23 Days of Blockade: How Armenia Welcomed the New Year

On the 23rd day of the blockade in Artsakh, Narine Badasyan heard that there was sour cream available at one of the stores and quickly sent her children to make purchases. 'I am working now, I sent the children to stand in line for the sour cream; I don’t know if they managed to get it or not,' she told Azatutyun.

Narine works at one of the bakeries in Stepanakert. She described her working schedule as intense, noting that instead of spending New Year's Eve with her family, she stayed at her workplace baking bread: 'On that day, I worked all day for the people. True, I am a teacher by profession, but I am currently working at the bakery; we baked bread from three in the morning until seven in the evening. There were long lines; we managed to get the bread delivered to the people somehow. Indeed, we did a good deed.'

The family, who celebrated the New Year without their mother, had very little on their festive table. 'I entered three stores and only found tea, purchased it, and a little bit of sweets; there was nothing else. My children set the table for themselves, they made barbecue, and whatever there was at home, they placed on the table and celebrated until I returned. On New Year's Day, there was only meat, and that was local meat; there was nothing else to create a spread,' the woman explains.

Narine shares that besides sour cream, groceries and sugar have started appearing in almost empty stores, being sold bit by bit to make sure everyone gets some. 'Initially, when the roads were closed, we managed to make some purchases, but since then there has been no food in the stores. Sometimes they bring rice and lentils in portions; that has been new, but before that, there was nothing at all. For the past two or three days, they have been bringing some. On the 31st, they distributed lentils by the kilogram and half-kilogram to every member, besides that, there are no potatoes, cabbage, or carrots. Fruits are completely unavailable.'

For more details, visit the website.