Building Skills While Providing for Basic Needs: pt1

With funding from UNHCR, Action Against Hunger South Caucasus has been running a “Winterization support programme” in Abkhazia.

This initiative harnesses the potential of Abkhazia’s youth by providing practical, vocational skills training in carpentry, metal-work and plumbing repair performed in the workshops of local experts. Graduates from these trainings, together with the trainers, then provide support to local vulnerable households, through water and sanitation repairs within their homes and the provision of windows, doors, and other building modifications to protect them from the harsh winter elements.

Recently, Action Against Hunger South Caucasus visited the households which have benefitted from these building modifications. During this visit, we placed a special focus on the installation of the water and sanitation facilities. Here’s what the recipients of this support had to say.

Gogokhia Goga

“I live with my family – my wife, three children and mother – in Rechkhi village, Tkvarcheli district. Our main income source is from agriculture. The agriculture sector in our region is affected by various diseases and pests. Farmers’ lives are getting more and more complicated.

For our family, the lack of water and water pipes was an acute problem, we had to bring water from a source located in the mountains, about a kilometer away from our house. We need water for cooking, bathing, and washing clothes. After the birth of my children, the need for water increased.

My wife and I had to go for water 5 to 6 times a day to ensure the hygiene needs of our children and for cooking. As there was not enough water to water the vegetables in the kitchen-garden they often dried up. It was especially difficult in winter, the children often caught colds after bathing. Since we did not have a bath or a water heater.  We put a tank on the stove, heated the water and bathed the children in a basin.

After the visit of Action Against Hunger, everything has changed. Our bathroom has been renovated! They installed a water heater, a shower and plumbing. Now we do not have to walk several kilometers a day for water. Cooking, washing, and bathing children has become much easier, we still have the strength to do other things in the house. This is a significant improvement of our living conditions…it may be small for some families, but it is a huge change for us…”

Kvatsabaia Teona

I am Teona, I live with my husband and child in the village of Rechkhi. Our house is in a dilapidated state, I tried to do repairs on my own, but everything is very expensive, and our family's income is only seasonal, from agriculture, and this is only enough for food.

In our house, there was a very acute problem with the water supply. We had a washbasin and a bath, which was not in the house. We had to travel almost a kilometer to bathe and wash our child. It was very difficult, especially in winter, when we often caught colds and got sick because of this. When we asked the organization representative for support during one of their visits. We could not imagine that they would respond so quickly and accept all of our requests so sincerely.

Soon after, they made a shower room from scratch, installed water and a water heater. In an instant it became comfortable in the house. Everything is at hand, now you don’t have to go and ask relatives and neighbors for water. For so many years we have been so tormented with water issues. Now we have everything you need at home.

Now that this problem has been solved, we can do our own home improvement in the future and take up agriculture, because we have an incentive. There is water at home for washing and bathing. There is water for drinking and for the garden.