Georgia and Armenia

Armenia's capital Yerevan, with Mt Ararat (5500m)
 in the background.  Mt Ararat is in Turkey.

I’ve spent the past week travelling through Georgia and Armenia, visiting a range of communities and World Vision development projects.   It’s not possible to describe the Caucasus region in just a few words.  There is so much contrast.  One author describes the region as “a place where locals believe that drinking vodka has medicinal benefits, but no-one trusts the water supply.  Where gleaming gold teeth complement polyester summer dresses with Brady Bunch designs.  A region with dozens of brands of cigarettes and vodka, but only one brand of toilet paper”.  I would add to this a region of stunning beauty but also profound poverty, especially in the rural areas.    

Ten observations on Georgia and Armenia:

1.       The region is still effectively at war, with latent conflicts in Georgia over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and in the Nagorno-Karabakh region between Armenia and Azerbaijan

2.       The hospitality of people in both Georgia and Armenia is overwhelming.  I’ve been offered more chacha (the Georgian national spirit) and Armenian cognac in the past week than I care to remember.  Likewise Georgian katchapouri (cheese bread) and Armenian khoravats (bbq pork or lamb).

WV project area in northern Armenia 

3.       The Armenian diaspora is significant larger than the population currently living in the country.  It is estimated that there are approximately 10 million Armenians living abroad, whilst the population living in the country is around 3 million and still falling.  Reasons for this situation are complex, and go back to the first world war when the Ottomans attempted to wipe out the Armenian people.  The genocide is still denied by Turkey today, but the historically recognised fact is that between 1915 and 1923, more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed at the hands of the Ottomans.

4.       There are thousands of churches and ancient monasteries covering the countryside.  In fact, Armenia was the first Christian country in the world.

5.       Both Armenia and Georgia declared independence in the early 1990’s as part of the breakup of the former Soviet Union.

6.       Both countries are very mountainous, with peaks up to 5500m. 

7.       Poverty is chronic in many parts of both countries.  Post industrial soviet towns have suffered from a mass migration of people away from the towns; in some cases up to 50% of the population.   This has left remaining communities with very limited resources in terms of schools, health services, economic opportunities and basic infrastructure.  As is often the case, it is the children and most vulnerable in these communities who suffer the most.



WV project area near Lake Sevan

 8.       There is a desperate need for investment in economic, community and social infrastructure.

9.       Joseph Stalin was Georgian, originating from the town of Gori.  Alas this did not mean that there was any favoritism towards the Georgians during his reign, in fact quite the opposite.  Interestingly though, unlike other parts of the former Soviet Union busts of Stalin are still freely available in shops and markets around the Georgian capital Tbilisi.



 10.   A strong cultural ritual is that at celebratory meals, there is a designated ‘tamada’.  This is the main toastmaker.   A meal may have up to 20-30 different toasts, and a good tamada is interesting to watch as the toasts are often long and improvised (reading out a prepared toast would be unthinkable).   In Georgia there is sometimes a second person designated as an ‘alaverdi’, whose role it is to elaborate on the toast, and also a ‘merikipe’ who is there to keep wine and spirits replenished.  As you can appreciate, the potential for a few headaches the next morning is high!

World Vision has been working in the Caucasus region for more than 15 years, and has well established development programs and strong teams of local staff working in each country.   It's been a real privilege for me to meet many of the staff, and also to spend time with members of the communities where WV is working.

Yerevan office tomorrow, and then looking forward to heading back to Cyprus on Tuesday.

Armenian community near the Azerbaijan border



One of the oldest churches in Armenia



Lake Sevan

WV/UNHCR greenhouse project in partnership with
 refugee community in Georgia

A country that doesn’t officially exist

I’m writing tonight from Abkhazia, the region in the northwestern part of Georgia that suffered a brutal civil war between Russia and Georgia in the early 1990’s, and declared independence in 2008.  The issue with its independence is that it’s only recognized by three countries – Russia, Nicaragua and Nauru. 

Education, health and national infrastructure in the country is dysfunctional at best, and more than 250,000 people who were displaced in the war have yet to return.  Poverty here is endemic, and economic opportunities extremely limited.  What was once one of the most prosperous regions of the former Soviet Union is now an economic basket case, and the community remains deeply divided over the issues that caused the conflict and seccession from Georgia in the first place.  The political climate also remains highly uncertain, with ongoing sabre-rattling by both Russia and Georgia over politics and presence in the region. 

Yesterday we visited Gali, a small town of a few thousand people near the Georgian border that bore some of the harshest impacts of the civil war.  I encountered poverty on a scale I haven’t personally seen before – street after street of burned out and abandoned houses, severely pot holed roads, no shops, extremely poor infrastructure, and a general sense of despair.  I also encountered some extraordinary resilience among people who have lost everything.  World Vision has been operating in Abkhazia for the last 5 years, and has a small but highly dedicated and capable team of local staff.

In Gali, World Vision is involved with a range of programs, one of which has been a partnership with the local community, UNICEF and the European Union for the construction of centre for children with disabilities.  We visited the centre, and I have to confess I was moved to tears by what I saw there.  Children from the ages of 2-15 with a range of disabilities come to the centre to receive a range of support services, including basic physiotherapy, speech therapy, special learning support and general medical services.  These are all services we would take for granted in the west, but are virtually non-existent in Abkhazia.  The centre provides support for up to 100 children from Gali and the surrounding villages.  A drop in a bucket in terms of overall need, but atleast a start.  Within the centre the local Orthodox church has also built a small altar where families can come to pray or light a candle for their children.   What is the future for these children and their families?

It was deeply moving to meet these children and their parents.  To glimpse their lives and huge challenges, but also their capacity to hope.  Why is it that life is so incredibly difficult for some?  

But even in the midst of this situation there is humour.  We also visited a small village where World Vision has been working for the past 5 years on community mobilization.  Part of this project has involved the community selection and delivery of a number of small business grants.  These are designed to serve broader community needs, whilst also providing a foundation for some economic livelihood for individuals within the village.  One lady successfully obtained a grant to purchase a portable refridgerator to store a recently deceased person (funerals and related rituals are a big deal in Abkhazia, and after someone dies, the body sometimes remains in the house for up to 10 days).  The idea of this lady's business is that she will rent the body refridgeration equipment to a family who have recently lost a loved one.  She explained to us with that the only problem with her business is that as soon as she got the equipment, people in the village stopped dying!  Then there was the story of another village member who is an amputee (from a land mine accident), who has been able to open a business repairing shoes(!). Both stories shared with by the community members with humour, amidst the ruins of the lives they once knew.

The ruins of an old citrus and tea plantation, which
was once a collective farm under Stalin's Soviet Union

The situation in Abkhazia is complex, and roots of the conflict and present situation can be traced back many hundreds, if not thousands of years.  For a region that was once known as ‘the soul of God’, the present day situation is truly tragic.




Km after km of wrecked houses, abandoned by displaced families

  


An old ferris wheel, frozen since the war 20 years ago







A Wife, yes. But a HOUSE Wife no longer.

After flying Business Class for the first time, a friend looked at me very seriously and said "I can never go back".  This week, as we happily adjust to full time help at home, I feel exactly the same.  So, in short, this blog is about securing a MAID.  Wow, I can't believe I am writing this, only a week after everything just felt so hard.  Spring has sprung, literally and metaphorically.

It seems that having 4 children is a little unusual in Cyprus.  Most Cypriots seem to have 1 or 2 offspring. From the very first day we arrived, I have had advice and suggestions, mainly staff from Ross' office, that employing a full-time maid would be the way to go.   I also realized quite quickly that it could take a while and there is a lot of paperwork involved to do it properly and legally.  Most of the maids come from Sri Lanka or the Philipinnes and, in order to get a valid working visa, they require their employer to 'sponsor' them and essentially be responsible for their well-being whilst they are in Cyprus.  So the employer starts by paying an initial deposit to the government which basically guarantees that you'll be responsible for them whilst they're in the country. Then there is the monthly wage plus their medical insurance, bus fares, rent if they live out, food and personal items e.g. clothes, shampoo etc...  On the other hand, if you choose to employ somebody on a casual basis (like most babysitting jobs) then you don't have to undertake any of this responsibility; just pay an hourly rate.

So, from very early on, I was in a quandry as to what was going to work best for us, both practically & economically.  I had some casual cleaners come in during the first few weeks and, whilst this was very helpful, it completely freaked Anna out to see a range of different African or Asian cleaners.  She would cling to my leg or cry to be picked up so I basically had to get out of the house.  I knew this would pass eventually so I didn't dwell on it too much.  I realized that with the maid option, it was going to be hard to have any 'choice' because they had to be legally under someone's care to work in your home.  Oh man, I thought, what if I don't like her and then it takes another month to complete all the paperwork and find somebody else?  By this time I was getting exhausted and desperate so I advertised for some part-time help in an International Church newsletter.  That Sunday, I received 5 calls!  All these foreign students wanting work.  I set about meeting most of them that week, which was a wonderful experience that helped me to work through the issues in my head.  There was Safina, from Bangladesh, a very intelligent Economics graduate doing further studies here in Cyprus but not so well versed on minding children.  Then there was Anka, from Romania, who had been here only 1 week, didn't speak great English and whom we found it hard to warm to.  Things started looking up, however, when Constance from Nigeria breezed through the door.  A beautiful African Christian woman in her late twenties, with braided hair and a natural affinity with kids.  Within two minutes of arriving she was laughing with the kids, speaking easily with me whilst juggling the ever talkative Jessie on her lap.  A fascinating but tiring week, especially with Anna not trusting these strange looking women!

After looking at Constance's timetable and realizing that I would have to make-do without her on the nights she had lectures in the 'witching hour', I started to think that the part-time student may not be what I'm looking for.  With Ross' hectic & ad-hoc travel schedule, I needed to go with the serious full-time maid option.  Fortunately, within a day of that decision, I had a call from an 'agent' who places maids.  He had a lady who had  just been 'released' (sounds like she was jailed!) from her previous employer and was free to come and work for me for a couple of days at first to see if I liked her.  Aha, so I have the opportunity of a trial period.  Awesome - so I took it.

And here enters Monica (pronounced Maneka, in Sri Lankan) who tried out last Friday & Saturday and then started full-time on Monday (that was yesterday).  And, well, lets just say, I'm smiling and "I can't go back".  Picture this, ladies: I walk in the door with my hands heavy laden with jackets and bags etc.. and Monica just takes everything and within a few minutes has put it all away.  The washing is going in the machine, the breakfast dishes are done, the floor swept and she asks "Is there anything you need done Madam?"  Oh man, is this for real?  Can I really sit down with my son and test him on his spelling without having to get up a thousand times to tend to the little ones?  Did she really do all that ironing and clean most of the windows AND mop the floor all in one morning whilst I was out grocery shopping with Anna? And this week, I think I'll teach her to do that too! This is just too good; really it is.  As for Ross, he may well become my beloved husband once more; not just my partner in crime who helped cause this exhausting season of life.

Monica is a lovely lady, about 28yrs of age, always smiling and quick to laugh.  The look on her face when the children first got off the bus from school was priceless - she loves kids.  She has a 4yr old son of her own, who is being raised by her younger sister and parents, so I think Sam (being the same age) may become a particularly special one for her.  I find her very easy to be with and have in my house so we have kicked off to a good start. If only she could learn to call me "Sarah"!

And to cap off a few good days, we've just heard that our sea shipment has arrived in Cyprus and should be with us before the week is out.  Ross did the rounds once again at Customs today and all papers are stamped in triplicate.  Can't wait to 'make house' and feel that a bit of Australia has crossed the seas to be with us.  More packing box 'houses' for the kids this weekend!

"When is our REAL TV coming Mum?"

A view all the way to Turkey

A view to Turkey from the Troodos Mountains

We had a brief return to winter weather last week, and as a result there was a fresh dump of snow on the Troodos mountains in central Cyprus.  A spontaneous decision this morning saw Ross, Jessie and Angus heading off to the mountains for a day of skiing and sledding while Sarah and younger ones relaxed at home and caught up on some sleep (well, that was the theory anyway).  A fantastic clear day in the mountains, so clear in fact that you could see snow covered peaks in Turkey across the Mediterranean below. 

Jessie and Angus had a ball, with much more snow this time to cushion the inevitable falls.  A few hours skiing early on, and then onto a sled which proved to be a hit, especially for Gus who quickly realised how much speed he could muster by just pointing downhill and hanging on. 

The mountains had a real festival atmosphere today, and it seemed like half of Cyprus was there to enjoy some of the last remnants of winter.  The Cypriots even managed a fairly remarkable traffic jam at the top of the mountain.  Cars literally pointed in several directions, all trying to negotiate narrow roads which used to be donkey paths.  Quite comical actually, except when you're stuck in the middle of it.  Somehow all seemed to resolve itself though.  As a colleague at work keeps telling me, this place is far more middle east than europe, which goes a long way to explain some of the driving habits.  

On our way back to Nicosia, we passed a large shop specialising in Greek housing ornaments.  Now we know where they are all coming from!

Some fine Greek housing ornaments in this
shop on the way back from the mountains

 

ps. some good news on the home front........we now have hot water and a telephone/ internet connection so making some progress.





A note from Sarah

I realize that many of you are enjoying rea ding our blog and living a ‘virtual’ life in Cyprus through us.  We’ve appreciated the feedback; in fact it has certainly kept us writing.  I’ve had comments like “it’s all so wonderfully new” and “I’m killing for some of that unknown-ness” and “your family will always remember this” and “it’s challenging now but it’s such a character building experience”. 

You know though, sometimes I feel like I should just leave my character how it is:)  Today I have had a day in which almost every hour I have thought to myself “this is just TOO HARD!”  Take for example, the little things only this evening: have just put the kids to bed on my own (Ross in Amsterdam) and now stinging to relax in a nice warm bath – no hot water.  Finish the washing up, by boiling the kettle etc.. it’s getting pretty tedious without a dishwasher (am so glad God didn’t grant me my first wish of going to live in a village in West Africa!). Thinking that writing a blog might be good for my state of mind so I start setting up at the outdoor furniture setting which we are using for everything until our stuff arrives (the sea shipment is apparently stuck in some stormy, closed port in Italy).  Due to not having any internet connection here yet, I open a Word document.  Ok, low battery on the laptop, so  I go looking for the 1 adaptor we have (which moves around the house constantly) as we haven’t had enough time or head space to find the right adaptors in the shop – a case of small but important things getting put on hold but in the end very annoying.  Next problem: table is not near a power point. So I move to the couch and set up with a laptop and a bar of chocolate.  I think I’m settled. Now, lets look at the positives from that tiny ordeal: all 4 children still asleep, power IS working, laptop was handy in that I can sit anywhere, Lindt chocolate (Intense Orange) extremely delicious.

This blog was actually going to be about finding home help but it’s such a juicy one that I think I’ll tackle it in a separate entry.  Meanwhile, just to finish off this blog, I’ll fill you in on some of the little aspects of life at present:

1.       Since moving last Saturday and actually living in this place we’ve found some things a little impractical and so have had to delicately approach our landlord with a fairly extensive list of “things to attend to”.  I use the word ‘delicately’ because, as you well know, I have learnt from previous experience never to say negative things to landlords about their house! Fortunately he is a reasonable man yet, without being too culture & gender specific – a typical Mediterranean male – with no understanding of what a woman might find necessary & practical for her home.  Take kitchen cupboards for example; plenty of them but nowhere near enough shelves.  Corner cupboards that knock into one another (“but this is the modern way! No, I will not change this for you”).  A cupboard to enclose the microwave so that one needs to open two doors to defrost some peas (and if you close the cupboard whilst cooking, you forget it was even there).  There is even a wardrobe cupboard that opens out onto a light bulb – smash!  I could go on, but I won’t.  Suffice to say, I’m holding off on setting places for everything because I’m hoping for some cabinet improvements…

2.       The children are well but unfortunately going through a 2^nd phase of settling in because this week we are in a new place.  At dinner I feel like I have 4 hyperactive untrained monkeys in my house.  Am desperately looking for my sense of humour at these times.  Jessie & Angus share a room and have been getting along well with J reading Horrid Henry to A each night.  Sam & Anna also share a room.  Am counting the days for when I don’t have to bend down into that Port-a-cot.

3.       The 3 older children get a lift to school with Ross at 7am each morning (which he is enjoying) and then take the bus home most days and arrive home around 2pm.  A very long day for Sam but he is taking it like a trooper.  Today he came home with a tear-stained face whilst Jessie explained how his teacher accidently put him on the wrong bus.  Imagine his horror when he took a seat on the bus and found no older brother or sister with him!

4.       Jess woke up all sad this morning and said she had dreamt about her best friend Kelly.

5.       Angus asked me if I liked him today…go figure that one Mrs Psychologist.

6.       Anna is basically difficult.  I feel for her deeply as this whole experience is not what a 2yr old thrives on.  I can’t think about this too much as I know she’ll get through this initial stage with everything so different.
7.       On a more positive note, Anna & I have found a great playgroup full of friendly English speaking Mums from all over the world.  We’ll also start attending a more casual weekly get together at various Mother’s houses.  And every fortnight there is a fantastic little sing-a-long group of Mums and small children which is wonderful in all its simplicity (who needs Kindermusik?).  In between that, we do the supermarket shopping which takes ages, cook dinner which continues to be a chore (no changes there ladies) and also try to have some home time which is currently non-existent.

8.       My one breath of fresh air, despite the awkward start, is swimming.  Twice a week I swim laps at a heated outdoor pool only a few mins drive away.  Anna has so far sat quietly in the winter morning sunshine eating jam toast and this has been a nice conversation starter.

9.       Speaking of swimming, Ross managed to get a real taste of the Mediterranean when he dived in down at the coast over the weekend.  I thought he was just climbing down the rocks to test the water with his hand but when I looked again, he was down to his dacks and diving in.  I smiled as I knew how good that would have felt for him.  His work has been enjoyable but very taxing.

10.   Still one more car to purchase; hopefully we are nearly there as World Vision will need their vehicle back soon. 

11.   Whilst Ross looks for a car, I look for a maid.  With Ross heading off to Georgia and Armenia next week for 8 days, there is no bigger priority.  I can’t wait to get some permanent help into the home.  In our new apartment, she won’t live in, but I think I prefer it that way.

Hopefully now, you’re all up to date in the most general of ways.  Please do the same for us from your lives in Oz.  The small things, which you may consider boring, are incredibly interesting to us and a great antidote to homesickness.

Lots of love, Sarah.

A House at Last....

Our new home: the first floor of this building

Well, a large apartment actually.  After 4 weeks of searching we signed a lease last week and moved in on Saturday.  Finding a place to live has been an interesting journey to say the least, and has given us a renewed appreciation of the term ‘Greek mansion’.  During our search, we’ve probably looked at more than 20 places, some of the highlights of which included:

• A place with 8 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms (not sure what the extra bathrooms are for??)
• A place that looked perfectly normal from the street, but when you walk in you realise that it contains a large swimming pool, sauna and recreation area underground beneath the house
• A house sitting right on the green line buffer zone, with attractive views of the mountains, a large Greek army base and the municipal prison (including an area cleared of all vegetation in case of a prison breakout)
• A large house beside a park that had been rented by a Russian family with a fullsize jacuzzi, steamroom and sauna in the granny flat out the back, as well as a giant safe strategically placed beneath the bathroom sink (useful for storing those excess Rubles and jewellery….)
• A house located near the centre of town with so many rooms that we figured we’d need to install some sort of radio tracking system to find the kids.  Would have been legendary for hide and seek

Suffice to say, these Cypriots know a thing or two about building, especially when the whole concept of doing something cheap in order to sell it on is foreign here.  Houses are seen as a multi-generational investment for a family, and therefore people generally don’t skimp on getting their houses right.

One of our dilemmas was that we wanted a swimming pool to keep the kids occupied through the long summer months, but also didn’t want to be too far out of town.  Even though the distances are not great, the daily traffic jam/s mean that proximity to school and work etc are important factors in deciding where to live.  As an example, the temporary place we have been living in is only about 5km from the school, but was a 50 minute bus ride home for the kids at the end of each day. 

The new pool (which will be enclosed!)

So anyway, we had resigned ourselves to the fact that it was either proximity or a pool, and every option we looked at seemed to be a tradeoff between these two.  That was until last Tuesday, when Alex (one of our erstwhile estate agents who would not look out of place in the film ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), said that he had a ‘left field’ option we may be interested in.  Since he was the agent who had shown us some other more ‘exotic’ options, we rolled our eyes and wondered what he had for us this time, but decided to take a brief look anyway.  The property he showed us was a large four bedroom apartment occupying a full floor of a brand new building.  The property has been painstakingly built by a lovely Cypriot gentleman who collects antiques and spends his days polishing door handles and fine tuning his new, as-yet unrented building of three apartments.  The building is located about 2km from the school and town centre, has a great pool, is in a quiet part of town and also just across the road from a nice park.  Anyway, to cut a long story short we saw the pool first and crossed our fingers that the apartment would be liveable.  Sarah, realising that her two main criteria of a pool and proximity might be satisfied in this property, was on her absolute best behaviour and made no disparaging remarks about the large Greek flag tiled into the pool surrounds, the private museum that the owner has set up in the basement (which deprives us of parking), the small kitchen and bedrooms, the distinct lack of feng shui regarding the built-in wardrobes, and the abundance of family coats of arms on the gates, tiles and exterior or the building……I could go on.  However, the place also has many positive features, and the large open plan layout works well for us as family. 

The coat of arms that greets you at the entrance

After our inspection, some brief discussions ensued for the pointy end of cutting a deal, and we signed a lease the next day.  Moving across on Saturday is another story for another blog, but overall it’s great to have moved in.  The rest of our sea freight was supposed to arrive this week, but on last communication with the shipping agent is currently stuck at an undisclosed port in Italy which is closed due to poor weather.  Hopefully another week or so, and we’ll have our things. 

The view down to the pool from our verandah (railings to be installed this week!)