©InfoLili Lortkipanidze, 75, has been actively involved in the Red Cross social centre for older people since the day she arrived in 2006.
“After I lost my job, I felt so isolated,” Lili explains.
“This club was a way out of my loneliness. I come here every morning and help elderly people learn about their rights.”
When Georgia emerged from the Soviet Union as an independent state in 1991, its economy and public services quickly fell into decline and older people particularly suffered. Pensions were not paid and medical facilities were turning them away, disregarding their rights to free treatment.
Red Cross support
Older people without family or other social networks to support them became destitute. In response to this situation, the Georgia Red Cross set up a programme in Kutaisi to help socially excluded older people.
As well as practical support, the programme includes ongoing advocacy to authorities by older people, volunteers and project staff.
“I am the head of the advisory committee set by the project,” says Lili. “We discuss and solve problems together by addressing the local authority and sometimes we appeal to lawyers to help us. Elderly people are no longer isolated and they know about their rights.
Mediation
“With our help, one elderly person received a new roof for her house. Our mediation also led to 500 people obtaining a free transportation allowance and 15 people receiving walking sticks.
“Now we have a media group, which makes TV programmes and writes newspaper articles about our organisation. As a result, everybody knows about this club. I think there are 1,200 elderly people in Kutaisi who need support. Those who don’t come to our club learn about their rights through the brochures and booklets that we place at different municipal centres.”
The Red Cross programme is changing the context in which older people find themselves. They are far less likely to be ignored and abused at clinics, denied their pensions, not informed of their rights and kept in ignorance.
Encouragement
Older people involved in the project say they have regained a sense of dignity. Having better information about their entitlements and then working together to secure them has reduced their sense of powerlessness. Dialogue with the local authority has led to changes, not least in the authority’s change in attitude and respect for older people.
“I live alone, I have no children, no siblings and I have never been married. Before coming to this centre, I felt absolutely disappointed in life,” Lili says. “But now, I am very happy this club exists and I can come every day to help others.
“When I first came here, I was welcomed with open arms. I learned what I was capable of and I’m treated so well. I could no longer live without this club.”
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