On January 7, 2014 a friendly meeting of friends turned into a discussion on a sensitive topics – the lack of charities and social activities in their hometown, Poti, Georgia.

Marika Nadaraia and Tamar Gvadzabia grew up in the same neighborhood in Poti. Both worked for private companies in Poti. Suddenly in 2011 Tamar was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 28. The local community teamed up in support of Tamar and funded her treatment. After such an outpouring Tamar often points out that - “Support from the community literally saved my life. And now, years later, when my health condition is better, I want and consider it necessary to give back the care, love and support to the community and help the less fortunate”.

Meanwhile Marika was actively involved in various charity activities; since early childhood she was enthusiastic volunteer and she knew that individuals in need were not getting the necessary support.

The ladies went beyond their personal enthusiastic initiatives in charity and decided to create a public case in which more volunteers could get involved. They shared their opinions and goals to David Chochua and Nata Tsulaia, their close friends from Poti. After a comprehensive discussion of mutual concerns, the team decided to unite forces and found a charity organization, which could inspire benefactors to support socially vulnerable societal groups, individuals with disabilities and youth in Poti. The main concern of the friends was the high rate of poverty and economic weakness of the community in their hometown, despite the important contribution of the city to the national economy. As there had not been any significant changes to improve heavy socio-economic environment in Poti, which is main transport corridor for the trade in the Caucasus and Central Asia, the friends decided to mitigate this difficult conditions through raising the involvement of more successful social groups into charity activities.

Founders named the foundation BELIEVE, as each of them has always believed that sincere assistance and selfless kindness could make the difference. This belief would be the main motivator of doing good. Since April 03rd, 2014, Believe Foundation started to make Poti the better place.

The roles and focus forces were efficiently distributed among the founding team from the very beginning.

Using of profound educational background in charity along with excellent communication and managerial skills, Marika has been fully dedicated to developing the strategic priorities of the foundation and has been a primary liaison with foreign and local donors. Since the establishment of the Believe foundation, Marika has been the significant driving force of both internal and external organizational process. She has masterfully coped with the exact description of foundation goal, mission and its activities along with remarkable execution of each charity event.

Tamar actively participates in development of the ESP (Experience Sharing Program) for Believe Youth. She is fully dedicated to the youth development, encouraging their participation in various campaigns, programs and policy-making, which is quite cumbersome process and requires attentive planning and effective implementation. Tamar with her positive attitude, leadership skills and intelligence is committed to promote volunteerism and bring positive change into the society.

Full of energy and enthusiasm, Nata has used her successful track record in financial management to set up efficiently with her teammates the financial support plan for annual charity programs, donations and necessary expenses for the proper operation of the foundation. She importantly contributes to the definition of fundraising sources for the charity programs and manages the daily administrative, legal and financial operations of the foundation.

David, one of the brightest minds of Georgia and recognized genius, exhaustively informed Georgian and foreign society concerning unfavorable socio-economic environment in Poti, excellently raised the awareness of charity activities delivered by foundation and was the great inspiration to the youth of Poti. This brilliant and beloved person of many talents, has tragically passed away in 2015 and left his family, friends and entire society in eternal sorrow. Believe Foundation team will always grieve for David’s death, will be always inspired by his selflessness and guided by his great thought - "The emanation of light is what turns the sun into the sun".