The Meymaryan family is found near the Zeytun student settlements
every day. The family consists of Grandma Yepraksia, Sona, Sona’s two
sons, their dog named Chapa and cat named Kostik. They go out every
evening, sit under the walls of the hostel to get some fresh air.
It has been a year and a half since the family has immigrated from
Kalmikia where Sona’s husband has worked as a watch maker since 1985.
The family has escaped from the alcoholic father and found refuge in
Armenia. Until they moved from Kalmikia, Sona’s illegitimate husband
had mischievously sold the house and convinced his wife and
mother-in-law that since they are not in Armenia yet, they would just
give the house for rent and accumulate some money. Upon returning to
their homeland, the family finds itself on the streets due to the fact
that they did not know about the sale. With the help of some friends,
they rent a place, live there for two months and then get left out on
the streets again. Knowing beforehand that there are affordable rooms
at the Zeytun student settlement, they pack their bags and move there.
Nobody welcomes them with opening arms. They stay on the streets and
live under the cover of a bag. They live on the money from passer-bys.
The residents near the settlement help them sometimes, yet other times
they just look at them in an awkward way. The district officials
follow-up on them. “They had claimed that we were alcoholics. The
district was sending money through one of his fellow officials in order
to check up on what we were doing. We were buying food with the money
for the children, if we got any more money we ate some too. We had one
bed. We used to put the children to sleep at night and sit near them to
keep warm. When it rained we used to get sick. One day an Indian
student living in the hostel gifted us a small heater so we could make
some tea, the workers from the store were sending us food and the
minibus drivers were paying for our tickets…”
One journalist notices the house made of bags and writes about it.
Through the means of the Zeytun district council, the family gets
accommodated in one of the rooms of the basement of the student
settlement’s 8th floor. The difference between this home and the other
is that this one has a roof instead of a bag. Both of Sona’s children
are invalid. Nine year old Hakop does not walk. He just sits in his
cart and doesn’t even talk. Arevik, who is 7 years old, has started to
attend the special night school for children with speech defects.
Arevik talks now and then. She is very shy and only speaks with her
mother and grandmother. Sona has adopted the children in Kalmikia. They
were not living well there either. Sona did not have warm clothes, she
got ill and the doctors had recommended that Sona forget about giving
birth to a child. Sona adopted Hakop and Arevik who are of Muslim
origin. “I wanted a child born in an Armenian family but there were no
such children there. Besides, what’s the difference? The important
thing for me is that I have a child,” says Sona. Hakop was the first to
be adopted. After two years, Sona decides to adopt another child. “They
suggested some children, but as soon as Hakop saw Arevik he went over
to her and kissed her. So, we took Arevik.”
Sona finds out about the children’s illnesses later on. These children
mean everything to Sona and her mother. The family keeps its feet on
the ground with the pensions for the elderly and the invalid children.
They don’t complain much about the food-they eat at the diner once a
day every day and the neighbors also help out with nutrition. The
treatment of the illnesses of the children causes a lot of nerve. The
doctors have claimed that if Hakop’s leg gets operated, maybe he can
walk. “Hakop is a very friendly person,” says his grandmother,” he
wants to walk.” His mother and grandmother help him walk by holding his
arms. “We can’t do it any more. Hakop is getting older by the day.”
Sona and her mother are getting older and smaller. Sona is 46 years
old, she knows how to sew but nobody accepts her for work. She has had
knitting and sewing machines from a long time ago, but those machines
have been deteriorated from the rain when the family was living in the
home with a bag as a roof. Sona can not fix the machines. “There is not
enough money,” she says. “Besides, even if I remodel it, what can I do
with it if there are no jobs?” The Zeytun district council has helped
Sona out by employing her in one of the joint ownerships. Sona has
cleaned the entrances and yards of seven buildings every day-all that
for 3000 drams. “I worked there for a while, they did not give me any
money. So, I left.” Sona’s acquaintances have taught her not to be
ashamed of anything, write letters to different court instances and ask
for help from the rich. Currently, Sona is not looking for a job. She
is also not writing any letters. The Zeytun district council has helped
them a couple of times. The Zeytun district chief has responded to the
letter written by Sona: “Dear Mrs. Meymaryan, in response to your
letter, I would like to say that the board of social issues has read
your appeal carefully and has denied reduction of financial expenses. I
also inform you that the district council has always been of help to
you by providing space and money (7000 drams given on February 15). R.
Sinoyan, 24.05.2004”. However, there is one issue that the district
council continues on assisting the family with. The Meymaryans can take
baths in the city’s shower rooms located on 3 Aharonyan Street once a
month. They can not fit Hakop’s cart in the bus and they bathe the
children in the hostel room. The room is humid and dark. There is no
oxygen. The commodities in the hostel are the same for everyone.
However, there are none in Sona’s room. Every evening, the members of
the family come home after getting some fresh air outside, they eat the
sour cream sandwiches and sleep happily knowing that they are all
together in their Homeland.