Infant House, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia © Everychild / Onnik Krikorian

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Infant House, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia © Everychild / Onnik Krikorian

This Infant House is the main repository for abandoned babies in the Georgian capital. However, along with other international donors and parties, Everychild is involved with de-instititionalizing children in Armenia’s northern neighbor. At the Tbilisi Infant House, for example, a shelter for vulnerable mothers and children has been established as a joint effort between Everychild, UNICEF, World Vision and the Georgian Ministries of Health and Education.

Supported by World Vision International, Every Child, UNICEF and the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Welfare of Georgia, the Shelter helps mothers cope with the social and financial difficulties that may cause them to abandon their children. It does so mainly by offering mothers and their babies a quiet and safe environment in which they can develop and thrive. The problems confronted by mothers in special circumstances are acknowledged and a team of social workers are there to support them and give them the tools to become self-reliant.

Marine Menteshashavili, social worker and manager of the shelter, says that since April 2003, the shelter has helped to prevent 68 placements in the Infant’s Home. The Shelter has housed 37 mothers and 38 infants, and 18 mothers have received psychological assistance and career counseling. What is more, nine babies from the Infant’s Home have been re-united with their families and 18 are now in foster families.

Currently, the shelter is home to five mothers and four babies, including Nino and Mariam. We are sitting in a big, light-filled living room with a TV set, where mothers can relax with their babies. Each mother has her own bedroom and they all share a communal kitchen. The mothers and babies look like one big family, bound together with real care and love. And always there are the social workers, supporting the mothers as they try to rebuild their family ties and find jobs.

Photos from the shelter to come tomorrow. Incidently, there are 5,000 children in institutions in Georgia, but despite its smaller size, 11-12,000 in Armenia. The majority of children in both countries, however, have parents who are unable to support them. There’s also more on the shelter at the Tbilisi Infant House on the UNICEF (CEE/CIS) web site. Photographs from Yerevan’s counterpart, the Children’s Home in Nork, can be found online here.