`Kavtiskhevi is an ordinary village in Shida Kartli, Sakartvelo. If not for the shared effort of surrounding hills and rivers for over thousands of years, our village would be deserted and windy. Sometimes when it still got windy, my grandmother would tie a broom to a tree in our garden to stop the wind.
My grandmother used to tell me that in the previous century, about 50 years ago, German technologists’ came to the village. These technologists asked the villagers for consent to mine kaolin from a hill, which the Kavtiskhevi locals call Kataula. According to the Germans, the material extracted from the mountain would make valuable porcelain. My grandmother resisted and sent them away. Grandma loved to pick the chicory and hollies (Eryngium Caucasicum) on the mountain and walk on its slopes, just as locals took their animals to pasture there and to this day continue the tradition of burying their ancestors on Kataula. And all the children of course enjoyed hiking and playing there.
The Germans who visited my grandmother finally had a name. Instead of producing precious porcelain, they produce cement. As years pass by, a thin layer of white dust swathes the village. It can be limestone, sandstone or cement dust from the nearby cement factory. This factory is 4 kilometers away and the residents claim that the cancer rates have significantly risen since.
My grandmother used to tell me that in the previous century, about 50 years ago, German technologists’ came to the village. These technologists asked the villagers for consent to mine kaolin from a hill, which the Kavtiskhevi locals call Kataula. According to the Germans, the material extracted from the mountain would make valuable porcelain. My grandmother resisted and sent them away. Grandma loved to pick the chicory and hollies (Eryngium Caucasicum) on the mountain and walk on its slopes, just as locals took their animals to pasture there and to this day continue the tradition of burying their ancestors on Kataula. And all the children of course enjoyed hiking and playing there.
The Germans who visited my grandmother finally had a name. Instead of producing precious porcelain, they produce cement. As years pass by, a thin layer of white dust swathes the village. It can be limestone, sandstone or cement dust from the nearby cement factory. This factory is 4 kilometers away and the residents claim that the cancer rates have significantly risen since.