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June 13, 2006
First day on the job site in Armenia
YEREVAN, ARMENIA -- It's 11PM, and most of us are bushed from the work today on the Habitat apartment block. It's in an impoverished village just south of Lake Sevan, a small provincal capital of 30,000 that the guidebook describes as "struggling to survive." There's no industry or employment to speak of, and the streets haven't been maintained in many years. It's as if time stopped in the town when the Soviet Union fell apart, though the town has aged substantially in the 16 years since then.
Habitat's apartment block was started (3 of four stories) in 1989, but when the Soviet Union collapsed, construction stopped until Habitat bought the shell in 2006. Construction might have re-started in the early 1990s, but many townsmen left to fight the war against Azerbaijan over the Karabagh region. Like Poland, Armenia has a long history of being run-over by more powerful neighbors, which contributed to the dispute over Karabagh.
We spent the day hauling sand, cement mix, and water up to the 2nd floor, where it was mixed and spread. It was great to have the future homeowners working alongside, though at times we weren't terribly productive as decisions had to be made through interpreters. One of the wives even brought us a very tasty sweetened dough/pastry for lunch!
Posted by adrianjo at June 13, 2006 02:17 PM