The Makaryans are one of many impoverished families currently living in Dormitory #5 in Nor Nork's Student District. Their building is to be sold in an auction on February 28.

Aveta Makaryan is a single mother of three. She has been living in Dormotory #5, which is owned Nor Nork Student District Ltd., for seven years now. On her way home on February 1, she learn from neighbors that the building was to be put up for sale.

One morning, one of the residents saw a written notice on the front door stating that Dormitory #5 was 42 million drams in debt to Haygazard, and according to a ruling by the Court of First Instance Of Yerevan's Avan and Nor Nork districts, the builiding was to be auctioned off.

"The dormitory owes a huge sum of money to the city's electric company, which itself owes money to Haygazard. Haygazard went to court to collect the money. The court issued a writ," explained Arshavir Karapetyan, director of Nor Nork's Student Disctrict ltd.

For 10 years now, low income families have found refuge in Dormitory #5, adapting to the conditions of student housing. The building has seven floors, each with 30 16-square-meter rooms of and only one toilet. There are no baths or showers.

The dormitory was built in the 1970s and hasn't been renovated since. The windows of the entrance are broken and the wind that blows through makes it colder inside than outside. The stairway inside the building is covered with snow.

"My son Arturik was born here," Aveta said joyfully; she seems to greet all of life's hardships with a smile. Her middle daughter Lilit has a second degree disability. She has a tumor on her brain, and as a result, her left hand and foot are always tensed, and she suffers memory loss. "Surgery would cost 1,000 dollars. Where would I get that kind of money? I don't think about the surgery anymore," the mother said, adding that the doctors have prescribed massage therapy that costs 1,000 drams an hour, also a sizable sum for Aveta.

Aveta works in a bakery making lavash. She earns 500, sometimes 1000, drams a day. "We go to bed alone at night," said Tamara, Aveta's older daughter. "At first we were afraid, but we got used to it."

The residents of the dormitory pay a monthly fee of 3,000 drams. Aveta is 11,3000 behind on the rent, explianing that she hasn't had the money to pay it. She is worried about the future. "I haven't slept in four days. If the house is sold, I'll be out on the streets with my kids, I have no place to go." Aveta has been divorced for six years now. Her ex-husband doesn't help out at all. "He doesn't work, he has no money," she explained.

The residents of #5 have organized a committee to address the problem. Alla Barkhudaryan, the president of the committee, says that most of the debt to Haygazard is not theirs, but was accumulated by the students who used to live there. Nevertheless, they are willing to pay off the debt, as long as they aren't turned out of the building. They just need some more time.

The auction was supposed to take place on February 7, but was postponed for 21 days at the residents' request. Yet as Alla said, "We can't collect that much money in such a short time; we live hand to mouth here. It would take at least a year and a half to collect that much."

Aveta's three children go to a school for disabled children. "They stay there till 6 o'clock, have two meals and do their homework," she said. Tamara, who is in 7 th grade, said, "It would be better for the building to be sold, so that we get out of there. We go to toilet with an umbrella, because the dirty water from the upstairs bathroom drips on us." When we asked her "Where would you live then?" the 13 year old girl shrugged. She dreams of becoming a hair dresser and traveling the world. Her sister Lilit dreams of having her own TV set, so nobody could change her favorite channels. "I would watch concerts on ALM all day long," she said.

Their mother does everything she can to give her children a happy, peaceful outlook, and she herself dreams of living peacefully in the 16 square-meter apartment, which she hopes to renovate with the help of her neighbors.

On February 22 the residents of the dormitory organized a protest in front of the government building. Afterwards, they moved to president's palace. They ask that the building be turned over to them, and promise to pay the debt to Haygazard within three to five years.

Arpi Maghakyan