Family dreads freezing winter as gas price increase takes its toll
“We can never afford to spend money on clothes for the children or any devices for the apartment. We hardly manage to cover gas, water and electricity fees and ensure nutrition for the children. If my relatives who work abroad didn’t send clothes for the children, they wouldn’t even have anything to wear to go to school”, says Arevhat Alexanyan, 35, mother of nine.
The Alexanyan family lives in the Sheram community of Gyumri City, northwest Armenia. The family is large, with nine young children and three adults living in a three-room apartment.
“There has never been enough money for our family”, says Arevhat, “Every day we wake up with a question: how long will this situation go on and how long will our children be deprived of basic opportunities?”
Every day we wake up with a question: how long will this situation go on and how long will our children be deprived of basic opportunities? Gyumri is the second largest city of Armenia and today still feels the effects of the devastating Spitak earthquake of 1988, which resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and left hundreds of thousands homeless. The rehabilitation process is still under way here and everyday life is a struggle for most families because of the poor living conditions and economic opportunities.
Armenia is home to 83,600 unemployed people and the average salary in February was 101,310 drams or just US$251 a month, according to the Armenian National Statistical Service*.
With no stable job opportunities, the Alexanyan family’s monthly income is 90,000 AMD ($225) which comes from the state poverty allowance and the grandmother’s pension. Father Vahagn Alexanyan, 37, is a sanitary technician and, on a lucky day does some odd jobs in the community. But this is never enough for a large family.
“My parents, my sister and brother have left for Russia in the hope of finding jobs and a better life there. They send some warm clothes for the children and sometimes help with money. Yet they are themselves living a difficult life in Russia. They have to pay for the rented apartment, and I know that they deprive themselves of many things while helping us”, explains Arevhat.
But more than anything else the family is now concerned about the gas and water price increase which will put the basics even further out of their reach.
As of April 1 gas prices in Armenia are expected to increase by up to 40% resulting in price increases in goods and services.
Even before this gas price increase, prices had already increased by 8.8 percent in March compared to the same period in March last year, according to information provided by the Armenian National Statistical Service.
Prices for produce have risen by 6.3%, other products have risen by 14.3% and services have increased by 10.6%. In other words, life is 30% more expensive than it was back in 2005*.
Throughout the winter we’ve been heating the house only at nights and relying on sun during the day to save on gas “Even with the current gas price we can’t afford to heat the house for 24 hours. Throughout the winter we’ve been heating the house only at nights and relying on sun during the day to save on gas”, says Shoura Alexanyan, 59, the grandmother.
“That’s why our apartment walls are damp and always grow mouldy. They never get enough heating to dry up”, she explains.
It was World Vision that in 2002 gave this community access to the main gas supply by building delivery systems up to apartments. Before that the family used to have a wood-burning stove for heating. The gas supply brought considerable relief for the family, since they had to spend less on gas than on wood. In addition gas ensured more or less equal heating for the whole house.
For most gas consumers in Armenia, however, using a gas stove is more preferable than using gas systems. A family usually comes together in one room where the gas stove is installed and thus saves on heating. Privacy and sometimes safety is sacrificed to spare precious resources.
“At present we already pay about 30% of the family’s income for covering gas fees and we still suffer during the winter. Now that the gas prices increase we don’t know how we are going to survive the next winter. If we pay most of our income to cover gas fees, what will our children be eating then?” asks Shoura Alexanyan.
We can do nothing but hope that at least one adult in our family will have a stable job by then, otherwise we’re going to freeze next winter
“After the gas prices increase other services will have to increase prices as well: transport fees will increase; even bread will be more expensive now”, she claims.
“We can do nothing but hope that at least one adult in our family will have a stable job by then, otherwise we’re going to freeze next winter”, says Arevhat.
“I just hope that we can improve our situation soon while the children are small so that we can ensure a carefree and warm childhood for them”, she concludes.
*Sourced at http://A1Plus.am
The Alexanyan family lives in the Sheram community of Gyumri City, northwest Armenia. The family is large, with nine young children and three adults living in a three-room apartment.
“There has never been enough money for our family”, says Arevhat, “Every day we wake up with a question: how long will this situation go on and how long will our children be deprived of basic opportunities?”
Every day we wake up with a question: how long will this situation go on and how long will our children be deprived of basic opportunities? Gyumri is the second largest city of Armenia and today still feels the effects of the devastating Spitak earthquake of 1988, which resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and left hundreds of thousands homeless. The rehabilitation process is still under way here and everyday life is a struggle for most families because of the poor living conditions and economic opportunities.
Armenia is home to 83,600 unemployed people and the average salary in February was 101,310 drams or just US$251 a month, according to the Armenian National Statistical Service*.
With no stable job opportunities, the Alexanyan family’s monthly income is 90,000 AMD ($225) which comes from the state poverty allowance and the grandmother’s pension. Father Vahagn Alexanyan, 37, is a sanitary technician and, on a lucky day does some odd jobs in the community. But this is never enough for a large family.
“My parents, my sister and brother have left for Russia in the hope of finding jobs and a better life there. They send some warm clothes for the children and sometimes help with money. Yet they are themselves living a difficult life in Russia. They have to pay for the rented apartment, and I know that they deprive themselves of many things while helping us”, explains Arevhat.
But more than anything else the family is now concerned about the gas and water price increase which will put the basics even further out of their reach.
As of April 1 gas prices in Armenia are expected to increase by up to 40% resulting in price increases in goods and services.
Even before this gas price increase, prices had already increased by 8.8 percent in March compared to the same period in March last year, according to information provided by the Armenian National Statistical Service.
Prices for produce have risen by 6.3%, other products have risen by 14.3% and services have increased by 10.6%. In other words, life is 30% more expensive than it was back in 2005*.
Throughout the winter we’ve been heating the house only at nights and relying on sun during the day to save on gas “Even with the current gas price we can’t afford to heat the house for 24 hours. Throughout the winter we’ve been heating the house only at nights and relying on sun during the day to save on gas”, says Shoura Alexanyan, 59, the grandmother.
“That’s why our apartment walls are damp and always grow mouldy. They never get enough heating to dry up”, she explains.
It was World Vision that in 2002 gave this community access to the main gas supply by building delivery systems up to apartments. Before that the family used to have a wood-burning stove for heating. The gas supply brought considerable relief for the family, since they had to spend less on gas than on wood. In addition gas ensured more or less equal heating for the whole house.
For most gas consumers in Armenia, however, using a gas stove is more preferable than using gas systems. A family usually comes together in one room where the gas stove is installed and thus saves on heating. Privacy and sometimes safety is sacrificed to spare precious resources.
“At present we already pay about 30% of the family’s income for covering gas fees and we still suffer during the winter. Now that the gas prices increase we don’t know how we are going to survive the next winter. If we pay most of our income to cover gas fees, what will our children be eating then?” asks Shoura Alexanyan.
We can do nothing but hope that at least one adult in our family will have a stable job by then, otherwise we’re going to freeze next winter
“After the gas prices increase other services will have to increase prices as well: transport fees will increase; even bread will be more expensive now”, she claims.
“We can do nothing but hope that at least one adult in our family will have a stable job by then, otherwise we’re going to freeze next winter”, says Arevhat.
“I just hope that we can improve our situation soon while the children are small so that we can ensure a carefree and warm childhood for them”, she concludes.
*Sourced at http://A1Plus.am
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