Voices

88 Posts

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Composite image. Tamar Shvelidze/OC Media, using Midjourney

Voice | Growing up queer in the North Caucasus

•8 min read

Eric was born and raised in the North Caucasus, but moved abroad after failing to find a sense of safety as a queer person in his home republic. Despite the challenges he faced there, he still dreams of returning home. I was born in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, and grew up there. As the first and favourite child, I was always cared for by relatives and family friends, but a lot of care also meant excessive control. I was raised strictly and at home I always felt unsafe or eve

Georgia

Voice | Three months in a Georgian Dream troll factory

by OC Media

•6 min read

At 17 years old, Nino (not her real name) joined Georgian Dream’s youth wing excited to work for the country’s ruling party before an election. But three months of social media manipulation, lies, broken promises, and tedium left her distressed and disillusioned. In September of last year, my friend told me that Georgian Dream were recruiting for their youth wing in Rustavi and I decided to sign up. I had a lot of free time because I was in my final year of secondary school, and could come

Georgia

Voice | They slapped me and called me a faggot: my experience with the Tbilisi police

by Giorgi Mzhavanadze

•8 min read

Giorgi Mzhavanadze, an activist and director of the Georgian liberal group the Shame Movement, was detained on 7 March in Tbilisi after organising an anti-government and pro-Ukraine demonstration outside the government offices in Tbilisi. After facing a ₾2,800 ($965) administrative fine for cursing at police officers and resisting arrest, a charge he denies, on 17 May he again ended up in the hands of the police, at the Ninth Police Department of Gldani-Nadzaladevi, Tbilisi. I want to tell

Anton Mikhalchuk sets his Russian Identification documents alight outside the Ukrainian Embassy in Tbilisi on 24 February 2022. Image via PrimeTime.

Georgia

Voice | ‘Why I burnt my Russian internal passport’

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•3 min read

At a demonstration in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on 25 February, Anton Mikhalchuk, a citizen of Russia, set alight his Russian internal passport, his identification documents, in support of Ukraine. Anton tells the story of fleeing to Georgia from repression in his homeland, and what Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means to him. ‘My name is Anton Mikhalchuk and I‘m 31 years old. I grew up in Tyumen, in Western Siberia, and lived there since I can remember — I graduated from school, universit

Maral Najaryan. Photo: Armine Avetisyan/OC Media.

Armenia

Voice | ‘I dreamt of freedom’

by Armine Avetisyan

•4 min read

Maral Najaryan, a 50-year-old Lebanese-Armenian, moved to Armenia after the Beirut port blast in search of a safer and more peaceful life. The end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War proved to be a turning point for her — she and her fiance Vigen Yevljejyan were captured by Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. Though Maral regained her freedom, Vigen has yet to be released. ‘I had a beauty salon in Beirut. I was a manicurist and hairdresser. I worked with my daughter. Everything became com

Inga Sindeeva. Photo: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.

Children

Voice | ‘They love each other very much’

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•4 min read

Fifty-six-year old Inga Sindeeva has been a foster mother for eight years and is raising three foster children. She told OC Media about the joys and the challenges of being a foster parent in Georgia. ‘I’m the birth mom of two adult children and a foster mom for three kids. Over the past eight years, two boys and one girl, abandoned by their parents, have joined our family.’ ‘They are in my family under a contract with the state. They will officially live with me until their eighteenth birth

Artyom Arakelyan. Photo: Armine Avetisyan/OC Media.

Armenia

Voice | Life with hands of metal

by Armine Avetisyan

•4 min read

Thirty-year-old linguist and translator Artyom Arakelyan lost his hands in an accident when he was twelve. Though the disability has caused him psychological pain, it has not prevented him from becoming a translator, football coach, and amateur pianist. ‘I live in Yerevan with my mother, my sister, and my brother. I work for the Football Federation of the Republic of Armenia as the coordinator of football popularisation. Along with my work, I also work out, play football, ride a bike, and swim