Unmanned village

Sarchapet village is situated in the north of Armenia, 68km far from Vanadzor, the center of Lori province. The village was established in 1928; it has its own administrative building, school, kindergarten and first-aid post. Emigration is the village’s major problem: about 60% of the population has left. Some of the migrants return in November for a couple of months to celebrate the New Year. These men often have another family in Russia, where they earn a living. The women have to do every kind of work, starting the day at 6 am with taking the cattle out to the shepherd, one of those few men who returned after emigrating either due to poor health or document problems. There are also death cases.