Davit Arakelyan’s family

My father, Mher, has lived in this house since he built it with his own hands in 1970.  Now both he, my mother, Areknas, live here with myself, Davit, and my wife, Lucine.  Also living here are Lucine and my three children, Arsen, 13; Meri, 11; and Hovannes, who is about 2 years old.  My father’s parents also used to live with us but are no longer here.  So now there are seven people living in our home.  The house does provide us with shelter since its construction but it is getting old and needs to have some much needed maintenance performed to ensure our house will be here for my grandchildren.

I am a construction worker but due to jobsite accident, I am unable to continue working to provide a steady income for my family.  Without steady income then it is impossible for me to buy materials or hire laborers to do any work on the house.  So any maintenance other than little things tends not to get accomplished.   We did save enough money over a very long time to be able to renovate our kitchen but the rest of the home remains old and lacking.  We are able to get some money from selling excess fruits and vegetables we grow which are mainly potatoes and garlic.  We also have a few cows, pigs, sheep and chickens for meat and eggs.  Any excess is sold for additional income.  But not of these are consistent nor year round.

While talking to the bank about obtaining a micro-finance loan, they told us about Habitat for Humanity Armenia located in Yerevan.  A Global Village team form the United States worked hand in hand with  the family and helped them complete one room.