HY RU EN
Asset 3

Loading

End of content No more pages to load

Your search did not match any articles

Hetq Goes Undercover: Does an Armenian Company's Charity Drive Benefit its Business or the Children It Purports to Help?

By Marine Madatyan, Kima Khachatryan

A local company carries out regular charitable campaigns, all purporting to help children in need.

However, to what extent do these campaigns help the families rather than drive the company's business?

"The company has organized a charitable campaign; we are helping five-year-old disabled Mariam, who doesn't speak, doesn't walk, and is confined to a wheelchair. We present you with a children's coloring book Pokrik Gitunik comprised of 36 pages in A4 format, 600 dram; delivery, free of charge. If possible, will you help us this once? It's a disabled child," said a representative of the company Dil Master who had called the Hetq office.

The caller ended her memorized lines and waited for an answer to her question. We asked her to give us a phone or account number with which we could help the family directly. She said she couldn't, since that information will be made public at the end of the campaign, on the last page of the magazine's next issue.

Dil Master, meanwhile, has carried out 7 charitable campaigns, each worth150,000 AMD (about $362 USD).

This is written on the last page of their magazine. Published are also the names of those children whom they've helped. During those campaigns, as the company's deputy director Ashot Yeritsyan informed us in conversation, three publications — the magazines Gitunik and Hamegh Khohanots ("delicious cuisine") and one fairytale book — are sold, each at a minimum of 1,000 copies.

The magazines are sold for 600 dram ($1.45); that is, the company makes 1.8 million AMD ($4,350) from a single campaign. They get those proceeds by "circulating" a child's health and socioeconomic condition, but from the money they earn, they give the family in question at most 150,000 AMD as financial assistance. The company cannot sell its magazines without that assistance, and they are "charitable" only so much.  

Dil Master published the children's addresses and phone numbers also on its Facebook page and noted that it helped everyone with an amount of 150,000 AMD. The company's deputy director adds that sometimes they give 100,000 AMD and use the 50,000 AMD to buy gifts for the family. 

Susanna Gyurjyan, the mother of one of the children who received assistance, thanking the company, said they were given 100,000 AMD and gifts, the value of which, according to her, could not have been 50,000 AMD. 

The grandmother of one of the other children, who didn't wish to be named, said she was given less: 90,000 AMD monetary assistance and gifts not exceeding 10,000 AMD in value. Then when she discovered that the children's contact details were published on the last page of Gitunik, in the list of families who received assistance, she called Dil Master and asked why they published false information (that the family was given 150,000 AMD). They said that they would provide the difference when they receive funds. 

"They said, we have employees, we allocate money to them too. I had no room to complain, I am grateful, it's just that if the child was to get that much… Well, I don't know, they said they will bring [the rest of the funds]," said the child's grandmother, who lives with her 7-year-old grandchild in a dormitory. She adds, she didn't know beforehand about the charitable campaign organized in her grandchild's name by the company. "As much as I can, I live with my 64,000 [AMD = $155]. You should've asked me whether I aimed to be published with my [grand] child in all of Yerevan," she said.

Dil Master truly has a large team of employees and the 600 dram's organized "for charitable purposes" can barely cover the company's expenses. Their staff gradually increases in number: they often need a new employee and the company recently published a job posting.

One of Hetq's employees, following up on that posting, was admitted to work and spent a day there.

The company's female callers worked vigorously: though they received a fixed salary, depending on their skills on selling the magazine, their salary could go up or down. Working at the company were young female callers (10–13 people, some of whom were going through a trial period), as well as women over the age of 40 (8–10 people). They had a separate room. According to one of the young female callers, they have been working at the company much longer and have greater experience. The women called and asked those on the receiving end to purchase one of their magazines valued at 600 dram. Working in the next room were novice female callers and those in a trial period. 

On the first day of work, the company manager called new employees to a separate room, to attempt reading the text and to explain certain "subtleties". The main requirement to being a successful employee here, he said, is to have "good language" skills. After drudging through "classes", employees get the day's list of phone numbers. The neighborhood that they had to call that day was in Yerevan's Erebuni administrative district.

"Hello, we are calling you from the company Dil Master, we are trying to help 4-year-old Anna, who is an orphan. Her parents died from a car accident, and she needs surgery. We offer you a 36-page children's scientific book…" the person sitting next to the Hetq correspondent begins to call and easily persuade the person on the other end of the line, who likely refuses, but she continues without  despair. "Wouldn't you want to give as a gift… and you would be doing a charitable act with 600 drams."

From 11 am to 8:30 pm, they called various numbers and attempted to convince people to help some child. They too sometimes don't know who that child is, but they convince others — in the name of a salary. Their salary, depending on their persuasion skills, fluctuates from 70,000 to 100,000 AMD ($169 – $242).

Ashot Yeritsyan, the deputy director told Hetq that a charitable campaign lasts 1–1.5 months. Since Dil Master has been operating for 3 years now, they should have helped at least 15–18 children by now; meanwhile, they have helped 7 people.

One-and-a-half months have passed since the Hetq correspondent worked a day at Dil Master, but the 4-year-old Anna for whom the Hetq employee and others were to call various homes and ask for help has not yet received the assistance. She also is not in the list of children published in the magazine's latest issue. In one day of work, the Hetq employee sold two magazines for that child, "believing" in the three-year-old business' charitable aims.

Comments (2)

Ամալյա
Նման զանգեր հաճախ են լինում: Տպավորություն է ստեղծվում, որ ուղղակի նույն հեռախոս համարների ցանկն է սեղանին: Սովորաբար զանգողներն աղջիկներ են, որոնք, կներեք, ծվծվան ձայներով խղճմտանք առաջացնող մի քանի սերտած նախադասություն են ասում, անունը դնելով բարեգործություն: Հետաքրքիրն այն է, որ երբեմն զանգում են UCOM-ի հեռախոսահամարներից, դա էլ վճարովի ծառայություն է, բնականաբար այդ աղջիկներն էլ են փող ստանում: Էլ ինչ է մնում այդ 600 դրամից, որ գնա հասնի հիվանդ ու կարիքավոր երեխաներին: Ասածս ինչ է, դա բարեգործություն չէ, դրանով բարեգործության բուն գաղափարը վարկաբեկվում է:
Վարդ
Մեկ օրում զանգում են 3հոգի, հրահանգ ստացած մարզիկի նման;Ամեն անգամ խնդրում եմ չզանգել և բացատրում եմ, որ բարեգործությունր դա չէ; Ես իրենց նմանեցնում եմ եհովայի վկաներին, նրանց ասում եմ Քրիստոնյա եմ,բայց մեկա, իրենք շարունակում են քարոզ անել;Պրծում չկա...

Write a comment

If you found a typo you can notify us by selecting the text area and pressing CTRL+Enter