Maria and Semyon: Dreaming of Bees and the Sweet Life in Armenia

Published: Aug 7, 2024 Reading time: 2 minutes
War ConflictRefugeesDistributionSupport of Refugees
Maria and Semyon: Dreaming of Bees and the Sweet Life in Armenia
© Photo: Tereza Hronová

In Nagorno-Karabakh, Maria and Semyon dreamed of living happily ever after in their home with its vast garden. However, due to conflict, they were forced to flee to Armenia in 2023. They are now among the many families we have selected for voucher support to equip their new homes.

"Taste the honey; you've never had anything so good," Semyon offers. He and his wife, Maria, used to keep bees and produce honey in Nagorno-Karabakh. A jar of honey was one of the few cherished items they brought with them to Armenia.

"Since childhood, I watched how we kept bees. My granddad taught me how to care for them and handle them. Later, I started beekeeping myself. We moved here and had to leave our bees in Nagorno-Karabakh. We left about 55 bee colonies there," Semyon recalls.

Maria and Semyon had to leave most of their belongings behind as they quickly fled for safety. They moved to Masis, where they stay in the house of their son, who tragically passed away a few years ago in a car accident. 

"We can live without most things; everything we need we can find here. But the grave of our son cannot be moved. He stayed there," Maria says, unable to hold back her tears.

Maria and Semyon were selected for voucher support, which allowed them to purchase essential equipment for their new house. "We bought a tea kettle, a washing machine, and a microwave oven," Maria explains.

Across the regions of Armenia, we provided 1,260 households with voucher assistance; each voucher had a value of €600. We are able to support displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh thanks to support from the European Union and Netherlands Refugee Foundation Stichting Vluchteling.

With Stichting Vluchteling's support, we provided 190 families with 1 tonne—per family—of eco-friendly briquettes in Vayots Dzor and Syunik.

Our comprehensive efforts, funded by the EU, focus on winterising homes, eco-friendly briquettes, utility payments, equipment and clothing voucher assistance, foldable beds, bedding, child-friendly spaces, and more. Over the past nine months, we have reached about 5,000 families, benefiting over 20,000 displaced individuals. 

Maria and Semyon are not the kind of people to sit idle. They have already started gardening—as they have done throughout their lives.

"Although we've moved to Armenia, we're the same people—we need to do something. With this small piece of land, we've already bought and planted trees. We indeed lost everything, but sitting with arms folded isn't right; one should create something," Semyon says. 

He also plans to start beekeeping again. Next time we visit, he hopes to offer us delicious honey from their new home in Armenia.

Autor: Tereza Hronová

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