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| Children playing on a slide outside SOS Kindergarten Tbilisi |
| Photo: Ms. K. Ilievska |
SOS Kindergarten Tbilisi opened its doors to fifty children from the SOS Children's Village and the surrounding neighbourhood in October 1999. The kindergarten includes three classrooms and a gymnasium, which provides plenty of room for the children to play and learn together.
SOS Kindergarten Tbilisi is situated next to the SOS Children's Village on the outskirts of the Georgian capital, approximately thirty minutes drive from the centre. In the nearby residential area, which has been developed during the past ten to fifteen years, there are a few small grocery stores and two public secondary schools. Other facilities, such as hospitals, markets and schools are located in other parts of the town.
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| Kindergarten Students and Teacher at SOS Tbilisi |
| Photo: Ms. K. Ilievska |
It was the shortage of kindergartens in that part of town and the poor living conditions of many of the local families that led SOS Children's Villages to build the kindergarten in Tbilisi. Many of the homes do not have heating or electricity and unemployment is high. This unfavourable situation means that the children often cannot play at home.
Giorgi was one of the first children to attend the SOS Kindergarten. Before he was given a place at the SOS Kindergarten, this little son of Abkhazian refugees had been going to another childcare facility, but the fees cost his mother all of her wages. There was no money left for food in the evening, and Giorgi did not get enough to eat at the childcare centre either. Today, however, his mother is very happy: Giorgi is well-fed and well looked after, and is no longer hungry when he arrives home.