Sixteen year old Vagho lives in the half-destroyed hostel room with no electricity. There is no window glass and Vagho has put plastic bags to cover the window up. It is very cold in the room, however, Vagho says that he doesn’t feel the cold even though he wears a t-shirt and worn out shoes.
He is going to be here in the winter. “I am used to the cold. I have not worn shoes since I was a kid. I walked around barefoot in the winter. Yes, I got sick, but I have always gotten better soon,” says Vagho. Vagho and his mother Anna have been “colleagues” before. They were both beggars. They used to beg for money near the Plplan clock tower in Gyumri. They were split up eight years ago. Police officers had grabbed Vagho from the church door and taken him to the #18 special school in Nubarashen, located in Yerevan. They didn’t inform the mother. “When they took my son, I got so depressed that I lost my teeth,” says Anna who lives in the same hostel with her girlfriend. “They didn’t tell me where he was. I was walking around with the bottle of vodka, drinking and crying. I found him after two months of asking here and there.” Mother and son have only seen each other two times a year through the course of eight years. The first time, Vagho cried and asked his mom to take him with her. Then he escaped and came to Gyumri; he had missed his mom very much. After a couple of days at the house, he told his mom to take him to school. “I couldn’t go see him; I had no money for transportation. He had used his brain, escaped and come to see me,” says the mother. During the past four years, Vagho has never again escaped from school. He was already mature and knew how to control his feelings. “I remembered the situation that my mother was in…I knew that she couldn’t come see me and I got adapted to that,” says Vagho. Vagho was born on April 14, 1989-four months after the earthquake in Gyumri. He was not raised in the home. He and his mom have lived by spending their time on the streets and stations. “When my son was born, they gave us a home which later fell apart due to a huge hole that got filled with water. My husband abandoned his family and left me all alone. He was an alcoholic and a hooligan,” says Anna. School had become a second home for Vagho. “It was good at school,” he says. He didn’t even get offended when the principal slapped him on the face. Vagho learned how to read and write in school and finished school with good grades. He has received many awards and certificates for his progress and exemplary behavior.” He has also studied religion in school and knows the Prayer by heart. “Before I go to bed every night, I pray to God to give us food to put on the table,” says Vagho as he mentioned about his prayer. School manifests both the positive and negative sides of Vagho-he is physically developed and healthy, follows up on personal hygiene, likes to be clean, he is hard-working and does his homework with pleasure. He follows the rules and regulations at school. Vagho doesn’t smoke, he does not fight, sings, dances and recites. As for his negative sides, he is stubborn and capricious; however, he strives to improve and accepts criticism. Vagho shows his stubbornness in school. He returned to Gyumri to his mother this summer. He worked at a bottle storage for two months and got admitted into the #1 school; currently, he studies in the computer department and will study for three years. Vagho’s documents were provided by the Gyumri branch of the “World Vision” organization, which has been implementing a project for protecting children at the #18 school in Nubarashen since 2004.
The correspondent of the Gyumri branch Karine Kurdinyan says that Vagho “has a great potential to learn and we are going to make sure he gets a good education.” “World Vision” has come to an agreement with the Gyumri municipality (oral agreement for the time being) for providing Vagho and his mom with a temporary shelter (they live at the hostel illegally) which has been abandoned, however, this year Vagho and his mom will spend the winter in the hostel until the whole issue is solved. Vagho goes to school with pleasure and studies his lessons in the dark and cold room. School principal Grigor Mkrtchyan and homeroom teacher Laura Manukyan praise Vagho. They say that he studies well, is responsible, attends class and has a special something. Anna, Vagho’s mother, is proud of her son’s abilities; however, she prefers that Vagho work. “I want him to work so that we can keep food on the table and a roof above our heads. I am sick and tired of going from here to there. I can’t take it anymore; I want to stay in one place. I think to myself-why did I have a child? If I were alone, I could have taken care of myself alone. I get heartfelt when I see my son hungry or thirsty, with no clothes on in the middle of winter,” says 45-year old Anna, who has health problems. Their only income is the 4,500 drams that Vagho receives as scholarship from the school. Vagho wants to continue his education. He is thinking about finding a job and working while in school. “As soon as I start to work, we will collect some money, we will get heating, clothes for my mom and she will not go out to the streets anymore…she’ll end that (beggary Zh.A). Now, since we have no money, she is forced to go beg for money,” says Vagho. He sadly remembers his childhood. He doesn’t like to talk about it and is happy that it is in the past. “When I go to the church, I see my friends with whom I have been a beggar. When they see me, they are amazed to see how much I have grown… but I still beg for money to this day,” he says. Anna also doesn’t like to remember her past. Vagho is her only concern. “I have committed many errors in my life…The only thing I ask from God is to have a home, raise Vagho to be an adult and then die. Death comes when we least expect it,” says Anna. The people staying at the hostel love Vagho. He helps everyone. Their neighbor Shoghik says that “she keeps some dinner for Vagho at the end of the day.” “I might be somebody in my life and then help them out,” promises Vagho.