The Khmboyans are more or less able to take care of their daily expenses. Despite all that, Elena, mother of 23-year old Roman, says that the main thing that they worry about is Roman’s health. Roman was diagnosed with scolios at the age of six
Scolios is deformation of the spinal cord and it affects the entire body as it develops. Roman suffers from complex scolios. He has gone through five operations already, but the situation has gotten worse. Doctors have lost all hope and say that the only thing that can help save him is a very expensive operation, but the family doesn’t have the financial means. Roman’s father, Valodya, is 59 years old and has received a university education in agriculture, but currently he is forced to work somewhere just to get income and he can’t find a job all the time. He and his 51 year-old wife Elena were born and raised in the Shirak Marz. They moved to Yerevan in the 1970s and since 1982, they have been living in a three-bedroom home located in the Kasakh village (Kotayk Marz) approximately six kilometers away from Yerevan. Roman has two married sisters. They have their children and barely make ends meet. So, Roman and his parents can’t expect any help from them.
Back in 1989, when the doctors first gave Roman’s diagnosis, Valodya tried to do his best to make his son’s situation a little better, but the collapse of the Soviet Union ruined everything.
“We found out that Roman had an illness during the Soviet era and tried to open a deposit in order to save some money for treating the illness. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, we no longer had our deposits. After that, the only thing that has been on our minds is to take care of Roman,” says Valodya. “We don’t need anything now,” says Elena. “I just want my son to feel well.”
Elena says that Roman’s disease was bothering him during his school years.
“Although teachers were demanding more from him, he was still the best student in school.”
Roman was excellent in Armenian language and literature. After graduating from school, he graduated from an industrial college with a major in radio electrician. At the same time, he has attended the “Pyunik” union for handicapped people which was a great place for him to express himself.
“Pyunik” helped Roman out a couple of times with paying his tuition. He has participated in publishing the newspaper at the union, as well as during his days at the college. After graduation, he visits “Pyunik” once a week and has written nearly 200 short and long poems. In 2004, he received a prize at the “Baze” festival.
At “Pyunik”, they describe Roman as smart, modest and are of the opinion that he has to continue his education by perfecting himself. Roman is a third-degree handicapped and receives 3200 drams from the state (nearly seven dollars). That is not enough if we take into consideration Roman’s expenses. As for the parents, who are in debt, they don’t have the means to help Roman.
“I’ll pay whatever amount, as long as my son feels well,” says Elena. “Since his spinal cord is crooked now, his lungs have crushed and that affects his breathing. It causes pain. Many times his heart starts to strike and I am not able to take him to the city hospital.”
“We don’t even have a phone in the house to call an ambulance when he gets an attack. There are only two families in the entire building of 60 homes that have a phone. It would be much easier if we had a cellular phone,” says Valodya.
However, Roman has faith and continues to write. “I wanted to get accepted into the philology faculty of the state university, but I changed my mind because of the tuition,” he says.
Roman doesn’t have a computer at home but he really wants to learn how to use one and work at home. At the present, Roman is not able to find a job but he says that he tries to stay occupied-he plays chess in his free time and tries to do many things on his own. Roman also writes a couple of poems each day in order to express himself.
“I can only work with the Word program on the computer. Having a computer will help me study and work at home,” says Roman. He says that he has some friends who have faith in him. As for the rest…
“Well, they do their best so I won’t have any problems. I really want people to read my poems. I have been able to print some of my poems in newspapers with the help of some people; but after that one time I didn’t have the opportunity. I am waiting for the day when somebody will lend a helping hand and listen to my heart.”
Roman’s poems are very deep and emotional. He writes about his feelings, the Homeland and love. Elena says that he understands what his son is writing about; it depicts all that is going on in his life, in his inner world.
“Sometimes he reads his poems for us. Reading his poetry is a way for Roman to express his inner world. Sometimes he is shy and doesn’t read, but as a mother, I know what kind of feelings he has in the bottom of his heart,” says Elena.