Armenian winters are so harsh and long, that people prepare for them all year. They store food and animal manure, cover their windows and doors with thick fabric. Women of the village also collect a large number of plastic bags for their children’s feet.
“You never know how much it will snow and how long the winter will last,” explains Larisa Javadyan, mother of three. Her middle child, Papik, loves to play in the snow and ice, even if it means wearing plastic bags under his boots. Every morning, the seven-year-old boy is waiting at the door – and he wants to stay out all day.
Leaky boots and wet feet
“Mom won’t let me out without putting these bags on,” complains Papik. Larisa had saved up for new boots the summer before, but they were of poor quality. Almost immediately, Papik and his siblings complained of wet feet.
To top it off, the winter of 2009 brought an exceptional amount of snow to the villages of Papik’s region. It snowed so heavily that the road to his village was completely blocked off. There was no choice but to walk everywhere.
Larisa is unemployed. Papik’s father, Sarukhan, works as a shepherd during the summer but for the rest of the year he has no opportunity to generate an income. They couldn’t afford quality boots, so plastic bags were the only option.
An unhealthy option
But covering feet with plastic bags is not only uncomfortable and impractical for children — it’s an unhealthy practice, doctors suggest. Plastic bags do not allow the skin to breathe. “These conditions are ideal for a number of infections, including fungal diseases,” says Ruzanna Manukyan, paediatrician and World Vision Armenia Health Department Coordinator.
For Larisa, foot infections are the lesser of two evils. Cold, wet feet lead to illness, something that can be dangerous in the dead of winter.
Through the World Vision Gift Catalogue, Canadians can provide children like Papik with warm clothes and boots for the winter. That way, they can play all day as Papik to do, without fear of infection or illness.
