Food is scarce for Armenian family as price rises hit home
Angela lives with her husband Slavik Navasardyan, 42, and four children in Avazan village where her daily struggle is putting adequate food on the table for her family.
For Angela the single most important thing is to buy enough flour to bake bread for her children.
...the whole family eats just one loaf of bread a day so that we can make ends meet “Every month I need to buy two sacks of flour to feed this large family. This is the second month that I have only managed to buy one sack and the whole family eats just one loaf of bread a day so that we can make ends meet”, says Angela.
Only two months ago Angela could buy a sack of flour for 10,000 Armenian Drams (AMD), which is equivalent to US$32. Today she is buying one sack for about 15,000 (US$49).
“This means I can’t buy enough rice or buckwheat for the children, and I need to cut down the expenses on vegetable oil”, explains Angela.
The family receives a monthly poverty allowance of 36,000 AMD (US$117), yet significant price rises, especially in wheat, potatoes and oil have made getting through each day an act of survival for the family.
Angela’s husband searches daily for odd jobs that can bring in a few Drams. “Every morning he goes to the centre of the village to see whether a villager is in need of help and would pay him a little”, says Angela.
The money he earns is so little we can’t even go to the shop and buy something for the children “The money he earns is so little we can’t even go to the shop and buy something for the children”, Angela continues.
Angela struggles especially to buy vegetable oil. “The oil is important for the health of the children. You cannot feed boys aged four to seven just a little bread and boiled macaroni”. The price of oil has doubled in the last two months and Angela is only able to buy a bottle of oil once every three months.
Angela’s family has also accrued debt from borrowing in the village shops.
Thankfully, my children understand the situation and can do without eating that day. “Sometimes when the supply of flour or macaroni ends, and we still have not received the poverty allowance, I am so ashamed to enter the shop and ask for another loan. Thankfully, my children understand the situation and can do without eating that day”, says Angela.
“In summer we love to eat ice-cream, but our mother says we do not have money to buy an ice-cream”, says Karen Navasardyan, 8. “But it is okay, we usually eat pear from our tree instead of ice-cream and it also tastes good”, adds his elder brother Artur, 9.
The small backyard of the family home brings the only alternative to the bread and macaroni the family eats every day. Angela and Slavik have planted a small patch of potatoes and beans and a number of fruit trees.
The produce of the yard is also a small source of income. “Very often I exchange the beans or fruit with milk, or cheese, so that the children are not deprived of the diary products as well”, says Angela.
Even with the meagre produce from their yard, Angela faces another dilemma: whether to give the fresh fruit and vegetables to the children, or store them for the winter.
“I need to store vegetables and fruit for the winter; otherwise we will have nothing to eat, except for bread”.
World Vision Armenia’s Vardenis Area Development Programme supports the vulnerable families of the community by implementing a goat-breeding project. Since September 2007, every family in the community has received three goats to produce milk and diary products for the benefit of the children and to support the family’s sustainability.
“It is so good that we have the goats, especially now, when the food prices are so high”, says Angela.
All four of the Navasardyan children are part of World Vision Armenia’s Child Sponsorship Programme and have received warm clothing and stationary, as well as undergone annual health check-ups.
Navasardyan Slavik, 42
Khojoyan Angela, 40
Navasardyan Arthur, 9
Navasardyan Karen, 8
Navasardyan Edik, 7
Navasardyan Armen, 6
For Angela the single most important thing is to buy enough flour to bake bread for her children.
...the whole family eats just one loaf of bread a day so that we can make ends meet “Every month I need to buy two sacks of flour to feed this large family. This is the second month that I have only managed to buy one sack and the whole family eats just one loaf of bread a day so that we can make ends meet”, says Angela.
Only two months ago Angela could buy a sack of flour for 10,000 Armenian Drams (AMD), which is equivalent to US$32. Today she is buying one sack for about 15,000 (US$49).
“This means I can’t buy enough rice or buckwheat for the children, and I need to cut down the expenses on vegetable oil”, explains Angela.
The family receives a monthly poverty allowance of 36,000 AMD (US$117), yet significant price rises, especially in wheat, potatoes and oil have made getting through each day an act of survival for the family.
Angela’s husband searches daily for odd jobs that can bring in a few Drams. “Every morning he goes to the centre of the village to see whether a villager is in need of help and would pay him a little”, says Angela.
The money he earns is so little we can’t even go to the shop and buy something for the children “The money he earns is so little we can’t even go to the shop and buy something for the children”, Angela continues.
Angela struggles especially to buy vegetable oil. “The oil is important for the health of the children. You cannot feed boys aged four to seven just a little bread and boiled macaroni”. The price of oil has doubled in the last two months and Angela is only able to buy a bottle of oil once every three months.
Angela’s family has also accrued debt from borrowing in the village shops.
Thankfully, my children understand the situation and can do without eating that day. “Sometimes when the supply of flour or macaroni ends, and we still have not received the poverty allowance, I am so ashamed to enter the shop and ask for another loan. Thankfully, my children understand the situation and can do without eating that day”, says Angela.
“In summer we love to eat ice-cream, but our mother says we do not have money to buy an ice-cream”, says Karen Navasardyan, 8. “But it is okay, we usually eat pear from our tree instead of ice-cream and it also tastes good”, adds his elder brother Artur, 9.
The small backyard of the family home brings the only alternative to the bread and macaroni the family eats every day. Angela and Slavik have planted a small patch of potatoes and beans and a number of fruit trees.
The produce of the yard is also a small source of income. “Very often I exchange the beans or fruit with milk, or cheese, so that the children are not deprived of the diary products as well”, says Angela.
Even with the meagre produce from their yard, Angela faces another dilemma: whether to give the fresh fruit and vegetables to the children, or store them for the winter.
“I need to store vegetables and fruit for the winter; otherwise we will have nothing to eat, except for bread”.
World Vision Armenia’s Vardenis Area Development Programme supports the vulnerable families of the community by implementing a goat-breeding project. Since September 2007, every family in the community has received three goats to produce milk and diary products for the benefit of the children and to support the family’s sustainability.
“It is so good that we have the goats, especially now, when the food prices are so high”, says Angela.
All four of the Navasardyan children are part of World Vision Armenia’s Child Sponsorship Programme and have received warm clothing and stationary, as well as undergone annual health check-ups.
Navasardyan Slavik, 42
Khojoyan Angela, 40
Navasardyan Arthur, 9
Navasardyan Karen, 8
Navasardyan Edik, 7
Navasardyan Armen, 6
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