Today I had an unusual visitor. One of our beneficiaries, Vardan Ghalechyan, (who has completed the payments of the milking unit we provided almost a year ago) came to our office in response to our offer to start a second stage of the project.

His visit was unusual because typically we visit the communities and meet with the farmers who are already beneficiaries of our projects or are willing to participate in our projects.

I remember it was a cold afternoon in November last year when we traveled to Getik, one of the villages of Gegharkunik marz, located not far from Chambarak. Our trip was one of the first for our Dairy Production Enhancement project and the two milking units we were delivering that day were our first purchases that would assist two farmers.

One of the farmers was Vardan. When we got to his house, you could tell that his wife was really happy about the purchase. She was the one who used to milk the cows in the mornings and they hired outside help to be able to milk all 25 cows. Vardan had doubts about automating the milking process. I remember I tried to convince him that it would not only help them manage their herd more efficiently but would also increase the amount of milk that their cattle produced. He was afraid it would be difficult to pay off during the winter months when their income was at the lowest point.

Because he made all the payments on time, he was far more confident about purchasing a cow using the same process (0% interest rate, 10 months to pay off). Cows are expensive, so this deal is especially attractive. And it’s better than any other deal he is likely to get. It’s a great deal for Civilitas, too, because the donor’s money helps 2, 3, and more families.

When I asked him about the impact of the economic crisis and the resulting drop in milk prices, he said he was lucky he had the machine and saved a bit as he did not have to hire a manual milker. He was saying that because of the crisis a lot of neighbors slaughtered two or three animals. He managed to keep his herd intact.

He was thinking of moving his cattle to a new barn as the one he was using was too small for adding more cows. He has the new barn building, but it needs a roof and he cannot afford to install it. To my question - if he tried to apply for a loan from a bank and install the roof - he said that there is only one bank that works with the rural population and that he had applied for a loan two years ago. At the end, the bank agreed to loan him 300,000 AMD. In reality, he said, they gave him 230,000 AMD and he had to pay back 360,000 AMD in a year. He didn’t know how he could accumulate enough to return the loan. He felt it was a bad decision and a bad experience.

I asked him to make some basic calculations about the roof and we would try to find funds to assist him with a loan.

With a firm handshake, he left - leaving us with a feeling of some accomplishment and a hope that one day we would be able to assist a lot more farmers.