The number of Armenians in the Georgian city of Borzhomi is decreasing and the local Armenians have trouble speaking Armenian due to the lack of Armenian schools. "There used to be Russian schools, but not anymore. Our children only learn Georgian and English," 21-year old resident of Borzhomi Nano Berikyan told "A1+".
Berikyan's children have a low level of Armenian proficiency and only know conversational Armenian. "My children don't know literate Armenian and very often have trouble understanding Armenians from Armenia," says Berikyan.
Mrs. Nano and other Borzhomi-based Armenians are trying to at least speak Armenian at home, but as another Borzhomi-Armenian said, "they have already started thinking in Georgian".
There are also other issues in Borzhomi that are contributing factors for Armenians' emigration, including unemployment and the lack of drinking water. A major part of Borzhomi still lacks sewerages and water pipelines. Every year the Georgian government pledges to work toward that, but it is postponed every year.
Thousands of tourists visit Borzhomi every year to enjoy the rich nature and the mineral water, but it is impossible to find any fountain in the city. People walk around Borzhomi with bottles of water that are sold at every step of the way.
Besides drinking water, there are also empty pans. "We need them to bring drinking water from the nearby residencies," says 45-year old Shota.
Borzhomi-based Armenians mainly make a living by collecting rents from tourists staying in rooms and apartments in the summer. The rent for one day in central Borzhomi is 50 dollars and 20 dollars in the nearby villages. The first thing tourists pay attention to when renting is water supply.
As for Armenians, they make a living by cutting trees in forests of Borzhomi and selling the wood at other residencies in Georgia.
