AFG: Projects: Children: Sick
St. Nino's Medical Clinic
Personal Observations from the Executive Director: For years I wanted to meet Mother Elizabeth who is the abbess of St. Nino’s Nunnery in Poka, Javakheti. I wanted to meet her because this lively, energetic, jolly nun was at university with Mother Mariam. The nunnery is filled with art from Georgian artists who are her friends. Mother Elizabeth, adored by her nuns, can be found before supper sitting in her kitchen demonstrating how to make delicious spicy food. It was here that she told me that, “It is so freezing cold that for five months you can’t get out to the rest of Georgia. It really is the Siberia of Georgia.” Additionally, there has been practically no electricity during the past ten years. Poka is a five-hour drive south of Tbilisi. The 2,000 residents are ethnically Armenian Georgian citizens who do not speak Georgian.
Mother Elizabeth took me to see her schoolroom which she established in 2001 to teach 50 children ages 6 – 13 Georgian, English, music and art. When I asked her what to send the children, she replied “Send us a globe because these children do no know that a world exists outside of their village.” She has also established a small medical clinic because the closest medical care is two hours away in the summertime. One of her nuns, Mother Teona, is now studying dentistry at the Medical Institute in Tbilisi so she can set up a dental clinic.
AFG Accomplishments: Since AFG visited St. Nino’s Medical Clinic in 2004, we have:
- Sent a grant to St. Nino’s Medical Clinic of $1,500 to purchase dental chair, drill machine and dental equipment
- Initiated contact with the head of best dental clinic in Tbilisi who promised to give free dental care to the children in Poka and at Dzegvi Orphanage
- Purchased educational toys such as a globe, drawing materials and books for the children’s schoolroom
Current Needs: St. Nino’s Medical Clinic needs:
- Funds for medicines, antiseptics, bandages and ointment for emergency medical treatment at the clinic
- Funds to purchase a dental x-ray machine
- Funds for a generator to supply electricity for the schoolroom and clinics. This power would also be used to provide heat
- Funds to bring water from a main pipe to the clinic
- Funds for a TV and VCR to show the children educational videos
