Letters from Cyprus: 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.