The view of shacks of Sari Tagh neighborhood, which are built very close to each other and are covered in grey dust, resemble the view of old and yellowish books placed on the bookshelf. When ones go through the neighborhood, which is semi-ruined and dirty, one gets amazed on the one hand with the ancient look of the neighborhood and on the other hand gets sad of the smell back from 1941. Far from the light of the sun, shadow of the half-moon and in the short shack resides a boy at 10 years of age, named Armen, who loves everyone and everything in this world besides himself. And his favorite person is Hovhannes Tumanyan because when Armen gets sad he reads the stories of Tumanyan and those inspire him. He says, “I have so many dreams; I have started to live in dreams but in fact I live in emptiness.” “Why?” I asked. He answers just like an adult, “Well, because when the dreams don’t come true, you feel frustrated. You build a world with dreams, which actually doesn’t exist. But there is one thing that may come true. I want to become a pedagogue and teach Armenian language and literature.” Despite the fact that the eye orb of Armen is operated and glass is installed he reads a lot. He loves literature, especially Tumanyan’s. And his favorite book is the Holy Bible, which is Armen’s inseparable friend because it says that the “sick ones will be cured…” Armen has a bad disease. He was born with a child’s cerebral paralysis disease. Despite his physical flaws his mental capabilities are normal. As a matter of fact Armen is amazingly apt, romantic and has a huge inner world. He says, “It’s just I am a little sad of person. I like sad music, films. For example, I like the movie the “Orphans.” You know, I am not a musician but I try to sing the lines of Tumanyan. I invent my music based on words.” Armen moves with difficulties and is deprived of the right to live alone because he has prosthesis of legs. When walking he often falls down. His parents help him to go to school. When speaking of the students and teachers of #47 school Armen’s eyes are shining. He says, “My teachers help me a lot. They love me a lot and I love them. My classmates help me a lot too. When I am alone and need the help of somebody they accompany me like my relative. None of them teases me or anything. They all like me very much.” Armen’s mother Larisa ensures that the physical flaws of Armen never deserve a reason for him to be treated badly. Vice versa, everybody is ready to help and support him when he needs. Larisa says that even the neighbors bring woods for the heater to provide Armen with heat. And others offer her not to do the laundry manually and offer their automatic washing machines for that purpose. “People are not so bad as they are presented today. Today I am in need and they are all willing to help me. Everybody is trying to be useful in his/her own way,” says Larisa by adding that Armen’s teachers are extremely caring people and treat him like mothers. Larisa married a Georgian-Armenian named Grigor Mnatsakanyan and moved to Georgia years ago. Their first child was born, Veronica, 16. And she lost the second child, due to which she now has blood problems. “In the maternal house of Georgia they didn’t tell me that the baby died because of some infection and didn’t warn me of the necessity of medical care. And so I got pregnant with such infection and my Armen was born with certain physical flaws.” Later Larisa moved to Armenia with her family and lives in her father’s house till nowadays because they don’t have their own place. And in Georgia, Grigor’s brother with his family lives in their father’s house. Till turning seven Armen grew up in the mother’s lap because he wasn’t able to sit or stand because of spinal problems. “And then one day we went to the Red Cross, from where they advised us to take the kid to the Rehabilitation Center located in Noragyugh.” Thanks to the efforts of the specialists of the Rehabilitation Center today Armen can move because his muscles were “trained.” Larisa says that the medical treatment lasts four weeks and it is desirable that Armen goes through this treatment four times a year. “There is great result. My child can now walk with our help but before his muscles were stiffened. If we didn’t go to this center he probably would be on a wheelchair now.” Although it is desirable that he goes through this process four times a year Larisa and her husband can afford such a treatment only twice a year because their social conditions don’t allow them. He says that he makes a state payment in the amount of 35.000 per treatment and the use of transportation means requires the double amount. “It is very hard for my boy Armen to get on transport, he always falls down. So try to imagine how hard it would be for a person to fold legs in plaster. And he is pretty heavy and it’s very hard to hold him in arms. And there is only one bus that goes through Sari Tagh. And we need to change the bus line near GUM to get to Noragyugh. So we have to transport him by taxi. Frankly, it is very hard to raise a kid with such disabilities. Sometimes my nerves give up and I yell at the kid…” says Larisa and has her eyes wet because of feeling guilty. She says that recently she even hit Armen but she wasn’t able to fall asleep because of that. In winter the legs of Armen in prosthesis get frozen because it is impossible to provide warmth in the plaster. “We were not able to buy boots for him so he walks to class with sneakers. He even started to urinate in his pants when it got cold here. And we don’t have water or washing machine at home. So I wash everything with hands. I wash all day long and that is the reason why on that day I…” Armen looks at his mother choking in tears and smiles with lenient gloominess. Our state provides Armen only 11.200 AMD subsidy for disability. Larisa got deprived of the 16.000 AMD family subsidy when she realized that it is impossible to work with that much money and was hired to work as a sanitarian in a maternal house. “I only make 35.000 AMD a month but it’s impossible to take care of the child with that low of salary. I am ashamed to say that it’s 3 o’clock now and I haven’t eaten anything. Neither did my children. The officer says that I cannot receive subsidy because I have started to work. But I got hired because it’s impossible to live with subsidy money – electrical power, water, food, school, etc… The subsidy money helped us a lot. The child’s medical treatment is the most important for us but…” But the parents are not able to send Armen to periodic treatment in the Rehabilitation Center because they need money for the treatment. The abilities of Armen to walk and move depend on current opportunities. Larisa assures that the health state of the boy has drastically changed after the boy has started to attend the medical treatment courses. The father, Grigor, is a constructor and he works whenever there is work but he doesn’t have anything stable. And it’s impossible to have a stable work as a constructor especially during the global crisis when the construction is stuck. Armen’s sister Veronica was recently operated on because her kidney was stretched due to the moist conditions in the house. “In Babloyan Center she was operated on without any money at all. They decided to remove the stretched kidney but as it worked they only decided to make it narrower. The doctors said that it may repeat again and she should be always warm and be properly taken care of,” says Larisa and always repeats that there are many kind people, who help them – starting from neighbors ending with doctors and nurses. “As I am free from the physical training class everybody else wears sports outfit and they train but I can’t. I like football very much but my legs… After classes and during breaks everybody goes out and I stay in class. It’s easier like that because when I see the running kids I get very sad. Perhaps that is the reason that I am a sad person. And by not leaving the house I protect myself. Armen likes to be closed… he had built the world of his dreams and had found himself among his heroes.” He says that everybody treats him well; they like him and take care of him. But he loves his world and the heroes of that world and himself living in there. But he doesn’t like Armen, who’s among others because that Armen doesn’t have the chance to be on the class of physical training, play soccer or going to school alone. Armen likes his invented Armen, who was invented as a result of reading the Bible and Tumanyan.
