InternationalCOAF-Heifer cooperation aims to fight poverty one cow at a time
Published: Saturday October 18, 2008
The Arshakyan family from Shenik, among the beneficiaries of the COAF-Heifer Project.
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The Arshakyan family here have named their family cow "Little Star" (or Astghik in Armenian) for good reason.
As father, Arshak so aptly puts it: "This single cow has allowed us to move forward and make our lives better."
The Arshakyans were amongst the most destitute of 105 families benefiting from a joint project co-funded by the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) and Heifer International Armenia. By November, 85 families are expected to have received a pregnant cow, plus training and veterinary medical assistance to enable the families to raise income-producing animals and thus be able to improve their lives. They join 20 families who received pregnant cows two years ago.
It may be hard to imagine the grinding poverty the Arshakyans and many like them are experiencing, especially in rural Armenia. Economic opportunities are scant, as the village where they live was built to house workers during the Soviet era. When Perestroika dissolved that soviet infrastructure, the factories shut down and jobs went with them, leaving many families stranded with few job skills, and even fewer farming skills.
The COAF-Heifer partnership is aimed at bringing more than sustainable farming techniques and training to the Armavir region. In close cooperation with Development Principles NGO, the project has also sponsored Heifer Youth Clubs (called YES! clubs), teaching agri-business, physical education, journalism, healthy lifestyles, logic and ecology to more than 700 children.
But of course, close to Heifer International's heart are the agri-business clubs, where students practice everything from promoting organic farming methods by collecting, using and selling the manure from their animals for fertilizer, to raising their own animals.
For the past five years, Arshak worked but could not earn enough money to buy his own cow - let alone build a barn. Oftentimes, his children would have nothing to eat for days.
"My kids used to cry and say, "Mom, how come the neighbors have milk and cheese and we don't," says Lilit, Arshak's wife. "As a mother, it was very painful listening to my children ask for food and not being able to do anything about it."
What a difference one cow can make.
In the three months since Astghik came into the Arshakyan family's life, they've gained not only a daily source of food, but also income generated from the sale of extra milk and have built a barn to house her, with materials funded by the COAF-Heifer partnership. If things go well, they have plans to buy more cows and eventually move from their current tin house into a home they will build themselves.
"As a parent, I finally feel I can take better care of my kids," says Arshak.
The COAF-Heifer partnership has implemented another pillar of Heifer International projects worldwide: the pass-it-on model. In three years, the original recipient families are required to pass on one pregnant heifer each to another vulnerable family in the same or another village.
These families will certainly know the value of the gift they are giving.
"We can start with one cow now and multiply them in the future and build a house and fulfill all our needs," says Arshak.
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