Armenia: The Khachatryan family

Standing proudly outside their new Habitat home

Inside the abandoned stable where the family lived before

If you were a policeman in the UK, you wouldn't expect to have to raise your children in an abandoned stable. But to Gor Khachatryan, a policeman in Armenia, there was no choice. His monthly wage of around £50 was just not enough to afford anything better than the stable that had previously been used to house livestock during the Soviet era.

"We had only two rooms," Gor told us. "We used cardboard to give us some privacy. The winters here in Armenia can be very harsh and at night we would gather around the stove to try to keep warm. When the snow melted in spring, the roof would leak and we would have to keep moving our beds to keep dry."

Gor and his wife Larissa began building with Habitat for Humanity in the summer of 2003 and celebrated their first Christmas in their new home later that year.

"I never believed my dreams could come true," says Larissa, pointing proudly at her new home. "I am so very, very happy."

Find out more about Habitat for Humanity's work in Armenia