Lile is caring, she takes care of people and potted plants. She is more independent than many of her peers. Staying home alone is not a problem for her. Solitude is easy for her.

She can be brave, she can be stubborn, and she can be a bit of a tomboy. She finds it impossible to constrain her constant need to love everybody and hug them too much.

She is known to be like that.

Then, the music therapy teacher said Lile could also be gentle and tender, showing her parents how delicately she touched the keys of her instrument.

So, she is like that too.

Lile can be very stubborn. If she gets obsessed with something, it’s impossible to persuade her to do anything else.

One time, Lile and her mum played at swapping roles. Her mum pretended to be Lile and kept saying ‘No!’ about everything. “No! No! No!” she repeated relentlessly. However, as Lile transformed into her mum’s role, she didn’t get angry or lose her temper. Instead she responded to “Lile’s’’ every protest very calmly. “Never mind,” she began, gently and patiently explaining why it was necessary to do this or that.

“Lile taught me patience,” her mum says, while Lile glares moodily at the camera. “She taught me that patience has no borders, it is without limits.” She says it in such a way that I want to thank them both, I can see it happening right in front of me. How love dissolves borders, moving them so far away that they disappear from my vision.

Photographer: Levan Kherkheulidze

Writer: Archil Kikodze

Project was produced within the framework of the Children Are Not Born with Prejudices project run by the Glada Hudik Theatre in Georgia with the support of the Swedish Institute.