Lia had a successful business career in Moscow and lived a happy life with her husband Aleksandr and two daughters – Alisa and Aleksandra. Lia could have never imagined leaving Russia for another country, however, early birth of her 3rd child changed Lia’s life forever. Seraphim was born with severe developmental issues that made Lia and Aleksandr switch their attention to their son’s rehabilitation. They approached multiple doctors in Russia and several European countries, but despite spending all their savings, the progress was insignificant.

Lia and Aleksandr’s Georgian friends suggested that they visit Georgia during a vacation. Lia arrived in Georgia in 2016 and learned about healing properties of the magnetic beaches of Ureki from locals. She decided to visit Ureki with Seraphim and was extremely excited and surprised when she noticed improvement in her son’s conditions. During her short stay in Ureki, Lia met Ketevan – local medical doctor from Ozurgeti who worked with Seraphim without requesting any compensation from Lia.

Lia started searching for rehabilitation centres in Ureki to continue Seraphim’s recovery process but could find only two. One looked dilapidated with old Soviet equipment and another one was too expensive. Lia and her husband decided to establish a charity rehabilitation centre “Seraphim” in Ureki for children in need of special treatments. In 2017, they bought an old house in Ureki, spent 3.5 years setting it up and appointed Ketevan as a director.

During their 3.5 years of renovation, Lia also offered tourists to stay at her house and pay as much as they would donate to the future project.  “Seraphim” was established in 2021 and hosted around 60 patients in the summer of 2021 for short-term (weekly) courses and results are very promising. Lia and Ketevan are still waiting for an official license so that “Seraphim” can be open throughout the year. Thanks to organizing an international drive for donations and receiving the funds from around the world, Lia managed to equip “Seraphim” with modern equipment and has established a team of 10 local doctors from Guria, who further deepened their knowledge about various rehabilitation techniques and proper use of equipment.

For Lia the centre’s accessibility is most important: “I will never take money from mothers, who are facing the same difficulties as me and cannot afford the treatment”, says Lia. In addition to the rehabilitation centre, Lia managed to create a foundation “Seraphim” that has around 500 beneficiaries, children in need of rehabilitation, who cannot afford costly treatment and covers various charity activities. The foundation managed to organize renovation of 25 monasteries in Guria region and plans construction of St. Seraphim church in front of the rehabilitation centre. Lia and Ketevan plan to enlarge the centre and open similar rehabilitation site for adults.

Since her arrival in Georgia, Lia gave birth to her 4th child Gabriel and the family lives together in Tbilisi. Aleksandr works remotely, Alisa and Aleksandra go to a public school while Lia manages the centre and travels to Ureki often. As for Seraphim, he is now 6 years old and though he is not able to walk, he is feeling better and both parents and doctors are optimistic.
 

Photo by Eric Gourlan

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well Being
SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
 

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