Fedya’s became a homeless orphan aged 6

St Gregory’s Foundation works with a remarkable charity, called Mkurnali, in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. Mkurnali provides sheleter, vocational training and employment, and a legal service to homeless young people in their city.

Nino, Mkurnali’s director, met Fedya and his brother Artur in 2002. They were sleeping near Dighomi market along with other “street children”.  He was always cheerful and friendly despite all the difficulties. After the death of his father, Fedya, his mother and brother were thrown out of the house by their uncle and had no other place to go. They had to live on the street and sleep in cellars or wherever they could find a shelter. 

One morning, Fedya’s mother didn’t wake up and 6-year-old Fedya and 8-year-old Artur were left alone on the street, surviving thanks to strangers who fed them.  Nevertheless, neither of two brothers has ever stolen anything. They were highly respected by the market traders who trusted them to look after their market stalls from time to time.  In the streets, both brothers met other homeless children. Fedya’s dream was to go to school but sadly it didn’t work out.  

Fedya is a hard-working person. He worked in the market of Dighomi during the day and as a night watchman at night. A little while ago, Fedya got married, and the market management allowed them to live at one of the market premises for a while. This became impossible when his wife became pregnant and they were told to move out.  

Fedya turned to Mkurnali for help. Even though Mkurnali didn’t have any rooms free, the boys gave up their small room and moved into a small room at the garage run by Pavel, a former beneficiary of Mkurnali. This garage already provides training and employment to formerly homeless young people. 

Mkurnali have been working on building a new room so that everyone will be able to live in normal conditions again. We are most grateful to those who have already donated. We want to be able to help Mkurnali finish the renovation as soon as possible, so that Fedya and his young family can move in and have somewhere decent to live. Please help if you can.