need | issue 6 2009

the humanitarian magazine

life after leprosy

ted prize winner

james nachtwey

10 lost boys
saving lives

5 steps to
feed the world

georgians return
home after conflict

$9 us $11 can issue 6

we are not out to
save the world
but to tell the stories
of those who are.

home | destroyed in a week

Relief keeps Georgians alive after the destruction of war.
 When Georgia gained independence amid the collapse

of the Soviet Union in 1991, its vibrant agriculture-

and tourism-based economy disintegrated. Two regional

ethnic groups, the Abkhazians and the Ossetians,

sought to create independent states within Georgia’s

borders. The resulting bloody civil war ended in a

relative stalemate a year later after the conflict had

displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

home | destroyed in a week
Most of Georgia’s citizens became subsistence farmers.
writer:adam hanson
photographers: jonathan alpeyrie Aid organizations such as Action Against Hunger,
jeffrey austin
Mercy Corps and United Methodist Committee

on Relief (UMCOR) worked to help impoverished

Georgians improve their agricultural practices, build

infrastructure and meet their health care needs.

In August 2008 war again broke out between the

Georgian government and separatist factions. Russian

forces engaged in the conflict, citing “Georgian

belligerence against Russian citizens.” Over 130,000

more Georgians fled as Russian troops advanced

towards them. Mortar shells and bombs pounded

into city buildings and entire villages burned to the

ground. Although the war lasted just over a week, there

was more than $1 billion USD of damage, according

to Georgian officials. Currently, aid organizations

working in Georgia must rush to ensure that those who

fled empty-handed as their homes were destroyed can

survive the long winter.

34 need issue 6 2009

fifteen-year-old otar bazandarashvili (left) stands inside what is left of his family’s home near gori, georgia. the house was
destroyed when russian forces moved into the city. he is staying with nika (right), his 8-year-old neighbor. otar’s family
received $15,000 usd from the georgian government to reconstruct their home. photo | jeffrey austin

need issue 6 2009 35

| home |

Aliona Nukradze raised her two

children on a small cattle farm
in the village of Charebi. In the
villages around her, armed Ossetian
separatists occasionally clashed with
Georgian government forces, but
Nukradze was hopeful that these
disagreements would eventually be
worked out peacefully. In the first
days of August 2008, the conflict
escalated dramatically and people
in Nukradze’s village feared for
their lives. She says, “We began to
notice that the situation got more two georgian army tanks were hit during a clash between ambushing
ossetian troops and advancing georgian army soldiers. dozens of soldiers
and more tense, so many of our were killed in the fighting. the wreckage blocks a major thoroughfare in
gori, impeding transportation. photo | jonathan alpeyrie
fellow villagers left their homes to
hide in an old abandoned house in
the forest. On the eighth of August,
that very house was bombed. ... It
was the first time I was face-to-face
with death. After the bombing we
were forced to run deeper into the
forest with just the clothes on our
backs. Several of our countrymen
were killed, some were wounded.
We spent three days in the forest
without any food. We made our
way to Gori, but only two days
later Gori was also occupied by
Russian troops.”
a group of men from the capital of south ossetia climb on the wreck of a
georgian tank to celebrate a military victory. it was destroyed a few days
earlier in heavy fighting. photo | jonathan alpeyrie

36 need issue 6 2009

a russian infantry soldier gives some of his unit’s food to passing gori citizens. his unit is guarding an important bridge
which is the only way in and out of the east part of the town. georgians were usually well-treated inside gori by russian
soldiers, who share the same religion — an important factor for these men who invaded an old ally.
photo | jonathan alpeyrie

Russian forces quickly pushed the Georgian military
out of the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and
then occupied areas in and around Gori. The major
conflict was over in a matter of days; a ceasefire was
signed on August 15, with Russia pledging to remove
its troops from Georgian territory. However, neither
the fighting nor the peace talks solved the underlying
separatist issues. Ossestians and Abkhazians still demand
independence; Georgia refuses to allow these regions to
split off and Russia unilaterally recognizes Abkhazia and
South Ossetia as sovereign nations.

need issue 6 2009 37

| home |
priests and local volunteers distribute bread a week after the russian invasion. food became scarce during the blockade.
photo | jonathan alpeyrie
Nukradze and more than 130,000 others in Georgia
fled their homes during the fighting. These internally
displaced people (IDPs) flooded into aid camps around
the major cities of Gori, Kutaisi and Tbilisi. Most of
Gori’s population left when the Russians arrived; only
the elderly, unable to flee, were left behind. By the end
of August, a ceasefire was signed, and Russian troops
withdrew from most regions of the country. Some
IDPs were able to go back to their homes, but others
will only find rubble. For many, their villages are still
38 need issue 6 2009
too dangerous and they must stay in the IDP camps,
temporary shelters or abandoned buildings where
they have sought refuge. Now that winter has arrived,
families that fled in August without food, money or
warm clothes are at risk of death in temporary shelters
that may not have heat. In response to this crisis, Action
Against Hunger, Mercy Corps and UMCOR, along with
a massive shelter project by the Georgian government,
are saving lives.
an orthodox priest distributes the little food he can offer. during the russian invasion most of gori’s citizens
fled; only the elderly were left behind. photo | jonathan alpeyrie

two georgians from gori wait anxiously inside their garage while the city is bombed. armed raiders roam the
city threatening residents and looting. photo | jonathan alpeyrie

need issue 6 2009 39

| home |

Georgian citizens trapped by this

border strife can feel that the situation
is hopeless. Having fled from meager
farms and small villages during
harvest season, nearly all have lost the
ability to support themselves. Many
of those who were displaced lived
in and around the disputed areas of
Georgia, complicating return to their
homes. Separatist factions still lay
claim to South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
and there have been reports of large-
scale looting and burning of Georgian

murad loculashvili stands next to a picture of his late wife, who was killed villages in these regions. IDPs had
in the bombing. he, his daughter and two young grandchildren fled to a
to choose between staying in shelters
police building in gori that has been converted into a temporary shelter.
photo | jeffrey austin where they are totally reliant on aid
for food, water, warmth and clothes
and attempting to return to homes and
crops that may be gone. In addition,
traveling home means passing through
blockades of soldiers in an uneasy
ceasefire, avoiding bands of raiders
and negotiating fields of land mines
and unexploded ordinance. “We left
without belongings; my children do not
have clothes and they have been sick
since then,” says Pikria Tortladze, who
fled with her family from their home
near the South Ossetian “border.”
“We are lost; we do not know what

nuna nginashvili, 72, explains that the only things she was able to save
from her home before it was destroyed were a photo of herself when she
was young and an icon of mary and jesus. she says that the icon gives her
hope. photo | jeffrey austin

40 need issue 6 2009

a family lives in an idp center in a vacant building in the town of zugdidi. they were displaced by the war 17 years ago.
twenty-nine other families live in this building with no electricity, no water and outside toilets. photo | jeffrey austin

to do. We want to come back home, but for now, it is
impossible.” According the Georgian government, of the
131,000 people displaced in the August conflict, over
30,000 remain in temporary shelters.
IDPs take shelter in schools, government facilities and
abandoned buildings. In many cases these buildings
were not built to accommodate so many people. Up
to 40 families may share a single toilet. Compounding
the situation, most of these IDPs have no supplies such
as toilet paper, soap and feminine hygiene products.
These people desperately need the food, clean water
and hygiene kits provided by Action Against Hunger.
In Tbilisi, the organization distributes these supplies to
1,500 families in 45 IDP centers. It also helps build and
restore existing water and sanitation facilities in shelters
around Gori. Without sanitary precautions, diseases
would spread easily in the cramped and cold conditions.

need issue 6 2009 41

| home |

umcor distributes hygiene kits and pharmaceuticals at this soup kitchen for vulnerable adults in tbilisi.
photo | jeffrey austin

todua vika (background) is 22 weeks pregnant. she is receiving a prenatal checkup and baby clothes provided by
umcor at a women’s clinic for refugees and idp’s from abkhazia in tbilisi. six doctors and nurses see 25 to 30
patients a day for gynecological treatment. photo | jeffrey austin

42 need issue 6 2009

With any armed conflict comes the

wounded. Many who fled were without

medical care for months. Medical supplies

provided by UMCOR save the lives of the

sick or injured at 70 medical facilities in

Georgia where 200,000 people have received

UMCOR-distributed pharmaceuticals. For

IDPs who left the lives they knew, life

goes on. At gynecological clinics UMCOR

medical supplies and equipment help

mothers bring new babies into the world,

and infant formula and school kits help

families continue to grow.

Aid must come quickly to each of the

thousands of displaced mothers, fathers and

children. The cold winter makes staying

in a tent or temporary shelter unviable.

Since the conflict ended, the Georgian

government has embarked on a massive

effort to build 7,000 winterized homes for

IDPs. Nukradze and her family have been

relocated to a government-built home 12

miles outside Gori. They have received

winter clothes and bed linens from Mercy

Corps. The organization has helped more

than 19,000 IDPs in 16 collective centers

around Gori get the warm clothes, beds,

mattresses, blankets and linens they need to

stave off the cold.

two young girls stand outside their new temporary shelter in tbilisi.
they do not know if they will ever be able to return to their home in
a village in south ossetia. photo | jeffrey austin

need issue 6 2009 43

| home |

Health, warmth and shelter can mean so much to

those who lost everything. The aid provided by Action
Against Hunger, UMCOR and Mercy Corps, along with
the Georgian government, can make shelters into homes
where life can move forward. Furthermore, because
these relief organizations were present before the
conflict, helping Georgian farmers learn to grow stable
crops and repairing crumbling infrastructure, they can
provide assistance that goes beyond the immediate
needs. Nino Giorgadze, Mercy Corps communications
officer in Georgia, says that the local community
thanked aid organizations for “provid[ing] a sense of
hope for the future and the knowledge that we’ll be
there to help them put their lives and communities
back together.”

women sort seed potatoes in an action against hunger potato

cooperative. this kind of aid will help rural georgians build
a lasting future after the conflict. photo | jeffrey austin

a former school building houses 39 idps from the gori area. mercy corps staff member vasil butkhuzi (left),
meets with them to assess their needs for the winterization program. photo | jeffrey austin

44 need issue 6 2009

a woman taking shelter in an abandoned building in zugdidi lets some daylight into her dark room. photo | jeffrey austin

action against hunger - usa united methodist committee on relief (umcor)

247 west 37th street, 10th floor 475 riverside drive, room 330
new york, ny 10018 new york, ny 10115
usa usa
212.967.7800 or 877.777.1420 800.554.8583
info@actionagainsthunger.org umcor@gbgm-umc.org
www.actionagainsthunger.org www.umcor.org

mercy corps
dept. w
po box 2669
portland, or 97208
usa
800.292.3355 or 888.256.1900
Photo gallery available online at
www.mercycorps.org
www.needmagazine.com/gallery

need issue 6 2009 45

the humanitarian magazine

full contents | issue 6 2009

generosity | pulse of life

Cardiac surgeons form worldwide partnerships to mend children’s hearts.
we are not out

to save the world work | shoveling out haiti

Local and foreign volunteers collaborate after devastating storms.

but to tell the stories

home | destroyed in a week
Relief keeps Georgians alive after the destruction of war.
of those who are.

health | lost boys return

Children chosen two decades ago return to heal Sudan.

kids | relearning trust

Trafficked girls gain a new family of sisters in freedom.

future | revealing ability

Simple solutions promote accessibility.

one | outcasts find acceptance

Community brings a sense of belonging to those affected by leprosy.

focus | nourishment
Food grown locally alleviates the global food crisis.

dialogue | james nachtwey

Renowned photographer shares his wish for the world.

Subscribe for one year (4 issues) of NEED at

www.needmagazine.com, or send a check or money order for $27
USD payable to NEED Communications.

NEED Communications, Inc.

2303 Kennedy Street NE, Suite 502, Minneapolis, MN 55413
612.379.4025 | f: 612.379.4033 Copyright © 2009 NEED Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
www.needmagazine.com | info@needmagazine.com Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.