Agricultural Aid: Empowering Displaced Families Amidst Hardship
Published: Apr 24, 2024 Reading time: 3 minutes
Reflecting on the wars raging across the globe, it becomes apparent that the consequences are consistent across all cases: suffering, destruction, casualties, displacement, and instability. These factors leave an indelible mark on individuals, making recovery and rebuilding seem insurmountable. The ongoing war in Ukraine is no exception. Thousands of people have been compelled to flee the country and resettle in various parts of the world. Some have sought refuge in Armenia, including both Ukrainians and Armenians who had lived in Ukraine for years but were forced to repatriate due to the conflict.
To address the needs of these individuals and offer viable solutions, we have launched the "PINcubator: Social and Business Support for Families Affected by the Ukrainian War" project. We strive to facilitate the integration of displaced families and help them reconnect with their homeland and heritage.
Our initiative includes humanitarian and business support components, such as vocational education and training, and language courses, to address these families' numerous challenges. Additionally, we have partnered with Mission Armenia to oversee the social aspect of our support, ensuring our assistance is comprehensive and precisely targeted.
Roman and Hayk are among the participants in our programme. Along with humanitarian assistance, they have also received agricultural business support to realise their entrepreneurial aspirations.
Roman's Chicken Venture: Bringing His Business to Life
Roman and Olena’s children have typical Armenian names such as Nazeli, Artyom, Aram, Arman, Levon, and Eva. Although born and raised in Ukraine, they were forced to flee to Armenia due to the war in 2022 and now reside in Hrazdan.
They hardly speak or understand Armenian, though they attend school and know the Armenian alphabet. The eldest daughter, Nazeli, has already begun her studies at the university. Roman hopes they will eventually become fluent in Armenian and integrate with their new friends.
Even little Eva, who doesn’t speak Armenian, greeted us with a smile. Together with her brothers, she is very enthusiastic about helping her parents feed the chickens and collect eggs. They patiently support one another in adapting to their new environment.
Roman already had experience in poultry farming in Ukraine, so we supported him with 1,100 chickens as part of our PINcubator project. Now, Roman and his family sell eggs at the market and supply them to local shops.
Speech Impairment is No Longer an Obstacle
This cheerful boy is Artur. Artur always stuck close to his father, assisting him and eagerly participating in any activities happening in the yard. Despite initially feeling a bit shy around us, he eventually warmed up, forging friendships and eagerly sharing his interests, like caring for the cows. Thanks to his speech therapist's efforts, it was truly heartwarming to witness his speech progress.
Artur is one of Hayk’s children. Hayk’s family recently relocated to Armenia and settled in the Ararat region due to the war. Two of his kids, 9-year-old Mariam and 7-year-old Grigor, attend school and have adapted well to the local way of life.
Hayk's family decided to start anew and ventured into animal husbandry because of the favourable land conditions. They aspire to eventually acquire their own pasture to enhance the welfare of their animals and boost production.
Through the People in Need's PINcubator program, they received three cows, business support, household appliances, and other essentials. Furthermore, they benefited from psycho-social support and speech therapy services our partner Mission Armenia provided.
Thanks to the project, 435 individuals received humanitarian and development assistance. We offered business support to 21 participants to help them realise their business goals and generate their own income. Another crucial aspect of the project was enrolling 19 people in vocational education and training courses. We also equipped them with the tools to become self-reliant and effectively address their own challenges.
