MCHS grads’ nation invaded

By Jane DeGeorge
Eagle Reporter
Published: August 21, 2008

News that Russian troops had invaded the republic of Georgia hit home for Madison County residents Michael and Melissa Martin.

In 2006, the couple opened their Locust Dale residence to Dodo Gotsiridze, an exchange student who came to Madison from Georgia, an eastern European country in the former Soviet Union. During her yearlong stay, Dodo, now 19, became “like a daughter to us,” Melissa Martin told The Madison County Eagle during an Aug. 18 interview.

Now the couple is doing everything they can to get their “daughter” out of harm’s way. The conflict started two weeks ago in South Ossetia – a region in northern Georgia that borders Russia – when the Georgian army tried to regain control of the area and Russia sent its troops to the region and further into Georgia, according to recent news media reports.

Since the crisis began, the Martins have been speaking to Dodo on the phone almost daily. The 2007 Madison County High School graduate – along with her parents and her 21-year-old sister Teona – had been trapped inside their home in Kashuri, just west of Gori, a main point of conflict within the country, according to Martin. The family was afraid to leave their home due to Russian troops surrounding their town, she said.

“The first time we spoke to her was very hard. She was very upset,” the Locust Dale resident said Monday. “It was very scary. She could hear the helicopters and the planes overhead while she was laying in bed.”

It’s been difficult figuring out what exactly is going on in Georgia, since reports of the conflict on the news do not match what Dodo is currently living and experiencing, according to Martin.

“[On Aug. 18] on the news we heard the Russians are leaving, but that’s not the case. Dodo said there’s 30 Russian tanks surrounding her city of Kashuri and they’re not leaving,” she told The Eagle earlier this week. “We’re hearing things are getting better, but they’re not.”

Dodo and her family are curious to hear about the status of the situation from the Martins, as people in her hometown were not receiving updated reports about the conflict, she said. The lack of information had sent some Georgians into a panic, according to Martin.

“She said there’s a lot of Georgians fighting amongst each other” for food and supplies, Martin said, adding that Russian troops had destroyed sections of Poti, a main Georgian port city, preventing regular receipt of these items.

“There are also checkpoints everywhere so they can’t move around the city freely,” she said.

Couple opens home

The Martins reassured Dodo that she “always has a home” in Madison County and offered to assist with travel arrangements to get the Georgian native and her sister to the U.S., at least until the conflict is over.

“We’re just willing to do anything to help her get out of there,” Martin said.

At the urging of her parents, Dodo decided to take the Martins up on their offer – although initially it seemed like an impossible task. Dodo had left her passport with the rest of her belongings at her college in the country’s capital of Tbilisi. Travel to this city had been restricted by Russian troops, although earlier this week the former MCHS exchange student’s father was able to enter the city and pickup Dodo’s passport successfully, according to Michael Martin.

The couple is currently working to file the paperwork necessary to have the girls travel to the states by way of Turkey.

“We hope to have her here within a week,” Martin told The Eagle Aug. 18. Dodo and her sister must fly from Georgia into Turkey, where they then plan to obtain a visa from the U.S. Embassy to continue on to the states.

The Martins are trying to secure a contact in Turkey who can assist the girls once they arrive. They have spread the word through their church and through Michael Martin’s employer, KLA-Tencor Corporation, which does business in Europe.

“If necessary, my husband will go [to Turkey] and meet the girls,” Melissa Martin said.
Once Dodo arrives in the U.S., she plans to apply to the University of Virginia, according to the Locust Dale couple. She had always hoped to return to the U.S. and attend school here, but had experienced difficulty applying from Georgia, the Martins said.

Recent Madison grads OK

Dodo is not the only recent MCHS graduate currently dealing with the crisis in Georgia. Students in the high school’s class of 2007, including Tamari Kobiashvili, who was hosted by Steve and Hedi Berry, and Avtandil “Avto” Koridze, who lived with Jen and Eddie Jenkins, are also currently in the country.

When the conflict began, Avto was on vacation with friends in the city of Batumi, which is on the coast of the Black Sea, according to Martin. He received a text message from his family in Tbilisi about the situation and was told to stay where he was, she said.

The Jenkins couple has spoken to the 2008 MCHS graduate a couple of times on his cell phone and through text messages and although he has been separated from most of his family during the crisis, “he seems to be in good spirits, even telling a few jokes,” the couple told the Martins. 

Tamari is currently assisting with a volunteer group to help local refugees who had to leave their homes near the South Ossetia area, where the conflict started, the Locust Dale couple said.

“Overall, the situation is still tense over there and most Georgians don’t have access to good news reports, which is causing more fear,” the Martins said via e-mail. “We’re praying things are resolved peacefully and return back to normal soon.”