Tserovani’s Children of the Future Project has been developed for the media platform Chai Khana.
In August 2008, war between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia started and shattered the life of thousands; hundreds were killed, while still more had to leave their homes and lost everything.
The village of Tserovani, located about an hour north of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, was built from scratch to provide a home to those families who cannot return to South Ossetia. Tserovani settlement was one of those cottage settlements that were constructed for displaced people. There are 2,000 57 square meters cottages here. Many of its roughly 8,000 residents are children, who, despite their families’ past, are holding onto their dreams.
Living in such kind of settlements sometimes puts stereotypes on residents. That they don’t have equal opportunities or that kids are raised up differently there. But the aim of the project is to show that the new generations from Tserovani have the same goals as youngsters from another cities of Georgia. They dream, they set the goals, they study and they have the same hobbies as well.
Those born during or after the conflict have just the same hopes and dreams as any other child. They are doctors, dancers and soccer players in the making. Some of them dream about traveling in space; others while looking at the horizon of the plain vale settlement just imagine their future in the mountains where they can live immersed in nature.
Such is life that some will realize their goals, while many others will steer their dreams toward something else; just like me, a woman who once dreamed of becoming a fashion designer and ended up picking up a camera and making photography her passion. Already, these children who started their lives in the environment that started building and growing together with the newborn generation are working hard to pursue their own aspirations.
About the author:
Nino-Ana Samkharadze born in 1991 is a Georgian photographer currently based in Tbilisi. She graduated from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) – Caucasus School of Journalism & Media Management, with a MA in Public Relations. Nino-Ana is the Manager of Kolga Tbilisi Photo Week and she has been a freelance photojournalist for Chai Khana since 2015.
Nino-Ana is a co-founder and a member of 90’x Collective, focused on documentary-conceptual projects, her works have been exhibited in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Sweden and etc.
