Farmer Vache Gevorgyan from Hatis village, Kotayk region, is one of those people who prefer to earn their living in their homeland and not leave for another country. He is proud to say that he is somehow connected, even bound to his land and cannot imagine his life elsewhere.

… He is a native from Bayazed. His ancestors have emigrated from Eastern Armenia from that Western Armenian city in the 19^th century. And from then the generation of Gevorgyans has settled in Armenia. Today Vache Gevorgyan is one of the most successful farmers in Hatis, and he has reached all of this thanks to his and his sons’ hard work.

-Everything started in December, 1999, when I obtained a 300 USD loan from ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE bank for the first time. I spent it on agricultural purposes-bought a cow, some forage and… Currently I have 50 cows, not speaking about sheep, hens, and turkeys. The problem of food selling is solved,- says Vache Gevorgyan.

Vache says with regret that there are less and less young people in Hatis village. Some have left in search of a “better life”.

Many people want the example of Vache Gevorgyan, his success in his homeland in the sphere of agriculture to prevent the young people in the villages from leaving their homes.

-Does only your family members work in your farm, or do you have other helpers? – I ask Vache.

-Besides our family members we have employed a milk woman and a shepherd. The main force is our family. My wife, for example, who takes care of our livestock, is up from 4:30 in the morning. That is the time they start milking cows, and my working day starts half an hour later and is over at ten in the evening.

-Do you only do livestock breeding?

- No, we have nearly 20 ha land, where we grow grain. We also have hays, where we gather our winter forage.

During our conversation Vache’s sons were in the field and were busy mowing the grass, gathering it and transporting. Vache mentioned that at this time of the year his sons work from sunrise to sunset.

I was interested whether everything has been easy in his life, whether he had ever had difficulties.

- Of course not everything was so smooth back then, as it may seem from the first sight. But the men of the land must love the land, put his heart and soul into the work, and also be ready to fight agains the natural disasters. And not only. There have been difficulties, but we have always tried to overcome them due to our hard work and dedication.

I love our land, the men of lend should be kind, patient, not afraid of work, flexible. My only wish is for my sons to stay in Hatis and double our opportunities and people of our homeland and put their strength and effort into strengthening our country.

Levon Azroyan