Mariam Ugrekhelidze
Mariam Ugrekhelidze is a freelance journalist in Tbilisi, Georgia. She has the experience of working in different televisions in Tbilisi since 2011. Mariam has a bachelor's degree in journalism at Tbilisi state university and graduated from Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) with MA in multimedia journalism.
Author's stories
17-year-old Mzia Beboshvili is a triple champion of Judo. The young girl's everyday route for keeping up her sports career and progress is contingent upon a heavy workout and active training for long hours.
Judo - The Gentle Way
Nina Petrova is an interior designer who quit her job to start BIO farming. At Lisi Lake she produces ecologically clean product with her family. BIO farmer’s family every day fights with pests and economic problems equally.
Mill Fighter
Vazha Chubindze is an internally displaced person (IDP) who walked the long way from Sukhumi to Tbilisi through the Chuberi pass. In Tbilisi, Vazha managed to begin a new life, leaving the unpleasant things he suffered behind. Read more to find out about the Chuberi pass, the so-called "path of death" and how this Sukhumi Philharmonic violinist and director dealt with the new challenges of life in Tbilisi.
A violin player from Abkhazia
Homeopathy, as a type of treatment, was discovered by Hippocrates. “Like cures like,” is the main principle of homeopathy, which has developed and gained popularity over centuries. Today it is used in Great Britain, Germany, Greece, India and other parts of the world, as well as in Georgia. Watch and read about the state of homeopathy and the main obstacles of alternative medicine in Georgia.
Magic Drops
Tamada is a very old tradition in Georgia, which has transformed until modern times, to which, now, anyone can use the service: “Tamada on call” today.
Tamada
Natia Babunashvili believes in communism. Over 25 years since the communist project of the USSR fell apart, the 40-year-old single mother of two supports the now-small Georgia’s Communist Party as she thinks it remains the only political party aiming for equality among its citizens, not leaving anyone behind. Unable to find a regular job, Natia struggles to support Tamuna, 13, and Giorgi, 9. Both children are active pioneers, an organization run by the Communist Party which mixes scouts-like activities with the communist ideology.
Comrade Babunashvili
Ugulava’s story is unique, yet tragically common. Domestic violence against women is widespread in Georgia and it affects all strata of society, cutting across divisions of income and culture. A 2017 UN Women study from Georgia reported that about 14 percent of roughly 6,000 female respondents who had ever been married or in a relationship with a man said that they had “experienced physical, sexual and/or emotional violence . . .” from their partners.
Forgetting Abuse, Finding Freedom at 48
The 47-year-old former teacher had fled from the war on her doorstep twice. In 1991 when South Ossetia’s claim for independence from Georgia ended in armed conflict she left her native Tskhinvali and moved to her mother’s in Akhalgori, a city in the same region mainly inhabited by ethnic Georgians. In 2008 she fled again as Russia and Georgia clashed over control of South Ossetia. Settling into Tserovani, the purposely-built village for thousands of Georgians displaced from South Ossetia, was not easy.