Family of four living in extreme poverty
Sofik Alaverdyan with her four underage children aged between 3,5 and 14, lives in a hostel in Ararat city. They live in an apartment that does not have a toilet. All the three children in the family contracted tuberculosis.
Sofik's eldest daughter Lilit has developed a chronic kidney disease.
We found them in a most wretched condition, half starved and half naked.
Sofik's husband died three years ago. The desperate mother has to leave her underage children alone and work in the fields of the neighbouring village.
"I get AMD 46 000 a month but it is not enough to feed my children. We did not have electricity for 13 years," says Sofik.
The children do not want to go to school as they do not have clothes and shoes. They prefer to stay at home and walk a few miles to get water. They feel happy when their mother brings home something else besides bread. During our visit, we only found dry and moldy bread in the apartment.
The family does not even have a TV set and the Instead of toys the children are playing with the dog and cat of their yard.
