Unfortunately, there are families, who still live in shacks. The reality is that many of them do their best to improve their living conditions, trying to work and be optimistic. Henry’s family is one of them. Their family is composed of eight members. They all love each other and are very tolerant towards each other. Hnery lives with his parents, grandparents, brother, sister and uncle. The latter usually works abroad. Henry’s mother and grandmother are usually busy with gardening. They cultivate their plot of land.

“We are a hardworking family, my mother-in-law and I cultivate the land. When my child, Henry, was included in the support program of World Vision, I visited their office and asked for help. They visited us, we got acquainted, they saw that we like cultivating the land and gave us seed potatoes. We sowed 1500 m. in our plot of land and today we already have a harvest and also new seeds. So, we do not need to buy seeds anymore. They help my children a lot with clothes, food, school accessories and, of course, kind words. They gave my little boy a musical alphabet and he learnt the letters, colors, names of the animals without going to school. These people are very caring,” says Karine somehow excited.

The Poverty Reduction Programme envisages a series of multi-sectoral interventions to help the extremely poor families to combat poverty. The support includes: social work with families, financial assistance to meet the most urgent needs, vocational training for family members, training in the field of parenting skills, provision of knowledge on healthy nutrition and hygiene of children, assistance in the solution of the employment issues.

“The roof of our house was getting wet after every rain. Our friends from World Vision gave us building materials and my husband renovated the roof of the house, now it is safe and the smell of dampness is slowly passing. My husband had problems with his passport and the representatives of World Vision supported us in this case, too. They guided me where to apply. I should note that they taught me the most important thing - the laws. Now my husband has a passport. They also helped us with utility payments,” says our heroine with great sense of gratitude.

Henry’s mother is an exemplary housewife who has achieved great success having attended the courses on financial literacy, organized by the Gyumri Office of the World Vision Armenia.

“The courses they organize are very useful. Look, we managed to buy two calves in one year owing to these courses. The courses on parenting skills were also of great importance. I received quite important knowledge. I am very happy that World Vision once came into our life. I know that kindness can save the world,” she says with confidence.

Henry tells about the calves with joy: "We gave names our calves. My grandmother called one Morik and the other Chalka, and I also help my parents to take care of them.”

The effectiveness of the programme is sustainable and evolving.48% of the participating families have overcome extreme poverty, 90% have increased their annual income, 77% of their children have improved their health and 82% of the families have had a significant change in their quality of life.