One of the charities we’re supporting, SOS Children’s Villages, has graciously invited us to visit one of their villages (orphanages) on our Mongol Rally route!
When we are in Tbilisi, Georgia in the second week of the rally, we will stop by the local SOS village and see first hand what all of the donations we are collecting goes to support.
The SOS Children’s Village Tbilisi comprises twelve family houses with a capacity for up to 84 children, and also includes an SOS Kindergarten, an SOS Social Centre and an SOS Youth Facility which are open to children in the neighborhood. We will get a chance to meet the children, and meet the SOS mothers and aunts who care for them and raise them in a caring and loving environment.
Many thanks go out to Cory Strischek of SOS Children’s Villages for coordinating this visit for us. Cory’s Team Shadowboat did the Mongol Rally in 2007, and he now works for the U.S. branch of SOS Villages in Washington DC.
Also, Cory sent us a package with all of this nifty stuff in it… an SOS sticker for us to put on our car, t-shirts, amazing scarves, key chains, flash drives, and much-needed brochures:
We’d also like to thank our friend Irakli Qarqashadze, who will be hosting us and translating for us when we get to Georgia. Irakli was an exchange student who lived with Pete’s family for a year in Candor, NY in 2005, and he will also be accompanying us on our village visit.
We are very excited to visit the SOS Village in Tbilisi, and we are sure our visit to Georgia will be unforgettable!