In Yerevan 3

August 25th

Video making lady 

Today started with the visit of our video lady who had purchased her handheld camera holder. We had asked her to purchase her holder and to bring it to our hotel to show us so we could give her what she had paid. She arrived on time and full of smiles. She had not even opened the box yet so she proudly did so in front of us. The smile on her face was a great thing to see as she obviously was very happy with her new holder. We gave her the money she had paid and off she went to bigger and better work in her field. 

Pictures can be seen at:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HsRPe9LmP6DuqSDn9


After-shool facility

Later, we visited a private after-school facility run by a lady and her husband. The school gives kids courses in various subjects which are additional to what they learn in normal school hours. It also gives kids things to occupy themselves after school until the parents return home from work. They can teach some 40 kids in 4 classrooms which are in the converted apartment of the director of the school. It is a nice facility, clean and light, and has an art studio on the lower level. They had received a computer from HERA 2 years ago.  The computer had been very useful. They had given online courses to kids stuck at home during the Covid lockdowns. It is a well-run operation with high hygienic standards,  They now needed a color printer and scanner. We went with the couple and bought the machine they needed. They were very happy.

See pictures at:     

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ma2fQ-fin7Y85d3LJsLr9

Dressmaking lady

We went to the workplace of a lady who had received a sewing machine from HERA in 2019. This is a professional operation which sells its dresses in the UK and US. They receive orders from the UK and the US and deliver finished dresses. They intend to do more marketing online using a website that will be lodged with Spotify. They actually are two separate clothes brands that have teamed up to share the current facilities. They use several women who work at home.  They bring in the semi-finished products back to the main office to be finished. The director of the ZG-Gest line is a very professional dress designer and plans to expand the operations by acquiring a number of additional machines. At that time, they will move their operations from downtown to the outskirts where rents are cheaper and they can set up a fully functioning clothes production line. We told them that they should apply next year and that HERA would probably be able to help to finance a part of the expansion,

Pictures can be seen at:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/rX7Wu6UpsVQA1eq49


Bakery

Our last visit was to a bakery located in the upper reaches of Jerevan run by a woman entrepreneur. She had a small but professional and well-equipped operation making dry pastry, mainly cookies. She also had a large machine to make Baquettes but that was not operating at this time as too many restaurants had gone out of business due to Covid lockdown. She had recently added a line of cigar-looking pastry. The cigars sell in boxes with imitation Cuban Cigar boxes stamps. They look so good that Nico and I bought several boxes on the spot,

 She started her business in 2005 and has sales of around $3,000 per month, She had asked HERA to provide a cold storage facility to hold finished products which had not yet been packed. Basically, she needed a fridge.  The cost of the unit is around Euro1200 which is more than HERA normally allocates.  She will be asked to contribute Euros 400. We will see what her response is tomorrow

Good night. Tomorrow morning we are all going to a local clinic to have Covid PCR tests which we will need when we re-enter Georgia on Saturday.

August 26th

After discussing this project with Lynell and Dennis at dinner yesterday, we agreed that we would confirm to the bakery manager that HERA would participate in the cost of buying a new fridge up to Euros 800.   Our interpreter Tamar phoned her this morning and Anoush Jan agreed she would pay the additional Euros 400.

We went to an immense store selling hundreds of different types of machines and tools and bought the fridge Anoush Jan needed. The happy faces can be seen at:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DaHK2AkQ6fd1ovo39


Early in the morning, we met up with Lynell and Dennis at a local testing clinic to get our Covid  PCR tests needed to re-enter Georgia.  It cost US$30 compared to USUS$ 112 in Montreal! 

4.5 hours later I received my test results by email which confirmed that I am Covid negative. Great news as it means I can get into Georgia. I will need to get a new test in Tbilisi to get into Germany and then another test in Germany to get into Canada. I will be well tested when I get home next week. A whole new industry of testing has sprouted up as a result of Covid.

We parted ways with our very able and charming 18-year-old translator Tamar Torosyan(tamartorosyan0510@gmail.com). She did a superb job not only translating but also organizing our meetings and passing messages to grantees.  She had a good sense of humor and worked well with both of us and the grantees. I would recommend her to anyone looking for translation services in this country. We gave her a nice letter of recommendation and sent her on her way.




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