AFG’s Charity Gala In The Spirit of Giving
Tbilisi, Georgia & Online

Dear Friends,

American Friends of Georgia is hosting its Annual Charity Gala on Saturday, December 9, 2017 to restore a tradition of philanthropy and to benefit the most needy children and elderly in Georgia.


 Nikoloz and his older friend in front of Dzegvi Shelter

The goal of this Charity Gala is to help us to finish rebuilding the Dzegvi Shelter and protect more vulnerable children and abandoned elderly.


Lena Kiladze, Nana Gogochuri and adult residents at Dzegvi Shelter

The events committee is putting together an extraordinary program for the evening with a cocktail reception, live auction, raffle prizes, dancing party and New Year surprises and lots more.

We are looking forward to seeing you on Saturday, December 9, 2017 at 6:00 PM at Hotel Biltmore in Tbilisi.

To purchase tickets to attend the gala, please contact Kate Kalandarishvili at kate.kal53@gmail.com or 599 262005.



Even if you can’t join us in Tbilisi, you can sponsor a table in your name for $1,000 or a chair for $100. We greatly appreciate your generosity towards the gala’s success. The chairs will seat press persons and AFG volunteers in Georgia. Click the ‘Donate Now’ button and designate ‘AFG Charity Gala 2017 Sponsorship’.


Dzegvi Shelter, after phase 1 of major renovation: demoliton, rebuilt structure, walls, new roof, and new windows

AFG is at the forefront of this humanitarian response but we can’t do it alone! We need your help.


 Long time Dzegvi resident, Natalia, with her beloved companion Beko


  Kristine, a child who lives at the Dzegvi Shelter




Thank You!




If you or your company are able to contribute to the event, we would be very grateful. Please remember your contribution is tax-deductible and will allow us to help the most needy children and elderly in Georgia.

Please email kate.kal53@gmail.com to sponsor.

We thank you for your support of AFG!
Marusya Chavchavadze & Lena Kiladze
www.afgeorgia.org

The Georgian Association in the United States
Requests the Pleasure of Your Company at Its Annual Reception
On Monday, June 12, 2017, at 5:30 – 7:30
At

Baker McKenzie
815 Connecticut Avenue, 20006
Washington, DC
Please RSVP to  georgianassociation@gmail.com
Georgian wines will be provided by Georgian Wine House

Eating Asia: Drinking Food at the Deserters’ Market in Tbilisi, Georgia

Source: http://eatingasia.typepad.com

Side note: In my 21 years’ experience and love affair with Georgia and Georgians, I have never experienced anything like this write shared.  I take that back…. Once, when I was lost with a dead phone battery, a female shop keeper was super rude when I asked to use her phone… but the hair salon next door, more than made up for her shocking rudeness. He took my predicament personally and assisted me with the kindness of a big brother and delivered me safely home.  Otherwise, every encounter with Georgians have been nothing but Southern hospitality on steroids, full of charm and profound generosity.  I’m sharing this article for the food and photography illustration, only. 

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It is not the best wine I’ve drunk since arriving in Tbilisi the week before, not even close. Lightly effervescent, with a distinctly sour edge. Also, it is 10 AM, and I’m not a morning drinker. Not so the men clustered around Dave and I, watching with keen interest our every sip, our every nibble from the dishes on the counter in front of us. One shortish fellow with a stubbled head and double chin breathes alcoholic fumes on my cheek, then leans back on his heels and smiles, swaying like a Weeble.

I don’t know what to make of him, or of this mid-morning liquor-fueled scene in the near-dark of Dezertiri Market’s rear recesses. And that pretty much describes my state of mind for most of our short time in Georgia. We’d come from eastern Turkey, a place of big smiles, bigger welcomes, outsized hospitality. In eastern Turkey turning down invites to tea, to lunch, to dinner, to a night or five on the spare bed or couch of a perfect stranger has become normal. In Tbilisi, people smile …. or scowl. Shopkeepers are gracious … or rude. Trying to smooth the way with a nicety uttered in (my mangled) Georgian are met with a thumbs-up …. or a cluck of the tongue, a roll of the eyes and a shake of the head. They love you or are annoyed by you (some seem to despise you), these Georgians, and it is near  impossible to predict which it will be. But here, in Dezertiri’s boozy back room, we are most decidedly welcome.

Continue reading.

2 of 24 These Crusader Knights Answered The Call: Loyalty and Guts!

Source: wearethemighty.com



The country known as Georgia derives its name – “Gurgan,” the land of the wolves – from the Persian word for the “frightening and heroic people of that territory.”

Heroic doesn’t even begin to fully describe the Georgians. This fact was evident at the outset of World War I when a troop of crusader knights – in full Medieval armor – marched right up to the governor’s house in the Georgian capital, then called Tiflis (modern-day Tbilisi).
“Where’s the war?” They asked. “We hear there’s a war.”

Continue reading.

The guide: 24 top places to eat, shop and see in Georgia’s stylish capital

An intoxicating blend of ancient and modern, Tbilisi is bursting with architectural gems, tucked-away eateries and late-night hangouts. Little wonder then, that visitors are flocking there. Here’s our edit of the city’s finest attractions.

Continue reading.

Katie Melua – Yes You Can Go Home Again.

Click to see video.

We shot this behind the scenes footage during rehearsals, preparing for the recording for ‘In Winter’.

American Friends of Georgia's Most Successful Gala!

AFG Hosts Most Successful Gala Ever in Tbilisi

Our Gala raised $111,300 after expenses, which included an additional pledge of $41,000 by Ivane Nakaidze, founder and managing partner of Petrocas Energy Group and Patron of our Gala in Tbilisi. Our goal was to raise funds for two specific projects--the Dzegvi Community Building Fund and the Hospice Home Care Program--and to restore the tradition of philanthropy in Georgia.

 Painting by Levan Lagidze donated by Board Members Ambassador and Mrs. Richard Miles, Auctioneer Extraordinaire & Managing Director of Pricewaterhouse Coopers Cliff Isaak, AFG Executive Director/Georgia Lena Kiladze and volunteer Keti Sidamonidze  

Learn more....  

Video highlights from the Tbilisi December 12, 2015 Fundraising Gala  

View the the entire Gala video
 

The Dzegvi Community Building Fund

 

The Gala began our year-long campaign to raise enough funds for the renovation of a former orphanage building, which is part of a complex of buildings housing 78 residents who are mentally ill adults, physically handicapped adults, and abandoned single mothers with their children. This transformed building will become a community center with vocational training, workshops, and rooms for residents.

 

Children in the building needing renovation at Dzegvi Community Shelter, photo by Nella Rasic

 Learn More...

Click here to view film: Dzegvi Community Shelter and Hospice Home Care Program Film  
Photos made by David Khizanishvili, Editing by David Khizanishvili and Kate Kalandarishvili
 

The Hospice Home Care Program

 

Founded by Abbess Mariam, the Hospice Home Care Program brings much needed nursing care and comfort to elderly and seriously ill Georgians in their homes. Our year-long campaign seeks to help Abbess Mariam expand the homecare program to reach additional unserved Georgians who are desperately poor and sick or alone without care.

 Marusya Chavchavadze and Abbess Mariam at work visiting a Home Care patient, photo by Nella Rasic  

Learn more...

Merry Christmas from Georgia!

Unique Traditions For New Year And Christmas In Georgia

By Kidworldcitizen

The traditional Georgian Christmas tree, called chichilaki in Georgian, is not green. Georgians have been making the Georgian-style Christmas tree since ancient times. Environmentally friendly Chichilaki originated in the provinces of Guria and Samegrelo, the western part of the country.Chichilaki was decorated with the two bow-shaped items called Kalpi and Bokeri. Kalpi was made from ivy leafs and Bokeli was a bread baked with eggs, flour, and cheese both as the symbols of life and fertility.

At first sight, nutwood twigs with long fluffy shavings may seem quite unattractive if you are used to lush green, fir-tree branches. The curly shavings, which the master removes moving upwards from the bottom, are called basila in honor of St. Basily’s beard, the patron saint of animals and harbinger of new happiness. A wooden cross is usually attached to the top of the chichilaki and the tree itself is invariably decorated elegantly with fruits, berries and flowers. Unfortunately, this beauty doesn’t stay long: after the holidays, people burn their trees, symbolizing that the previous year’s misfortunes go up in smoke.

More familiar Christmas concepts have a place in Georgian festivities, as well. Santa Claus, known as tovlis bubua (Grandpa Snow), is usually depicted wearing traditional Georgian clothes and a fur cloak called a nabadi. Although Grandpa Snow doesn’t have reindeer, but he still is believed to visit homes on Christmas Eve, leaving presents for the children.

Mekvele is another typically Georgian New Year’s tradition.  The first person to come into one’s house on New Year’s with “happy feet’ symbolically brings in joy and prosperity. He or she is showered with candies and in return presents the hosts a basket with delicacies wishing the upcoming year to be satisfying and sweet.  Those said to have “happy feet” are invited to Georgian households to provide good luck for the family.

Christmas lights around the world: How we light up the holidays @CNNTravel. TBILISI !!

See slideshow.

News from Georgia!

Congrats to our Hopscotch family on your two beautiful daughters!

Tbilisi Street Food - National Geographic Discovers Georgian Cuisine

Source: http://www.georgianjournal.ge/georgian-cuisine/28629-tbilisi-street-food-national-geographic-discovers-georgian-cuisine.html

Disclaimer: I have no clue why the producers of this video chose music so far from anything possibly known to Georgia. Georgian music is so beautiful and unique, why this crazy stuff?   If only you could delete the music sound track, Turkish captions and keep the visuals and Georgian speaking subjects it would be perfect. 

National Geographic TV Programme Street Food Around The World visited Georgia. Focusing on the most widely used ingredients, Ishai Golan had 25 hours to taste all the foods Tbilisi's streets had to offer.

"Despite a turbulent past, Georgian cuisine has maintained an exceptional variety of foods. Ishai has 24 hours to taste all the foods Tbilisi's unique streets have to offer", National Geographic website reports.

"According to an ancient Georgian legend, representatives of all the peoples came before God as He was about to distribute land to each. Only the Georgians, who were busy eating and drinking, did not attend. When they did finally appear before God, He said to them, “Now you come? I have already distributed everything”. To which the Georgians replied, “We were celebrating in Your honor with food and drink…” and they invited God to join them. God enjoyed himself so much that he gave them the plot of land that he had kept for himself. Thus it is called “God’s Acre”.

Read more.

It's Your Second Chance to Enjoy Georgian Culture, Food, Music and Art.

It's Your Second Chance to Enjoy Georgian Culture, Food, Music and Art: Russian, Georgian, American Food ~ International Fall Festival hosted by Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church in Roswell, GA Saturday, September 20th 11:00-5:30p & Sunday, September 21st 11:30-5:00pm

When Waiting Hurts...

Worthy and Reposted from hopscotchadoptions.blogspot.com
By Robin E. Sizemore Executive Director of Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc.

Hopscotch dedicates this week to Evan Moses Haufler.  Hopscotch, family and friends are commemorating the passing of Evan Haufler two years ago this week. He was a precious child that brought so much joy to everyone he met.  Evan joined his family in Tbilisi, Georgia in July 2010 and then suddenly departed to be with his heavenly Father.  We hope Evan's life will motivate everyone responsible for children in care, to expedite a child's union to their family, in hopes of avoiding another preventable tragedy. His life is still being celebrated, but we imagine this world as such a sweeter place, if only Evan could have stayed a little longer.

Let this child's legacy be a reminder to parents, our own government and our future children's government to not wait, to do their very best to bring a child into a permanent biological or adoptive family as expediently as possible.  Evan's story reminds us to work for and demand change, because children cannot wait.  

Teach & Learn with Georgia

Teach and Learn with Georgia (TLG), a progressive education movement initiated by the Georgian government, recruits native English speakers to co-teach English alongside local English teachers in public schools throughout the country of Georgia. TLG aims to improve Georgia's nationwide English language proficiency in an effort towards further globalization.

Teach and Learn Georgia is now recruiting new TLG volunteers for the academic year 2013-2014. Please check out our extensive benefits and apply now!

Join us for AFG's 'Journey to Georgia' Trip 2013

Dear Friends,

Please join us for our annual ‘Journey to Georgia’ trip!

Travel with AFG's American and Georgian directors to see the fascinating country of Georgia--the jewel in the crown--through the eyes of American Friends of Georgia.  See firsthand the positive progress of AFG’s Project Leaders and visit many of the beautiful sights in Georgia while experiencing their rich cultural heritage.

Sip wine made by the monks of Alaverdi Monastery, meet Mother Mariam at her Mercy Center Hospice, experience a performance by the war affected children at Nikozi Education and Cultural Center, enjoy a Georgian table at the 18th century estate of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze, meet with a local archeologist to view the remains of four 1.7 million-year-old H. erectus skulls in Dmanisi, and much more.

Journey to Georgia Brochure

 

 

 

 

 

After last year’s trip, Dr.(s) Susan Graham and Jon Kucera wrote: “What a great time the Georgia expedition was! It was a pleasure to get to know you and a privilege to learn about the history, culture, challenges and accomplishments of the people of Georgia. I can honestly say that every one of the organizations that we visited supported by American Friends of Georgia left me with the same feeling of admiration and inspiration. Each one was run by committed individuals who through the strength of purpose and incredible effort had created a solid program that was doing good things on a shoestring. It was clear that not a penny was wasted, and that the support of American Friends of Georgia was greatly appreciated.”

September 21-30, 2013 (Optional Post-Tour: September 30-October 4, 2013)

 

The AFG tour page at MIR can be accessed at here.

To sign up, please contact Anne Thorsteinson at the MIR Corporation, by phone 1-855-691-7903, email annet@mircorp.com or by mailing the registration form on the MIR website ( above) to 85 South Washington Street, Suite 210, Seattle, WA 98104

 

 

Please make a generous gift today to American Friends of Georgia.  You can make a tax deductible contribution with a credit card on the secure donation page of our website www.afgeorgia.org through Network For Good, or by clicking on the DonateNow button, or you can send a check to American Friends of Georgia, P.O. Box 1200, Truro, MA 02666.

 

Videos from Robin’s Trip to Georgia

Happy Birthday Giorgi Kiknadze

Tbilisi Streets

Photos from Robin's Trip to Georgia

Best Georgian kitchen ever. Thanks Nana and Ana Elashvili.

Greens with pomegranate garnish. Heavenly!

Potatoes, cabbage, beets, yogurt/mayonnaise, eggs and greens. Name? "Awesome" that is what I call it.

I don't remember the name of this dish. But beef and radishes. Delicious.

Borsch two servings, yes please!

Fabulous Georgian dinner. Thank you Nana.

Baked persimmons with creme and walnuts.

Pastry with creme.

Reese in Tbilisi, Georgia September 2004.

Just in case I find myself wandering about Tbilisi without a phone again.

Birthday Dinner for Giorgi Kiknadze.

Reese in Tbilisi, Georgia September 2004.

Life in the Village - Republic of Georgia

Sakhioba Ensemble

Sakhioba Ensemble | On Tour:  Oct-Nov 2012

Full Itinerary Here

Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York, Vermont, Boston

To say that Sakhioba’s recent UK tour created a stir would be a gross understatement. Audiences across the country were thrilled by the ensemble’s dazzling display of ringing harmonies, virtuosic yodelling, and nifty footwork, interspersed with soulful laments and love songs that seemed momentarily to stop the universe in its tracks. -Caroline Bithell, University of Manchester

Dedicated to reconstructing authentic performances of traditional vocal polyphony, dance, and instrumentals from Caucasus Georgia, the Sakhioba Ensemble, which means "sweet singing", debuts their abundant talent in a sweeping tour of the US Northeast. Stay tuned for public workshops and masterclasses given by director Malkhaz Erkvanidze, one of the foremost authorities on the history, practice, and revival of Georgian Orthodox polyphonic chant.

Click here for Tour Website

Audio and Video links

First Georgian School in the Greater Washington, DC, Announced

 GEORGIAN ASSOCIATION
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, INC.
a non profit 501 (c)(3) corporation, founded in 1932

Dear Friends,

The Georgian Association in the USA, in collaboration with the St. Tamar Georgian Orthodox Church congregation is pleased to announce that the first Georgian School in the greater Washington, DC area will resume classes on November 3. The purpose of the school is to preserve and pass on proud Georgian heritage, culture and history to the children of Georgian immigrant families. By attending the classes, children also will learn and improve their Georgian language skills of speaking, reading and writing.

If you are interested in enrolling your child/children in the school’s fall class, please let us know by October 27, 2011.

To meet parents’ expectations and provide the best possible learning experience, the Georgian Association, with the greatly appreciated assistance from  Mrs. Nino Meladze-Zullo will distribute a brief questionnaire for parents to fill out.  Nino has more than 11 years of experience working in early childhood education and has been running the Georgian Sunday School for the past three years. We also would be happy to provide you with more details about the school upon request.

In anticipation of a fruitful school year, we look forward hearing from you.


Sincerely,

Nino Aduashvili
Executive Director
The Georgian Association in the USA