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Georgia’s infamous electricity shortages have affected rural areas the worst. Routine power rationing and blackouts often lead to rural Georgians going weeks without electricity. 

"I love all people. Even those who offend me. When I grow up I’ll be a beauty. I’ll hug my Mom and then – my Dad". Anna is singing while her twin sister Zanda stepped aside to let her sister perform. The five year-old girls have been living for an year and a half in a family with their foster mom Lia Gogashvili, her daughter Shamanka and the cat Maya.

Inside Polyclinic #10, in Georgia’s capital city Tbilisi, Shorena Nozadze and her 16-month old son Ucha sit in a small room lined with colourful posters that offer advice for pregnant mothers and parents of small children. Images of children interacting with their parents and tips on early childhood development are displayed on the large television that rests in one corner of the room.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia inherited over 62,000 hectares of unused tea land, the majority of which remains abandoned and overgrown. The demise of the tea industry in Georgia led to a dire economic situation in areas where tea cultivation had been an important source of income.

Five women reflect on poverty, families and solitude in the no-man's-land of life in a country divided since the conflict started in 1992. More than a decade on, lives remain on hold.

Ten years after the conflict between Georgia and the breakaway region of Abkhazia, the area still faces considerable humanitarian challenges. The ICRC provides regular essential food and non-food items to destitute persons and IDPs and runs Agro, Trade and Craft (ATC) programmes helping destitute households become self-sufficient.

It is morning and 18 Georgia Red Cross volunteers leave the office to visit lonely elderly people. “Every morning, I think about the people who need our care and love,” says 22 year-old Vladimer Shakiashvili, one of the volunteers. “I always hurry to meet them, spend time with them and talk about their life.”