Artsakh resident Karen Petrosyan is blind in his right eye;  a reason he wasn’t drafted into the Soviet Army. However, he actively participated in the liberation of Karabakh. “ I was in the infantry and manned a mortar. I did whatever I could. Now, I’m not any good for anybody.” he laments.

Mr. Petrosyan hails from the Aknaghbyur village in the Hadrut district. He has four kids who he says have grown up eating macaroni.

“You wouldn’t believe it but if we eat meat once a month in the village, that’s good. I can just about buy enough sugar for the kids with the pension the government gives me. So how can I raise livestock or sow wheat? I’m forced to work as a hired hand. I clean out other people’s cow sheds, cut their firewood and till their fields. I get paid what they give me. There is no work here.” Karen says.

The village of Aknaghbyur, which has 338 residents, has no developed animal husbandry or grape-growing sector.

“The only thing that’s developing is poverty. There’s no water to irrigate the fields. Even without water for irrigation many times it costs more to cultivate the land than the crop we receive.” states resident Borik Hakobyan, who owns the only kiosk in Aknaghbyur.  “Sure the villagers raise some animals but only a few chickens and maybe a cow or two. We have no place to sell our produce. Just to make the round trip to Stepanakert costs 3,000 drams. How much milk must you sell just to break even?”

“If I open up my accounts receivable book, there’s no senior citizens listed. There are some people who haven’t paid me for two years. You really can’t force them to pay. They get their pension and don’t know what to pay off first: the light bill or the money owe me. I’m caught in the middle waiting.”
Notes Mr. Hakobyan.

One of those who owe money to the shop keeper is the Sargsyan family. There are five young boys in the family which calls a half dilapidated house at the foot of the village home.

“It was a ruined house of a Turkish family. There was nothing in it just the charred walls. I repaired the roof and moved in. We’ve been living in these conditions since 1996.” states Igor Sargsyan, the head of the household who is a disabled Artsakh war veteran.

“I’ve heard on TV many times that the government is building homes for war vets with large families. We applied everywhere, even to Valerik Gevorgyan, the Head of the Hadrut Administrative Unit. He tells us there’s no zakon, continues Igor’s wife Yelena. No we’re going to Stepanakert to see the President. Otherwise no one is going to volunteer to ask -  how are we doing? Those people are comfortably well-off.”

“The government is doing nothing to help. The “Armenia Fund” is setting up a gas supply pipeline in the village. It’s a good step and we’re very thankful. But it’s clear that those without the means will still be burning wood.  Along with the gas the government should be bringing in water, so that the villagers can make a living. During the Soviet era, water was piped in from the forest. Today, those pipes have rusted away. Geez, let them change the pipes. But no, everything’s left on the backs of donkeys.” continues Igor who starts to tick off, “drinking water, water for cooking, laundry, washing and to water the family garden plots; it’s all trucked in by donkeys. Firewood for cooking and heating is also brought in by donkey power. Donkeys are used to cart in the cut grasses and hay. What a poor animal. This is the reason why new donkeys brought into the village drop dead after only one year.”

“You look at the President and gaze at all the medals he has pinned to his arm sleeves. Great…keep all your metals and all the rest. Just eat in moderation. The less they eat, the more we live”, says war vet Karen Petrosyan and concludes, “We won the war but remain on the fringes. This tortuous dog life we lead will be the end of us.”