Project Update: Feeding Artsakh’s Children

500 displaced people continue to receive food assistance thanks to your donations.

Three-year-old Zarmik is one of 500 displaced Artsakhtsis who don’t have to worry about food thanks to donations you made during the 2020 Artsakh War.

Estimates vary on the number of Artsakhtsis who are permanently displaced as a result of the Second Artsakh War in 2020. According to the latest reports, the homes of 30,000 people now lie under Azerbaijani control, either captured by Azerbaijani forces or handed over to Azerbaijan under the trilateral agreement signed on November 10 between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.

With little to nothing but the clothes on their backs and what they were able to bring to Armenia proper in the short amount of time before international borders were redrawn, families continue to find themselves in a precarious situation, to say the least.

About the project

Our first visit to beneficiaries of this program was to the village of Ayrum in the Tavush Province. Now, the project has moved to the Gegharkunik Province, as the needs and locations of those displaced by the war have changed.

Immediately following the end of the war in November, we partnered with Focus On Children Now (FCN) to secure the daily food needs of 500 displaced Artsakhtsis. The program launched in the northern Tavush Province, where there were a total of 2,000 refugees, 70% of whom were children. Most of these families have returned to their homes in Artsakh, which is why we moved the program to the Gegharkunik Province, where there are displaced families who don’t have homes to go back to and still need assistance.

We visited several of these families in the village of Mets Masrik to hear their stories and report back on what the food assistance, which your donations have secured, means to them.

Meet the Aghababyans

The Aghababyans outside their new home in the village of Mets Masrik, Gegharkunik Province.

The Aghababyans are a boisterous, young family of eight. There’s husband Zaven, wife Gayane, and from left to right in the photo above Ruzanna (5), Zarmik (3), Vrezhik (7), Tatiana (9), Luba (14) and seven-month-old Marine mom Gayane’s arms.

They are one of 11 Artsakhtsi families who have relocated to Mets Masrik, 5km away from Vardenis near the shores of Lake Sevan, and are receiving weekly food assistance from FCN thanks to donations you made during the war.

Most of the families in Mets Masrik are from Artsakh’s Karvajar Province, located just beyond the mountains visible from the village and now under Azerbaijani control.

Wife Gayane, pictured to the left, was in the 8th grade when her family moved to Karvajar from Hrazdan. They were among the first families from Armenia proper to relocate to the region following the end of the First Artsakh War. When they arrived, there was nothing there, she says.

“Little by little, we got on our feet. There was no electricity [in Karvajar] when we arrived. Little by little people began building up the region… I really want to go back to Karvajar.”

What is it about Karvajar that she loves? “Its nature, its everything! I really love Karvajar. I lived there from 2000 till September 27, 2020 when the war started.”

Front to back: Tatiana, Ruzanna and Vrezhik Aghababyan.

Gayane and her children took shelter in Hrazdan with her mother when Azerbaijan launched last year’s war, while her husband Zaven went to fight on the frontline. Gayane says that it was difficult to find a house for rent with 6 children — landlords prefer to rent out to smaller families, and rents were high for a family out of work. They ended up in Mets Masrik thanks to her former employer, who owns the home and is letting them stay there for now. They’ve been there since December 15.

“I’d rather go hungry than see my children go hungry,” says Zaven, when discussing his family’s future. But thanks to your donations, neither Zaven nor his children are going hungry. They will continue to receive fresh food weekly, including seasonal fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meat products, other perishables, grains, oils, sugar and flour until May of this year. “There’s little we haven’t received [through the program].”

Zaven cradles his youngest child, Marine.

With food being one less thing to worry about, Zaven’s priority is finding a job and building a home for his family. He’s considering purchasing the home they’re currently staying in. But Zaven’s heart still calls for Karvajar.

“I would go to Haterk [village] to see my parents for a day, but I couldn’t stay. I always wanted to go back to Karvajar quickly.” Haterk is just an hour away from Karvajar in the neighboring Martakert Province, but an hour is a long way for Zaven.

“You can’t stay somewhere else, in someone else’s home… They gave the best place [to Azerbaijan].”

Brothers Vrezhik (left) and Zarmik were not camera shy, nor were their sisters.

As for the Aghababyan children, they are playful and full of joy, despite having their lives interrupted so cruelly by war. Zaven says the local school has embraced the new pupils, and three-year-old Zarmik is next in line to take the big step toward kindergarten in his new home.

We have more stories from Mets Masrik to share with you soon, plus a breakdown of exactly what food items your donations have povided displaced families — stay tuned! In the meantime, to learn more about this project and others, head to onearmenia.org/projects.