Nailya’s Strong Spirit

The Fellowship  |  October 25, 2024

Nailya has warm memories of her childhood.

She grew up part of a vibrant, family-like Jewish community in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. “On the Jewish holidays, we would bake cakes, have guests, serve fruit and everything. On Passover, we would all clean our houses,” Nailya recalls fondly.

At 17, Nailya graduated from accounting school, setting the stage for her future career. Her academic excellence is still a source of pride: “I made sure to be a straight-A student,” she says.

“I Lived with Great Hardships”

After a career that was diverse and challenging, her life took a difficult turn in the 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Her salary was scarcely enough to live on, and she had to find work in a bakery. “I lived with great hardships,” Nailya says.

Today, Nailya faces the trials of aging and isolation. “I am alone. Completely alone,” she says. “I lost my eyesight because of diabetes. I can’t see.” She can also barely walk because of nerve damage.

The support provided by The Fellowship is her lifeline. “It plays such a big part in my life,” she says gratefully. Thanks to The Fellowship, Nailya also has a bank card that she uses both to buy food and to cover her heating bills in this bitterly cold region.

The Gift of Help – and Hope

Her Fellowship-provided homecare worker, Khatuna, has become like family. “She comes every day and helps me around the house, takes my blood pressure, gives me my medications,” Nailya says. She is like my daughter.” For Khatuna, the feeling is mutual: “When I arrive and see Nailya smiling, and see her happy face, it makes me happy. She is like a mother to me,” Khatuna told us.

Despite her challenges, Nailya’s spirit remains strong, buoyed by her faith and her memories — and by support from The Fellowship, which allows her to maintain her dignity and some measure of independence in her old age.

Through your support of The Fellowship, you are giving her help – and hope – when she needs it most. And Nailya is so grateful. “When someone does good, God will help them,” she says. “May God give you a lot because you help poor people like me.”