“Greenhouse in Arpeni village” project, implemented by Gohar Gevorgyan
During the period from April to November Gohar harvested three times. The first harvest – cucumbers – was received just 40 days after sowing. During 7 months Gohar managed to harvest more than 220 kg of cucumber,, tomatoes and 2 types of pepper. The whole of the harvest was sold to the local villagers. The demand for the production was so high in the village that she didn’t have to sell it in Gyumri, as it had been planned before.
“Sweet honey from Megrashat” project, implemented by Karen Voskanyan
Karen Voskanyan is also satisfied with his work and its results. In frames of the joint project with WFD NGO and EFSE DF Karen Voskanyan in March added 6 more hives to 2 his old ones, after which he did all the necessary prophylactic work and got prepared for the honey harvest season. In June – July Karen got about 50 kg of pure honey from8 hives. Karen didn’t have any problems in selling the honey either. The high quality honey was sold very quickly to the villagers and relatives giving 135 000 AMD pure profit. Karen is intending to spend the profit on purchasing new hives and multiplication of bee families. After the honey harvest Karen already divided one of the strong families thus increasing their number. In the result today Karen has 9 hives.
Karen is strongly convinced that as the number of hives grows next year, the amount of the ecologically clean pure honey he produces will also grow, and it will become competitive in the market.
“Lilit cake” project, implemented by Elizaveta Mkrtchyan
Elizaveta Mkrtchyan from Tsoghamarg village who initiated “Lilit Pastry” small business through financial support of “Women for Development” NGO has had more than 130 000 AMD profit. After participating in the training by a qualified specialist and purchasing necessary tools and equipment Liza started receiving orders in a very short time. By now, almost everyone in the village has had a chance to try Liza’s delicious pastries and cakes, made of fresh produce.
WFD NGO made it possible for Liza to turn her hobby into a source of income, which, in turn, positively affected the financial situation of her own family, as well as the community members who no longer have to spend additional time and money for buying and transporting cakes from Gyumri. In average, Liza receives 4 -6 orders for cakes monthly, which she considers normal for a small village like Tsoghamarg, despite she is assured that this number is going to increase, as this is just the beginning. in the Rural Women Empowerment Project, implemented by the UNDP
In June 2019 Liza participated in the trainings organized in the frames of “Rural Women Empowerment” project, implemented by UNDP in the result of which she received another grant to build a pastry workshop near her house. Currently the construction work is in the process. Liza is sure that the establishment of the workshop will give her an opportunity to enlarge the production and have orders from neighbouring communities as well.
Liza considers herself a novice in this business, and mentions that she still has a lot to learn, however she is assured that it’s possible to achieve any goal given that you invest your love and determination in what you do.
“My Greenhouse” project, implemented by Anna Khachaturyan
Some problems occurred with the business project by Anna Khachaturyan from Meghrashat village, who undertook a greenhouse construction. Early in spring Anna undertook the construction of a greenhouse (50m2). Just after it she plants seedlings of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant. The seedlings grow very fast promising rich harvest, but unfortunately because of certain mistakes at the construction phase as well as low quality polyethylene Anna’s greenhouse does not withstand unfavorable weather conditions and strong winds and suffers considerable damage.
But even in such conditions Anna managed to have more than 150 kg harvest, out of which about 70 kg was sold in the village giving about 10 000 AMD profit. The rest of the harvest was used for her family’s needs.
In spite of the difficulties Anna is satisfied and is not disappointed. According to her words, the first year was a probation period for her, and she had lessons learnt, and next year she will be more responsible towards her work. Having a goal to increase the number of seedlings and get bigger profit Anna is planning to enlarge her greenhouse. She has already bought stronger metal fasteners and high quality polyethylene to replace her greenhouse.
“Granny’s House” project, implemented by Rima Ghazaryan
As for the guest house, established in village Meghrashat, it was registered on www.booking.com (Granny’s House – Family Guest House in Meghrashat). In order to support the guesthouse, WFD NGO periodically shares information on its Facebook page and organizes off-site trainings for youth active groups there. It is planned to disseminate information about the guesthouse among the tourist organizations in Shirak province. We are hopeful that starting from the next year, the guesthouse will welcome its first visitors.
All the small businesses are funded by the financial support of “Women for Development” NGO, European Fund for Southeast Europe Development Facility (EFSE DF) and Bread for the World organizations.