A Positive Change in Difficult Conditions

By Heifer International

October 3, 2019

Last Updated: August 22, 2012

By Liana Hayrapetyan | Communication and PR Officer | Heifer Armenia
Photos by Aram Petrosyan | Agricultural Specialist | Heifer Armenia

Before becoming a Heifer Armenia project participant, the Grigoryan family lived in very difficult conditions. They had no livestock, and their only sources of income were a small fruit garden in the backyard and a piece of land they cultivated to grow vegetables. The income generated through the sales of the surplus was not enough to cover the expenses for the family of four.

Lyovik Grigoryan, 61, and his wife Gohar, 57, are pensioners but their 34-year-old son Gor and 29-year-old daughter Meline are unemployed. It is very hard to find a job especially in their region of Armenia where the level of unemployment is higher even than in the capital, Yerevan.  

Lyovik and his son Gor run their small pig farm. In the spring of 2011 their pigs delivered 11 piglets and Lyovik sold eight of them to buy feed and to reconstruct the barn. He is raising the three remaining piglets until he passes them on in the fall of 2012 to another recipient to meet his Passing on the Gift® (POG) agreement. One of the three pigs has already delivered 12 piglets, which Lyovik plans to raise and then sell for about $85 each. The two other pigs are pregnant and expected to deliver soon.

Pig farming has been very profitable for the family. The money earned from the sales of the piglets is used for food, utilities, and medicines, and of course feed for their animals.

Lyovik, Gohar, Gor and Meline are very happy to have been engaged in Heifer project in their community. They are very thankful for the change Heifer brought into their family.

Learn how you can be a part of the exciting changes in Armenia through Heifer International.