ACF-Georgia Photo Essay, NEED Magazine, Issue 6 2009
Content
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 agricultureand 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
home | destroyed in a week
adam hanson photographers: jonathan alpeyrie jeffrey austin
writer:
displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes. Most of Georgia’s citizens became subsistence farmers. Aid organizations such as Action Against Hunger, 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.
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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 and more tense, so many of our 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 two georgian army tanks were hit during a clash between ambushing ossetian troops and advancing georgian army soldiers. dozens of soldiers were killed in the fighting. the wreckage blocks a major thoroughfare in gori, impeding transportation. 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
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.
38
need issue 6 2009
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 largescale looting and burning of Georgian
murad loculashvili stands next to a picture of his late wife, who was killed in the bombing. he, his daughter and two young grandchildren fled to a police building in gori that has been converted into a temporary shelter. photo | jeffrey austin
villages in these regions. IDPs had to choose between staying in shelters 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.
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
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
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 247 west 37th street, 10th floor new york, ny 10018 usa 212.967.7800 or 877.777.1420 [email protected] www.actionagainsthunger.org mercy corps dept. w po box 2669 portland, or 97208 usa 800.292.3355 or 888.256.1900 www.mercycorps.org
united methodist committee on relief (umcor) 475 riverside drive, room 330 new york, ny 10115 usa 800.554.8583 [email protected] www.umcor.org
Photo gallery available online at www.needmagazine.com/gallery
need issue 6 2009
45
the humanitarian magazine
full contents | issue 6 2009
generosity | pulse of life we are not out to save the world but to tell the stories of those who are.
Cardiac surgeons form worldwide partnerships to mend children’s hearts.
work | shoveling out haiti
Local and foreign volunteers collaborate after devastating storms.
home | destroyed in a week
Relief keeps Georgians alive after the destruction of war.
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 www.needmagazine.com | [email protected]
Copyright © 2009 NEED Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.
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 agricultureand 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
home | destroyed in a week
adam hanson photographers: jonathan alpeyrie jeffrey austin
writer:
displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes. Most of Georgia’s citizens became subsistence farmers. Aid organizations such as Action Against Hunger, 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 and more tense, so many of our 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 two georgian army tanks were hit during a clash between ambushing ossetian troops and advancing georgian army soldiers. dozens of soldiers were killed in the fighting. the wreckage blocks a major thoroughfare in gori, impeding transportation. 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
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.
38
need issue 6 2009
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 largescale looting and burning of Georgian
murad loculashvili stands next to a picture of his late wife, who was killed in the bombing. he, his daughter and two young grandchildren fled to a police building in gori that has been converted into a temporary shelter. photo | jeffrey austin
villages in these regions. IDPs had to choose between staying in shelters 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.
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
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
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 247 west 37th street, 10th floor new york, ny 10018 usa 212.967.7800 or 877.777.1420 [email protected] www.actionagainsthunger.org mercy corps dept. w po box 2669 portland, or 97208 usa 800.292.3355 or 888.256.1900 www.mercycorps.org
united methodist committee on relief (umcor) 475 riverside drive, room 330 new york, ny 10115 usa 800.554.8583 [email protected] www.umcor.org
Photo gallery available online at www.needmagazine.com/gallery
need issue 6 2009
45
the humanitarian magazine
full contents | issue 6 2009
generosity | pulse of life we are not out to save the world but to tell the stories of those who are.
Cardiac surgeons form worldwide partnerships to mend children’s hearts.
work | shoveling out haiti
Local and foreign volunteers collaborate after devastating storms.
home | destroyed in a week
Relief keeps Georgians alive after the destruction of war.
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 www.needmagazine.com | [email protected]
Copyright © 2009 NEED Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.
