When he fled the violence at his home in the Askeran region of Artsakh, Edik Mnatsakanyan, 30, naively believed that he would be back home again in a few days after the flare-ups subsided.
That never happened.
Like the hundreds of families forced to flee the 2020 Artsakh War, Edik, his wife, Anna, who was pregnant at the time, and their three children, sought refuge about 90 miles away from their home, across the border in Armenia.
Edik’s family now lives in a house in Armenia’s Sisian region through our Support for Artsakh’s Displaced Project, which has helped six families to find sustainable housing, food and clothing, and employment—nearly everything needed to find stability in a new home. In addition, 30 other displaced individuals from low-income families have been provided with economic assistance to pursue opportunities such as animal husbandry, agricultural production and auto mechanic businesses. This vital project is sponsored by the Harold and Josephine Gulamerian Foundation and a number of individual FAR donors.
Today, the family lives in a two-story house and Edik has started a new business working full-time as a mechanic. Anna is engaged in animal husbandry and grows vegetables in a greenhouse.
“If it were not for the house and my small business, we would have to go back to Artsakh without any hope or a roof over our head,” Edik said. FAR gave us hope to build a future in Sisian.”
