Friday, August 02, 2002

Last night I went to dinner at Rosa Myrig�s house and picked up the figures I had asked her for in regards to how much food one needs per month. Her total per month per person came out to approximately $63.

It was interesting to see what they eat and what my neighbor the nutritionist said the government�s monthly recommend intake should be. It seems that Rosa Myrig and Hurant eat twice as much vegetables, eggs everyday, lots of potatoes, onions and sugar. I guess at their age (65 and 70 years old), these kinds of things they crave more.

As for the estimate the nutritionist came up with, it cost approximately $57.50 per person, per month.

The government official figure from Armenia is approximately $48.50 per person, per month.

You may notice that the average monthly income here which a government worker makes (about 20,000 dram ($38)) is not even enough to provide normal food for one person, let alone a family.

I called the bank this morning to see if Western Union is working here and sure as can be, it does.

When the transaction takes place, Rosa Myrig will be getting a call from the bank to tell her to come pick up the money. A very clean transaction and an example of how someone from the Diaspora can help someone living here with an assurance that their gift really does get to the person it is intended for.

More to come

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