Alexander Melanashvili, 21, lives in the borderline village of Zemo Khviti (Nikozi region, Municipality of Gori), 105 kilometers from Tbilisi. The Melanashvili family is farming and gardening, like other local families. Many residents departed from the village after the war in August of 2008. However, the Melanashvili family remained, in order to expand their farming. Part of the family’s farms are just 100 meters away from the border. Ossetian villages are right across the border. Contact with those villages was lost after the 2008 August war. One can see the city of Tskhinvali and its red roof buildings within just a hand’s reach.
