother-in-law to leave the village.   She was frightened her home would be taken over by gangs of looters or militias that she said were roaming in the lawless region. So, instead, she stayed on to stand guard, disappearing into the shadows at night to stay safe.

“She is still there but at night she can’t sleep in the house so together with the neighbours and the priest she hides in the church or in the neighbours’ basement. Although her house has been completely looted, she somehow believes that her staying there will protect it from being completely destroyed. She tells me she wants to keep it standing for her children. ”

Suddenly Tina stops talking and offers us wine that she has laid out in cups on the table. She then asks us to forgive her for not being able to host us properly in what is now her temporary home, a classroom.

Her mood shifts as she redirects the conversation to distract her from her current circumstances.   The look on her face changes to one almost of excitement.

“My son Giorgi revealed a secret to me ten days before this nightmare started. He told me that he had fallen in love with a beautiful girl from Tamarasheni. I was delighted when he announced that he was going to think about marriage as soon as he had finished his last duty on his job as a hospital security guard. Little did he know that the horrible war would mean that this time would come around so quickly.

“Giorgi was on duty guarding the hospital when we fled to Tbilisi. I was waiting for him to join us two days after he was supposed to finish his duty. For three days I heard no news, until I received a call from his friend informing me that he had got married!”

The marriage took place on the 11th of August amidst the chaos of people fleeing their homes.

Tina’s eyes well up and she sheds tears mixed with happiness and sadness.

“Giorgi has always kept his promises. Even now in this situation he has still managed to do it. I am so happy for them, they lost everything as a result of this conflict but they did not lose their feelings for each other. This is important and a sign that in no matter what situation they are in they will be able to overcome their problems.”

The newlyweds are spending their honeymoon on the third floor of the primary school in which we are sitting. Life goes on.

Oxfam International and its partner NGOs are currently assisting displaced people in Georgia who fled areas of conflict. Oxfam would be prepared to help any civilians affected by the conflict, whether they are in Georgia, South Ossetia, or North Ossetia, if granted safe access to assess the situation and if assistance were needed. Russia has said it is managing relief operations in South and North Ossetia.


More from the Oxfam Press Office at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/news


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Topics

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

Briefings
Georgia, Abkhazia, S. Ossetia - [Who works where]

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Refugees & displacement
Statistics graphs
Human development index ranking (2005)
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Burnt forest are seen on the edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli national park near Tsagveri September 5, 2008. A blaze broke out at the height of Georgia's brief war with Russia and ...


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Last updated:Tue Sep 16 10:04:54 2008