Gori Tent City, Saturday 20th September.
At the tent city I talk to Irene who smiles shyly as she waits to be seen in the small tent that is the reproductive health clinic. She is 21 years old and is nine months pregnant with her first baby. Her baby is due in the next few weeks and she wants to have it in hospital when the time comes. Fortunately, the hospital in Gori wasn’t destroyed unlike many others in the areas to the north of the city.
Irene fled her home with her husband and his family when the fighting between the Russian and Georgian forces came too close for comfort. Fearing for their lives, they fled first to her husband’s sister’s house and then to a camp for displaced people. The camp is near their home in Gori and they’ve been living there for the last month. “We are all staying together in one tent, with other people” says Irene. “There are eight of us in one tent. It is ok, but noisy and there’s no privacy” she adds .
Some of those, like Irene and her family, have moved to the tent city which is at the edge of the “buffer zone”. More than 2,200 people are living there now but that still leaves many thousands displaced.
In the tent city some people are alone but families have fled together and at night in there are empty beds in many of the tents as husbands and wives are sleeping together as they would if they were at home. Yet many will not be using contraception, as remembering to pick up your pills or condoms is not high on most peoples’ list of things to bring when you are fleeing your home in the middle of the night.
I also talk to Natasha, a 27 year old mother of three young children who has just received a dignity kit. She and her husband and children have spent the last month in a school near Tbilisi airport which was being used to house displaced people. Conditions were basic, with little in the way of sanitation and it was noisy and crowded. When the authorities told them they must leave as the school was needed for its proper function, they decided to return home. However, when they got to Gori, they heard that there were still many soldiers in the village. “I was happy when I heard our village was not so badly damaged by the bombs” said Natasha. “But then I heard that the soldiers are still in the village. They get drunk and then no one knows what they will do. I have heard of many cases of women being raped. I am too scared to go home. My husband goes to the village every day, but he comes back to sleep here in the camp at night. He says it is not safe in the village. It is best for me and the children to stay here.”
Before I leave the camp to move on to a newly opened youth centre, where I bump into Irene again and her mother in law, also called Irene. She tells me how excited everyone is about the new baby. “I already have one grandchild” says Irene senior. But this one will be special.” Both smile broadly as they think of the new bundle of life that will soon be part of their family and the hope of a better future ahead.
As for me, I’m returning to London tonight and will be keeping in touch with parliamentarians on the tour to encourage them to raise these issues with their governments to ensure that the needs of women in Georgia and other emergency settings are not forgotten.
To read Louise's first blog on this trip titled 'Georgia', please
click here