Warm clothing lessens the burden of women in Armenia
Melanya Hovhannisyan, 60, tells stories about her grandchildren with a mixture of great pleasure and pain.
Melanya, her daughter Flora, 29, and her five children live in a 14 m2 loft area (or mansard) where the humidity level is always high and the walls are covered with mould due to leaking rain-water and melted snow. Their comfortable apartment lies under ruins following the Spitak Earthquake of 1988, but Melanya never complains because she is thankful that the whole family survived.
Sometimes only one of us could go out because we have one coat for two people... When World Vision visited Melanya with boxes of women’s clothing, she discreetly avoided looking at the clothes. Her grandson Aramayis, 13, opened the boxes and started to help Melanya to put jackets and coats on.
“Clothing provided by World Vision could be suitable not only for me and Flora but also for my elder grand-daughters, Hripsime, 11 and Satik, 9. They will enjoy their new clothes”, said Melanya happily.
Warm clothing is particularly important in Northern Armenia where the climate is harsh and winters can last up to seven months of the year. It is almost unbearable to face the winter without a warm coat, jacket, scarf and a hat. However, families that have many children barely earn enough income to meet the daily nutritional needs of every family member and mothers seldom use their earnings to buy clothes for themselves.
“Sometimes only one of us could go out because we have one coat for two people. But we have to take care of five children and we have to handle so many things during the day. We take the children to school and kindergarten, to the doctor; we have to go to the market, to look for odd-jobs... Now we have enough warm clothing for a more comfortable winter”, said Melanya trying the warm coat on.
While sorting out the gifts Melanya shared that Flora was unable to find a job in Gyumri, the second largest city located in the northwest of the country. When she heard about an opportunity to go to Bavra village during the summer months to milk animals she decided to try, even though she had no experience in this area. Taking advantage of the trucks which transport milk from villages to dairy plants, Flora agreed with the drivers to travel to and from Bavra by these trucks at a much lower cost.
During summer vacation in Armenia when children are not at school they often help their parents with chores at home or around the village. Aramayis, Flora’s eldest son is a good helper according to his mother. While Flora milks around 50 cows at a local farm, Aramayis collects manure and lays it under the sun to dry, then stores it for winter when villagers burn it to heat their houses.
“Though the owner of the farm pays only 15,000 AMD (US$40) per month for these jobs, the children enjoy the dairy products and sometimes chicken meat during the summer”, explained Melanya.
Melanya’s hypertension and thrombosis however prevent her from joining the family in Bavra village and she misses the children a great deal.
Melanya is a teacher of Armenian literature but because of her health condition she can no longer work and feels sorry that she is unable to support Flora financially in raising her children. Flora’s husband left for Russia to earn money when she was pregnant with her fifth child. But the family hasn’t heard from him since he migrated. He has never seen 18-month-old Kristine.
...With new clothes she has better chances to find a proper job “Support came from World Vision. Our four grandchildren are in the Sponsorship programme. Children receive clothes and stationary, participate in Christmas and Easter celebrations, and spend their vacation in Summer Camps. We heard that Aramayis will be able to go to summer camp this year. He is so excited. Moreover World Vision renovated kindergartens and schools that were extremely poor after the earthquake. They improved heating systems assuring healthy growth of our children. Also a playground is constructed in our community that brings joy to all of us”, said Melanya.
Melanya chose a blouse and a skirt, put it aside and said, “Flora is planning to look for a new job when the summer season is over and she is back. With new clothes she has better chances to find a proper job”.
“This year some 2,500 women will benefit from women’s clothing. We focus our attention mainly on mothers that have many children in their care”, said World Vision Armenia’s Humanitarian Emergency Affairs and Commodities Expert Sergey Sahakyan.
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Melanya, her daughter Flora, 29, and her five children live in a 14 m2 loft area (or mansard) where the humidity level is always high and the walls are covered with mould due to leaking rain-water and melted snow. Their comfortable apartment lies under ruins following the Spitak Earthquake of 1988, but Melanya never complains because she is thankful that the whole family survived.
Sometimes only one of us could go out because we have one coat for two people... When World Vision visited Melanya with boxes of women’s clothing, she discreetly avoided looking at the clothes. Her grandson Aramayis, 13, opened the boxes and started to help Melanya to put jackets and coats on.
“Clothing provided by World Vision could be suitable not only for me and Flora but also for my elder grand-daughters, Hripsime, 11 and Satik, 9. They will enjoy their new clothes”, said Melanya happily.
Warm clothing is particularly important in Northern Armenia where the climate is harsh and winters can last up to seven months of the year. It is almost unbearable to face the winter without a warm coat, jacket, scarf and a hat. However, families that have many children barely earn enough income to meet the daily nutritional needs of every family member and mothers seldom use their earnings to buy clothes for themselves.
“Sometimes only one of us could go out because we have one coat for two people. But we have to take care of five children and we have to handle so many things during the day. We take the children to school and kindergarten, to the doctor; we have to go to the market, to look for odd-jobs... Now we have enough warm clothing for a more comfortable winter”, said Melanya trying the warm coat on.
While sorting out the gifts Melanya shared that Flora was unable to find a job in Gyumri, the second largest city located in the northwest of the country. When she heard about an opportunity to go to Bavra village during the summer months to milk animals she decided to try, even though she had no experience in this area. Taking advantage of the trucks which transport milk from villages to dairy plants, Flora agreed with the drivers to travel to and from Bavra by these trucks at a much lower cost.
During summer vacation in Armenia when children are not at school they often help their parents with chores at home or around the village. Aramayis, Flora’s eldest son is a good helper according to his mother. While Flora milks around 50 cows at a local farm, Aramayis collects manure and lays it under the sun to dry, then stores it for winter when villagers burn it to heat their houses.
“Though the owner of the farm pays only 15,000 AMD (US$40) per month for these jobs, the children enjoy the dairy products and sometimes chicken meat during the summer”, explained Melanya.
Melanya’s hypertension and thrombosis however prevent her from joining the family in Bavra village and she misses the children a great deal.
Melanya is a teacher of Armenian literature but because of her health condition she can no longer work and feels sorry that she is unable to support Flora financially in raising her children. Flora’s husband left for Russia to earn money when she was pregnant with her fifth child. But the family hasn’t heard from him since he migrated. He has never seen 18-month-old Kristine.
...With new clothes she has better chances to find a proper job “Support came from World Vision. Our four grandchildren are in the Sponsorship programme. Children receive clothes and stationary, participate in Christmas and Easter celebrations, and spend their vacation in Summer Camps. We heard that Aramayis will be able to go to summer camp this year. He is so excited. Moreover World Vision renovated kindergartens and schools that were extremely poor after the earthquake. They improved heating systems assuring healthy growth of our children. Also a playground is constructed in our community that brings joy to all of us”, said Melanya.
Melanya chose a blouse and a skirt, put it aside and said, “Flora is planning to look for a new job when the summer season is over and she is back. With new clothes she has better chances to find a proper job”.
“This year some 2,500 women will benefit from women’s clothing. We focus our attention mainly on mothers that have many children in their care”, said World Vision Armenia’s Humanitarian Emergency Affairs and Commodities Expert Sergey Sahakyan.
-Ends-
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