Grigor, a 29-year-old husband and father who lives on the outskirts of Etchmiadzin in Armenia gets up for work at 6 a.m and doesn’t leave until 5. Unlike most of the typical workforce however, Grigor’s day is spent rummaging through a garbage dump, where he searches for odds and ends like plastic to sell and shoes to burn for fuel. When he’s able to sell what he finds, his family has food on the table.
Unfortunately, Grigor’s dire situation is not too uncommon - after reducing poverty rates by half in the last decade, Armenia has seen a sharp rise again, according to the World Bank.