Cristina García Rodero Emma Arzumanyan is 75 years old. She picks fruit in the forest outside the small town of Ayrum where she lives.
We came across Emma and her daughter picking berries on the edge of the forest. Em (...)
ma looked very fragile in her big pale blue cardigan that had massive holes in the elbows (from catching on the thorns). She had scratches covering her hands and wrists from the thorns on the berry bushes. And when she stepped through the bushes to get nearer to the ripest berries, her flimsy long skirt caught on the bushes revealing more scratches on her ankles and legs.
"I started picking fruit to earn money when my husband died. If I can sell my fruit at the roadside market, I will get 300drams a kilo .. around 1,000 drams for a full bucket. I get a small pension, but I don't have another income. I live with my daughter in one room. I know that the processing plant will be opening next year and I'm hopeful it will help me with guaranteed sales and fixed prices." Tavush, Armenia. 2013. © Cristina García Rodero | Magnum Photos
Cristina García Rodero Anush lives in Ayrum and was one of the founder members of the Lchkadzor Co-op. The co-op is made up of fruit pickers in the community (mainly women) who pick wild fruit from the surrounding forest (...)
s or grow fruit on small plots of land. With Oxfam's support, the co-op have built their own fruit processing plant which will open in Spring 2014.
"I got fed up seeing women standing at the side of the road day after day and not selling. When the plant opens there will be something or everyone. It will be a real boost for the whole community. Fruit pickers will be able to pick more and sell more, some of us will be working in the plant, and looking at making the business work." Tavush, Armenia. 2013. © Cristina García Rodero | Magnum Photos
Cristina García Rodero Anush's daughter Nvard was offered some casual labour picking grapes for a few days. There is very little work for people in Ayrum or Lchkadzor and young people especially feel worried about what t (...)
heir future holds.
Nvard is a member of the Oxfam-supported Lchkadzor Co-op and has been to several training sessions about marketing and management and hopes to work in the new fruit processing plant which has just opened. Tavush, Armenia. 2013. © Cristina García Rodero | Magnum Photos
Cristina García Rodero Kristine and her family visit the local church to light candles. They live in Ayrum, a remote community in north-east Armenia where people rely on selling fruit to earn a living. Kristine and her f (...)
amily are one of the poorest families in Ayrum. They live on the outer edges of the town in an abandoned bakery. Kristine, her husband and four of her children live, eat and sleep in one room together. They have electricity, but only one light bulb. The large fridge that sits near the door doesn't work and is used to store clothes and bedding. In a half-constructed lean-to in front of the building, Kristine cooks whatever food she can afford on an open fire. The outside tap with clean water has just been installed. Tavush, Armenia. 2013. © Cristina García Rodero | Magnum Photos