Vergush Sardaryan's family

The family of Sardaryans includes Vergush (55), her husband Serzhik (59), their son Kamsar (27), daughter-in-law Lilit (29), daughter Siranush (20) and grandchildren Serzh (5), Vergine (4) and Argishti (1). Serzhik, a former driver, is now a pensioner. Vergush works at the local prosecutor’s office as a cleaner. Kamsar is unemployed, which is not a surprise since lack of employment is an ongoing issue in Armenia. He does construction whenever there is a need in the city. Lilit and Siranush do the housework, cooks and take care of the children. The family cannot afford to take the children to a day care center. One of the most heart-breaking and heart-warming fragments of the job is meeting the children.

The Sardaryan family has been living in substandard housing conditions for over 30 years. The house needs a capital renovation. Their home is very humid year round, which accumulate mold and toxics for the young children. The roof leaks when it rains and snows, making winter unbearable. Since it is difficult to heat the house in the winter, the whole family gathers into one room. They have done a wonderful job renovating their home this summer, but still needs to install indoor plumping for the bathroom, and put up a wall to make another bedroom for the grandparents (as you can see in the first photo). As of right now, the children sleeps in one room, grandparents sleep in the opened room, which is fine for summer, but is clearly an issue for winter. The rest of the family members gather in the renovated living room and sleeps on the ground, in the photo below:

Renovated room! 

The three children share one room, in the room they have one bed, a desk, and a cabinet for clothes. 

The income of the family is too low to accommodate food and solve their housing needs all at once. An affordable Habitat loan was a perfect solution for this family to improve their housing conditions. “Thank you, HFH Armenia for choosing to make a difference in the lives of  families. Your support obviously change lives and give hope for a better future,” Serzhik says.

Love,

Toquyen Doan

Peace Corps Volunteer

Armenia 2013-2015