He continued, “Taking part in the distributions myself, I have personally seen the effect that World Vision's relief work is having. We are meeting the immediate, physical needs of thousands of people. You have to remember, many of them fled their homes and left everything behind, so they lack even basic supplies. We are able to provide some of those supplies for them and hopefully sustain them and help them get back on their feet. And I've also seen the emotional impact of our work. In a crisis like this where people have witnessed a lot of violence, the simple fact that we care about them and are working to help them lets them know that they are loved.”

World Vision has been in Georgia since 1994, and currently has 155 permanent staff in Georgia working on a variety of relief, rehabilitation and development initiatives. Additionally, they have worked in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation since 1995, including peacebuilding and economic recovery projects in North Ossetia. The organization has also worked in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Orenburg.

Project HOPE, an international organization with a fifty-year history of helping make health care better for people around the globe by effectively and efficiently providing medical supplies and medicines, is also involved in the relief efforts.

The U.S. Department of State coordinated the humanitarian aid drop to the Republic of Georgia, and asked Project HOPE and other non-governmental organizations (NGO) to help by sending medicines to help the injured and wounded.

Project HOPE has worked with the U.S. State Department on many occasions in the past and the State Department asked if their organization could also help in this situation. The medicine supplied will help prevent illness or infection due to the conflict.

“Project HOPE has sent over $400,000 in antibiotics to Georgia, nearly 4,000 bottles of liquid antibiotics. Bristol-Myers Squibb donated the medicine to Project HOPE as part of an inventory to be made available when a humanitarian crisis arose,” said Marisol Euceda, media representative for Project HOPE.

The medication will help prevent some of the infections that people could contract in a war-like environment. This shipment arrived to Georgia on Aug. 13.

“Just before the conflict in Georgia commenced a humanitarian assistance shipment of more than $1.4 million of medicines and medical supplies donated by Project HOPE, working in conjunction with the American Friends of Georgia, had been delivered to Georgia. Access to the supplies was then cut off and Project HOPE and the American Friends of Georgia are exploring ways to reach the shipment and may redirect the supplies to assist in conflict relief efforts. It is unclear if the shipment is safe or if it was looted since it was in town occupied by Russian soldiers,” Euceda said.

Since 1992, Project HOPE has provided more than $63 million of humanitarian assistance to the people of Georgia. Nearly one year ago, Project HOPE provided more than $8 million of medicines and medical supplies as part of a Department of State airlift. The medicines and supplies were distributed to five hospitals in the Tbilisi area.