Marie Cacace
Marie Cacace is a Communications Officer for Oxfam and covers the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. She is based at Oxfam GB headquarters in the UK. Places she has worked in include Yemen, Russia and Israel/Palestine.
Media star among the suffering population of Georgia
Author: Marie Cacace
Along with other residents of the Gori District, Venera received warning to hole up in her basement if the sound of aircrafts thundered overhead. She did as she was told when that moment arrived on the 12th of August. But the 71-year-old wasn't quite quick enough. "At 9:30 in the morning I heard the bombing. I did as we were instructed and ran down stairs as best I could. But as I reached the basement door, I felt a sharp pain in my leg. It was too late. A pool of blood had already gathered beneath me. I looked myself over in disbelief, a piece of shrapnel had gone from one side of my leg, through the bone and to the other side," Venera told me from her hospital bed in Tbilisi late last week. ...
Author: Marie Cacace
Along with other residents of the Gori District, Venera received warning to hole up in her basement if the sound of aircrafts thundered overhead. She did as she was told when that moment arrived on the 12th of August. But the 71-year-old wasn't quite quick enough. "At 9:30 in the morning I heard the bombing. I did as we were instructed and ran down stairs as best I could. But as I reached the basement door, I felt a sharp pain in my leg. It was too late. A pool of blood had already gathered beneath me. I looked myself over in disbelief, a piece of shrapnel had gone from one side of my leg, through the bone and to the other side," Venera told me from her hospital bed in Tbilisi late last week. ...
New home in Georgia is where there's a number on the door
Author: Marie Cacace
Just like many other parts of the world, the school year will start soon in Tbilisi. This means that thousands of people now living in kindergartens and schools will have to move out in a few weeks. Those who cannot return home because of fear or because their houses have been destroyed don't yet know what their future will hold. Hamlet is adamant that he won't be returning at all. "I do not think I will ever go home. Over the last few days, I have started to accept that maybe I will live here forever," he tells me as he looks at the walls of the crumbling building we are standing in. "My aunt who decided to stay in our village was buried a few days ago. I do not want any of my family to suffer the same fate. My father arrived here only yesterday. He saw his very own house burnt to the ground." ...
Author: Marie Cacace
Just like many other parts of the world, the school year will start soon in Tbilisi. This means that thousands of people now living in kindergartens and schools will have to move out in a few weeks. Those who cannot return home because of fear or because their houses have been destroyed don't yet know what their future will hold. Hamlet is adamant that he won't be returning at all. "I do not think I will ever go home. Over the last few days, I have started to accept that maybe I will live here forever," he tells me as he looks at the walls of the crumbling building we are standing in. "My aunt who decided to stay in our village was buried a few days ago. I do not want any of my family to suffer the same fate. My father arrived here only yesterday. He saw his very own house burnt to the ground." ...
Desperation grows in war-scorched Georgia
Author: Marie Cacace
The fields that line the main road leading from Tbilisi to Gori have been burnt to a crisp. Blackened buildings and the occasional gaping hole in the road are stark reminders of bombs dropped during this conflict that led to a mass influx of displaced people into the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Countless houses are scarred with shattered windows. Bullet holes frame doors to what a few weeks ago were people's homes. In Gori's town square, crowds of people gather, waiting to be told by local authorities whether their homes are safe enough to return to. They've just made the journey from Tbilisi where they had been seeking shelter for the past weeks, many of them receiving assistance from aid agencies like Oxfam and their local partner NGOs. ...
Author: Marie Cacace
The fields that line the main road leading from Tbilisi to Gori have been burnt to a crisp. Blackened buildings and the occasional gaping hole in the road are stark reminders of bombs dropped during this conflict that led to a mass influx of displaced people into the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Countless houses are scarred with shattered windows. Bullet holes frame doors to what a few weeks ago were people's homes. In Gori's town square, crowds of people gather, waiting to be told by local authorities whether their homes are safe enough to return to. They've just made the journey from Tbilisi where they had been seeking shelter for the past weeks, many of them receiving assistance from aid agencies like Oxfam and their local partner NGOs. ...
"We saw things you wouldn't see in a horror movie" - Georgian doctor
Author: Marie Cacace
Manana Mikaberidze is dressed in black, as if in mourning for all that she's just lost. Displaced by the conflict in Georgia, the doctor forces a smile as she leads us into a classroom that she now calls home and her consultation room. The blackboard behind her still has writing on it, traces of the last lesson taught before the Tbilisi school ended for the summer holiday. As she gestures for us to sit down, she looks embarrassed and apologises for the state of our surroundings. Her chin and lip begin to quiver and she bursts into tears. ...
Author: Marie Cacace
Manana Mikaberidze is dressed in black, as if in mourning for all that she's just lost. Displaced by the conflict in Georgia, the doctor forces a smile as she leads us into a classroom that she now calls home and her consultation room. The blackboard behind her still has writing on it, traces of the last lesson taught before the Tbilisi school ended for the summer holiday. As she gestures for us to sit down, she looks embarrassed and apologises for the state of our surroundings. Her chin and lip begin to quiver and she bursts into tears. ...
Georgians feed baby on grass as they flee tanks
Author: Marie Cacace
Tamasi and his family ran for the forest when he learned Russian tanks were rolling towards his village north of Gori. After hiding in the shadows of the trees for more than a week, he finally accepted that they wouldn't be returning any time soon and fled to Tbilisi.
Now, living in a kindergarten in Georgia's capital and dependent on assistance from aid agencies, Tamasi is wondering when he will be reunited with those left behind in his village of Dzevera. The rural areas north of Gori are still largely inaccessible.
...
Next entries
Author: Marie Cacace
Tamasi and his family ran for the forest when he learned Russian tanks were rolling towards his village north of Gori. After hiding in the shadows of the trees for more than a week, he finally accepted that they wouldn't be returning any time soon and fled to Tbilisi.
Now, living in a kindergarten in Georgia's capital and dependent on assistance from aid agencies, Tamasi is wondering when he will be reunited with those left behind in his village of Dzevera. The rural areas north of Gori are still largely inaccessible.
...
