Salvation Army provides aid as people flee fighting in Georgia

THE Salvation Army in Georgia is providing emergency assistance to people who have fled the fighting between Russian and Georgian armed forces in the South Ossetia region. In the town of Gori, where displaced people are gathering, The Salvation Army has supplied humanitarian aid, blankets, medical supplies and food to a local hospital for distribution. It is likely that additional aid will be taken to Gori.

Georgian Salvation Army officers met with government representatives to discuss how they can be of ongoing assistance. They are keen to coordinate with other government and non-governmental agency responses.

The Salvationists have been asked to take care of 170 South Ossetian refugees who have been housed in a kindergarten in Ponichala, a suburb of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, where The Salvation Army has a corps (church). The kindergarten is not equipped for people to live in so there is some work to do installing piping for water and temporary showers as well as providing beds, bedding, clothes, toiletries and other necessities.

Lieut-Colonel Alistair Herring, Chief Secretary of The Salvation Army's Eastern Europe Territory, admits: 'The suddenness and intensity of the conflict caught everyone by surprise,' but he says officers and other Salvationists in Georgia responded quickly to the growing humanitarian crisis. He adds: 'We ask for prayers for Georgia and for Russia – both countries within the Eastern Europe Territory – and also for a swift path to the cessation of hostilities, a peaceful resolution to the conflict, for the many people who have been caught up in the fighting and for the families of those killed.'




Clockwise: Captain David Kotrikadze (in white T-shirt) looks on as a Salvation Army team provides bread and soup to refugees;Captain David Kotrikadze distributes essential items and takes the details of refugees being looked after by The Salvation Army; the kindergarten in Tbilisi, Georgia, where The Salvation Army is looking after 170 South Ossetian refugees.