Thirty-eight-year-old Samvel Hovsepyan has voluntarily refused the pension that wounded veterans of the Karabakh war receive. Samvel was wounded twice between 1992 and 1994. The second time he lost his leg and became permanently disabled.

“Each month, I received 45,000 drams from the Defense Ministry, but I have serious health and housing problems. I don't have a stable job or family. What am I supposed to do with 45,000 drams? It's humiliating. I feel better knowing I'm not going to get anything. I turned the pension down. I don't want to have anything with that institution again, “ Samvel said.

In 1988 Samvel's family moved from Baku to Armenia. His two brothers moved to Russia, and Samvel went to Martakert. “After that, our family never reunited. When I was seriously wounded, my father secretly gathered up his stuff and disappeared, my brothers stayed in Russia, and my mother became homeless. The war destroyed everything.” Before 2002 Samvel and his mother rented an apartment. In 2002 with the help of Defense Ministry he was given a place to live in a former women's bathroom in the at New Nork dormitory, where he lived till 2005.

“When I pleaded with the Ministry to help me with the renovation of my apartment, because the rats were everywhere, they told me that I had to prove that the apartment was in need of repair. I told them, How can I prove it if you never come and see for yourselves? I wrote them dozens of letters and never got an answer. Nobody there ever wondered, Who is this person who is writing letters who we are always turning down? I asked them, Do you even know who you give those medals to? They said, Yes we do. I said to them, I'm that person. Why don't you help?” Samvel recounted.

Samvel was awarded the Andranik Ozanyan Medal, and has a membership card in the Yerkrapah Union of Volunteers. After living for three years in the former toilet, in 2005, he broke down the door of an empty room nearby out of desperation and moved in there. The building management sued him for illegally taking over the room, but the court allowed him to remain, taking into account that his former room had not been fit to live in.

“The first time I was wounded was in 1992 in Martakert. I raised my hand to warn the artillery to turn off the lights, and I felt an impact to my chest, then I collapsed and fell. I was taken to Stepanakert; they examined my wound and told me that there was a bullet in my body. I was told the surgery would cost $350, but I didn't have the money, so the bullet stayed, it's still there in my chest. The second time, in 1994, I was ambushed by three Turks. One of them fired and ran away; the bullet hit me in the leg. After that, I don't remember what happened. I was transported to Yerevan, and as a result of a bad operation my leg started to rot and they had to amputate.”

Samvel says that the bullet in his chest gives him a lot of pain, especially when he works sitting in a chair, or moves or lies down in an uncomfortable position. After being wounded, Samvel worked as a woodworker, then studied at the Yerevan jewelry factory. He worked for a while at the factory, but then resigned because someone in the management didn't like the “Baku Armenian”. Now half of Samvel's small room is occupied by a table specially designed for jewelry work, where he prepares jewelry by order. He says he receives many orders, but often lacks money for materials and equipment.

“All the boys from the buildings around here wear rings that I made. I get a lot of orders, but at this moment I don't have enough money to buy gold and silver. I've been forced to pawn my cell phone. There's no other way—that's how I survive. My greatest wish is to renovate my room and start a family. I haven't seen my brothers for ten years. Their children are all grown up already, but I've never done anything for them. It's tough for my brothers to live in Russia; one day there is work, the next day there isn't. But I'm most worried about my health problems, “Samvel said. “At the ministry they know very well who am I, when I was wounded and that it happened during fighting, but it doesn't matter, they ignore my letters anyway.”