Final Update: Feeding Artsakh’s Children
Thanks to you, 200 families displaced by the Second Artsakh War received emergency food aid from mid November 2020 to mid May 2021.
About the Project
Immediately following the end of the second Artsakh war in November 2020, we partnered with Focus On Children Now (FCN) to secure the daily food needs of 500 displaced Artsakhtsis. The program launched in Armenia’s northern Tavush Province, where there were a total of 2,000 refugees, 70% of whom were children. Most of these families returned to their homes in Artsakh after the war’s end, which is why we moved the program to the Gegharkunik Province, where there were displaced families who didn’t have homes to go back to and still needed assistance.
Who Your Donations Supported
For less than $1 per person per day, FCN delivered fresh, nutritious food to families temporarily living in and around the city of Ijevan (320 people) and in the village of Ayrum (180 people) in November and December 2020.
During the first delivery run in Ayrum, we met Vyacheslav, Ararat, Alik, Aleks, Hayko, and Gor pictured above, 6 Artsakhi cousins temporarily living there following the war. They gave our team a tour of their new home, taking us to this soccer field where they liked to play.
In Ijevan, we met Arianna, Alisa, Arevik, and Arina, pictured below, sisters who thanks to your donations, had fresh food on the table while their parents figured out their family’s next move.
These and most other displaced families from Artsakh living in Tavush were able to return to their homes, which is why we pivoted the project to the city of Vardenis and its surrounding villages, where permanently displaced Artsakhtsis, mostly from the Karvajar region, were in need of assistance. Families here received weekly food packages between January and mid May 2021.
In Mets Masrik, 5km away from Vardenis, we met the Aghababyans, a boisterous family of eight seen in the video above. Husband Zaven, wife Gayane, and from left to right Ruzanna, Zarmik, Vrezhik, Tatiana, Luba and seven-month-old Marine in mom’s arms are one of 11 Artsakhtsi families who have settled in the village and are building a new life there.
We also met the Serobyans — Gurgen, Roza and Luba from left to right above — who walked their herd of cattle across the border from Artsakh to Armenia in the final hours before the Karvajar region was handed over to Azerbaijan. They told us the story of the khachkar (cross-stone) they brought with them to Armenia, saving it from potential destruction by Azerbaijan.
How Your Donations Were Used
These families were among a total of 200 that benefited from our emergency food aid program. The food packages they received every week typically included:
Fresh, seasonal vegetables like cabbage, carrots, onion, beats, and potatoes
Canned vegetables like peas, corn, and beans
Dairy items like butter, cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, and condensed milk
Cereals, grains, and other dry foods like flour, pasta, lentils, buckwheat, and rice
Poultry items like whole chickens (frozen) and fresh eggs
Canned meat and sausages
Ground beef
Vegetable preserves
Jams
Corn, olive or sunflower oil
Sugar and salt
Sweets like various candy and cookies
Tea and coffee
You raised $90,000 for FCN to distribute these food items. In total, FCN spent $94,274.77 on the food provided to families between mid November 2020 and mid May 2021. The $4,274.77 budget overage for food items was covered by FCN.
What does $94,274.77 mean in terms of actual food? To give you an idea, FCN distributed…
976 units of butter
4941 cans of vegetables, including 2,005 cans of condensed milk
465 kgs of flour
87 kgs of rice
152 kgs of buckwheat
90 kgs of cracked wheat (bulgur)
267 boxes of pasta
113 kgs of lentils
1,141 kgs of cheese
4,392 units of sour cream
763 units of yogurt (over 3,000 kgs)
360 units of cottage cheese
5,760 boxes of eggs
1,787 jars of jam
642.35 kgs of chicken
5,760 units of oil (sunflower, olive, corn oil and animal fat)
1,523 units of sausages
126 kgs of iodized salt
2,863 kgs of sugar
2,729 boxes of tea (Artsakhtsis drink a lot of tea)
243 boxes of coffee
3,536 jars of tomato paste
4,106 units of meat preserves
2,057 kgs of fresh vegetables
From all of us at 1A and FCN, thank you for standing by the people of Artsakh and Armenia. For more information about this project and others, please reach us at contact@onearmenia.org.
