Humanitarian Aid in a Seaside Town

I have not told you about the town Sukumi(pronounced Soo Coo Mi). If ever there was a mix of abandoned ghost town and luxury seaside resort, this is it.
The WAR, and that means the brutal extended war in 1992-1993 between Georgia and Abkhazia, resulted in the population shrinking from 800,000 to now 150,000 persons. The war brought bombings, looting, deportation of Georgians. Houses were marked, like the Jewish homes in WWII, and led to all Georgians fleeing or being killed. Many others left either in support of or in protest to the plight of those being displaced, not to mention raw fear of being caught in the crossfires. Fleeing a war zone, rational.
But in doing so they leave behind home, belongings, history, neighbors. Once mundanities of life, those realities became treasures. They went to camps, deplorable camps, for displaced persons, they went to relatives in Armenia, Russia, they went where fate would place them.
Now, the Russian mafia has claimed many of those homes, declaring that after 10 years of unoccupied status, the building could be claimed. These buildings are being cleaned out, renovated, and turned into rentals for wealthy Russians to come in summer.
The elderly could not leave in 1992 - the family car was too full of children, food. Many refused to go, "this is my home, I will die here", "I will not go because I am just a mouth to be fed", "the war will be over and my family will return", "I have no car or money to leave",whatever reason.
10 years later those elderly still cannot leave, they are bedbound, starving, confused, de-humanized. The Local Red Cross(LRC) is trying to address needy, but simply can't do it all. The International Red Cross has pulled out, and there is no budget. There is a local clinic with doctors that used to do home visits, but resources are limited, and there is "more important " work to do. MSF has filled a gap for many years. There used to be 18,000 identified frail and vulnerable across Abkhazia. Now we are treating only those in Sukumi and another area close by. Several hundred patients, most have died despite our efforts. We provide food, heaters, wood for fires, slippers, a winter dress and a summer dress to the women, pants for the men. We provide in home medical care bringing medicines, a good heart, and a recognition that most illnesses cannot be properly diagnosed or treated. For those able to be transported, and are willing to go, we take them to Tbilisi, Georgia 9 hours away in a treacherous drive across mountains in the back of a TD transport Device. Border crossings are risky.
Transport is a problem. The drivers only work 4-5 hours a day, and smoke and play chess the remaining time. They often just refuse for what reason it is not apparent. It is not safe to drive without a local driver.
So, this program called HAP or Health Access Program is attempting to transition back to the Local Ministry of Health, and use the resources they have, the LRC, the local clinics. This will be hard, because the care, the attention will inevitably change. I am in charge of the transition plan, and maintaining the current program while doing so.
I'll tell you more as time goes on, about the program and my work with this program the the Tb patients.
But for now, know that I live in a remarkable, stunningly beautiful seaside resort town, has been.
It is springtime, the flowering trees are blooming, the tiny snowdrops pop up in the most unlikely places, amongst the rubble, and decay. The irises standout among the rust and piles of concrete.
The sun shines on the harsh and the humane. It doesn't matter. Neither do I.
My love, (tube of Bert's Bees lipstick, Watermelon color. Mine was stolen! Whoever did so is happy). I am happy today
genie