He doesn’t know because ever since he was born, he has been living in a house made out of metal provided by the owner of the “Zatik” orphanage. The house is located on Tbilisian highway. Galust has been raised in the dark, metal home. Due to the hardships that Galust and his two year old sister Julia have faced, neither of the two siblings can speak. There used to be a forest near the house. The family has been living without electricity for the past eight years. The children’s parents Gohar and Armen, Armen’s father Manuk also live in the small home. Armen’s sister is currently at a psychiatric center. Armen can’t find the words to describe their situation. He keeps saying it’s “abnormal”. Perhaps this is the reason that the children keep scratching their bodies from all the dirt. They are so dirty that they start crying after scratching themselves so much. Besides electricity, they also don’t have water and can’t take baths. It’s possible that they may have typhoid, but they can’t go to a doctor. A couple of days ago, Armen’s sister was so bad at the psychiatric center that they had to call an ambulance. The ambulance doctors knew this family and lied to them by saying that the truck was going to wait for them outside. 68 year old Manuk waited outside for a long time, but there was no truck. They called from the psychiatric center a couple of times to say that the situation was getting worse.
“I gave them my daugher’s name and last name for registration. Don’t they know who it is? As soon as I give them the name, they know we are calling and ask whether we are going to pay them to come or not. They know that we don’t have any money, but they lie to us and say that the ambulance truck is on its way. I am forced to ask for a 100 dram loan from someone to take her to the psychiatric center with the bus. This is pathetic. I have to walk all the way in the blistering cold three-four times just to wait for an ambulance truck. They weren’t letting her in the hospital either, but they finally did after many disputes,” says Manuk.
The children walk barefoot in the cold. Gohar is ashamed and says:
“They don’t have clothes. I washed whatever they wear. They stay like this until the clothes get dry.”
The children wear the clothes they get from the orphanage, but those clothes are so ragged that they should be thrown away. The father asked for those clothes from the orphanage. During the dark years, the family had sold the house in order to buy another one, however, they were not able to due to the decrease in the rubli rate and were left out on the streets. They have been collecting metal and selling it to make a living for the past 15 years and the money is barely enough to feed the children.
“Well, I have gotten the hang of it. I know where to collect the metal and where to sell it. But we can’t live like this. This is horrible. It’s like we’re living in a pigsty. We are tired of this,” says Armen who has lost his passport and document while fighting in the Karabagh war. In the evening, the family turns on the battery-operated television to watch some TV, otherwise they will go crazy. Armen’s sister has already gone crazy and her situation is critical. They will release her from the psychiatric center after a while, but they want a lot of money to keep her. Armen is in panic. He says:
“She is so bad that she pees on herself. I can’t find the words to describe the situation we are in. We are on the verge of going crazy…my children can’t speak a word…”
The 68 year old man goes to find work every day, but nobody accepts him. Armen’s and his handicapped daughter’s pension put together is 4000 dram and the children get 10000 drams subsidy.
“We can’t take it anymore. They could at least give us somewhere to live in a hostel. We can’t go on like this. We are going crazy.”
They have asked head of the Kanaker-Zeytun quarter-municipality Arayik Kotanjyan and he has sent someone there. That person was amazed to see how the family lives under these conditions. Three members of the alderman’s council have come and one of them said: “I can’t take care of my expenses. How can I take care of yours?”
Manuk and Armen dispute and accuse each other: “It’s all because of you that we are living like this.”
Then Manuk understands that he is wrong and says: “Do you know how much I have fought for these authorities? I have walked all the way to the meetings, but was it worth it? Now we’re starving to death. I have fought beside Arshak Sadoyan. Why did we fight for them? We gave them the power so that they will not pay attention to us later? I am very offended, so offended that I want to appeal to the U.S. Senate but I was told that I have to pay 100 dollars to process the documents. I hope for nothing,” says the old man with black bruises on his face. The family sleeps on the snowy ground which is starting to melt. “It’s horrible,” says Armen. He cries as he doesn’t find the words to describe it all. Armen says that MP Harutyun Gharagyozyan has bought a huge territory to build some commercial center and Armen’s house is included in the territory. Sooner or later, the family will be kicked out of the home, but they will not be in a state of panic since they are already used to living like this.