The following blog post was written by Tiffany, World Vision Micro’s Project Manager, after a recent trip to Armenia.
On a recent trip to Armenia I met Vlad, his wife Anush and two children. Vlad is a biology professor at a local school and I was amazed to learn that he does not make enough as a professor to support his family. Armenia is a former communist country, and the average monthly income is $70, but the prices for many of the basic items there were similar to the U.S. Can you imagine trying to feed your family and survive on making $70 a month but paying the same cost for food as you do here?
As a child Vlad learned to be a beekeeper and when World Vision presented him with the opportunity to start his own beekeeping business he jumped at the chance. Vlad is an excellent teacher – he taught us all about bees, beekeeping, how to make the honeycomb frames and his journey in becoming a beekeeper. We even got to help him make some frames for his beehives – what at great experience. When Vlad started he had 3 beehives and now he has 30! He is even certified to train others how to become beekeepers too.
Vlad uses the income from selling the honey in the summer to pay for the needs of the children.
It was so great to see Vlad doing something he was passionate about – beekeeping, to help support his family. And to see his son, watching his Dad’s every move from a safe distance. Maybe someday he’ll be a beekeeper too – but I know his Dad hopes he’ll do it for fun, not because he’ll need to supplement his income.
