By Siranouish Gevorgyan<\/p>\n
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Little Samvel, 10, covers his face with a soft toy out of shame and huddles himself up on the bed when his mother, Margarita Muradyan, upbraids him for paying little attention to his homework, despite the fact that he studies well at school. Samvel\u2019s elder brother, Manvel, and sister, Tamara, play outside with their playmates in the meandering, rundown and narrow streets of Kond.<\/p>\n
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Kond is one of the oldest and most neglected districts of Yerevan. The Muradyan home is reached over a steep ascent, then by passing through winding streets and narrow passages. And the house is only a small room, which serves for the family of five, as a bedroom, a sitting-room and a kitchen. Three children and their mother sleep on two beds put side by side, and Grandma Ovsanna sleeps on the sofa. The room is damp and gray, like 37-year-old mother-of-three Margarita\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
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The care for her three children and her mother-in-law is a heavy burden on her slim shoulders. Their life has become even more difficult in the last three months, as Margarita lost her job. In the past she worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant, making about $2.70 a day.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI am tired of borrowing money to maintain our living, waiting for the pension and social benefit to repay the accumulated debts at the end of the month,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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Trained as a medical nurse, Margarita says that now it is difficult for her to get a nurse\u2019s job, as she forgotten many things. Besides, she has no license to work according to her professional training.<\/p>\n
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Margarita\u2019s husband, Vrezh, died in 2001. Family life for the Muradyans was difficult even when Vrezh was alive, as he used to drink heavily. It was in a drunken state that he died from suffocation. Before he started to abuse drink, he had a job at an institute as a laborer.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe was good at anything, he was a good workman, I wish he hadn\u2019t drank,\u201d Margarita grumbles.<\/p>\n
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She says that after her husband lost his job, he took up odd jobs for neighbors or acquaintances, who avoided paying him with money, as he was sure to spend the money on buying liquor. \u201cPeople thought that it was better to buy some presents for the children or not to pay in cash, as they knew that he would get drunk with that money,\u201d Margarita says.<\/p>\n
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Her mother-in-law, 59-year-old Ovsanna, says that her son used to sell their household items to get drinking money. Once he sold the tin from their roof.<\/p>\n
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\u201cFor us it was like living in the open air. When it rained we asked our neighbors to allow the kids to sleep at their houses,\u201d Margarita says.<\/p>\n
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Fortunately, the roof problem was solved with the help of the local authorities, who allocated about $120 to the Muradyans.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI rang up the headmaster of my Manvel\u2019s school. I said \u2013 come and see in which conditions your pupil is doing his homework. He came to our house with an umbrella and saw\u2026 he called so many times to different people that at the end they allocated money,\u201d Ovsanna says.<\/p>\n
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Grandma Ovsanna used to work as a tram driver, but now: \u201cI have no health,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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Children are the bright light in these gray lives.<\/p>\n
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Manvel is 13, Tamara is 11, and Samvel is 10. They differ one from another, but the three have the same bright eyes. All have attended the day center for children at the Orran benevolent organization since 2000.<\/p>\n
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Orran director Heriknaz Harutyunyan says that the Muradyans were among the first charges of the organization. Many of those children who began to attend together with them do not come to Orran anymore, because the social conditions of their families improved.<\/p>\n
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\u201cDuring these five years no social progress has been observed in the Muradyan family. I even think that it goes from bad to worse, because the children grow up, and keeping them becomes more difficult,\u201d Harutyunyan says.<\/p>\n
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Manvel, who already behaves like a grown up, witnessed his father dying.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe felt on his skin the heavy atmosphere of the house \u2013 and beatings, and those difficult relationships. He was very withdrawn into himself, did not talk to anyone. Now he has grown up, gained self-assuredness,\u201d psychologist Narine Avagyan says.<\/p>\n
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The psychologist says that now it is also a very difficult period for Manvel.<\/p>\n
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\u201cUnfortunately, crimes are many in Kond, they are children of the risk group. Narrow streets, narrow passages contribute to this situation. Manvel communicates with neighborhood boys and with \u2018Orran\u2019 boys, and he himself does not realize yet which is correct. And very often he does not express what he thinks, because he is not sure that he will be understood correctly in both environments,\u201d the psychologist says.<\/p>\n
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Tamara (whom everyone calls Tamushik) likes singing and dancing. \u201cIf my grandchild was fastened with a nut and bolt she would get rid of it to the degree that she breaks herself???,\u201d grandma Ovsanna says smiling.<\/p>\n
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Samvel likes drawing and watching cartoons.<\/p>\n
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\u201cBut I don\u2019t even understand why I like watching cartoons,\u201d Samvel says in a grownup\u2019s manner and concludes: \u201cPerhaps for their colors, I am interested in colors.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Narine Avagyan says that when she gives an assignment to the children to draw at home, the three of them draw very beautiful and big houses.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAnd at those houses everyone takes a separate floor, because they indeed need that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The children\u2019s mother also dreams of adding another room to the house.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis house is too small for us. My children grow up and begin to feel embarrassed, especially when their classmates come to visit them. I want to build at least one more room, but I don\u2019t know how,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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But for now, the family perhaps needs a job most of all. Margarita prefers having a job for which she would be paid on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis way I will be able to solve the problem of daily bread and simultaneously will take care of some other things.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The constantly heavy social situation has driven her into despair. \u201cI have lost my optimism,\u201d she says. \u201cI used to be very optimistic before, now I see only bad things. I used to dream before to do this or that, it would be like this\u2026 Now I simply need to survive and I don\u2019t know what I shall do. But I\u2019ll have to raise them for now\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n