We happened upon Artur Yeghiazaryan, Susanna Karapetyan and the 12 year-old daughter, Anna, quite by chance in the village of Shaumyan, Armavir Marz. Living in the same village and in similar conditions is Susannah’s sister. We traveled to Shaumyan to visit Susannah’s sister, Haykanoush Karapetyan and her family. We were accompanied by Margarit Hovhannesyan, Director of the Yerevan Office of the Tufenkian Foundation. During our conversation it became clear to us that Haykanoush was also living in difficult conditions. At the time, it didn’t cross our minds to visit her sister Susannah so we didn’t follow up. On the way back, not far from the hut that Mrs. Haykanoush calls home, we spotted another small hut made of iron that was wrapped in plastic sheeting. At first sight, we didn’t think there could be anyone living inside. We timidly approached the shack and it turned out that it was the “home” of Haykanoush’s sister, Susannah. Initially, the man of the house, Artur Yeghiazaryan, was quite irritated and displayed an aggressive attitude when we met. We were also a bit perplexed and couldn’t seem to come up with any questions that wouldn’t appear to insult the family. Both Artur Yeghiazaryan and his wife Susannah Karapetyan appeared quite aged. However, the two are both 53 years-old. Rather, the daily grind of life, a difficult struggle, has taken its toll. Every morning, Artur goes to tend the animals of his neighbors and cleans out their barns. His wife daily treks several kilometers to a garbage dump to pick out bits of colored metals, glass vials and other salvageable shards. This is the primary work of the family and their main means of income. “At first we lived at my mother-in-law’s house but then she passed away, so we came here. We sold her house for a mere $1,700 and couldn’t buy another house with the money. We spent it all. My aunt saw that we were down in the dumps and gave us this land out of pity. We built this hut in which we now live. But the land isn’t ours and they can tell us to vacate at any time,” recounted Susannah. Susannah Karapetyan – I sell what I find at the garbage dump We when asked if the family worked or not, Susannah replied, “I go to the garbage dump. I’m sick. I need an operation to remove my reproductive organs but I don’t have the money. I go to the dump in this condition. I find some left over fuel, collect the soles of shoes and sell the stuff. It’s bread money. Sometimes we have next to nothing to eat for months. We’ve gone hungry for days on end during the winter since we couldn’t make it to the garbage dump.” Artur, who hadn’t said a word up till then, finally chimed in, “I tend to other people’s cows and make about 2,000 – 3,000 drams a day. We make do but I don’t work every day. I still have my health but when there’s no work to provide for the family so we tend other people’s herds and clean out animal stalls to make a few cents to live on. If there was permanent work don’t you think I’d jump at it? You see the conditions in which we live. When it rains, the hut leaks from all sides. We can’t even get our hands on some proper plastic sheeting to pull over the roof and stop the water from leaking down inside. When it rains, you have to wear galoshes to walk around in.” Ask he spoke these words, the man of the house hung his head in apparent shame. This family neither has a garden plot nor does it own any nearby land to farm. In the words of Mrs. Susannah – it’s really our fault that we don’t own any land. “Back then I worked in a chicken farm and they were giving out land. I really didn’t understand what was going on and didn’t take them up on their offer. When I put two and two together, it was too late,” she added. Family can’t afford school clothes and books for daughter We learnt that their twelve year-old daughter only attended school till the third grade. It’s been two years that the girl has thrown her school bag into a corner and has become the family housekeeper, helping out her sick mother. Anna didn’t wish to speak to us. Her mother said that the main reason why the girl no longer goes to school is the lack of money to buy her clothes and books. “The girl is a child that needs to be properly attired but clothes are so expensive these days. We can’t afford them and she is ashamed to go to school dressed in rags,” Mrs. Susannah said. “Yeah… the clothes are expensive. They want money for books and pens and they wouldn’t give in an inch and help out even though we’re a family in need. At least they could have not demanded money for the books. All this time I haven’t heard of one case when they haven’t asked for book money; when they’ve given something away for free,” Artur added. When we asked Mrs. Susannah if they’ve petitioned the village mayor, given their plight and the fact that their daughter doesn’t attend school, she replied that they haven’t out of shame. “I’m ashamed to go to the mayor and say that I don’t have this or that. I just can’t get myself to say such things. Today, I haven’t asked anyone for anything. It’s better to just get by in these conditions rather than to go out and beg,” she said. Mayor of Shahumyan refuses to help We talked to Shaumyan village mayor Artur Yayloyants by phone and asked what he has done to assist this family. His terse reply was as much a surprise to us as it was disheartening. Now that he sits in the mayor’s chair, after receiving votes from the members of this family, he speaks with disdain and indifference about the residents of the village he manages. Artur Yayloyants first reprimanded us for meeting with the family without first informing him, and then added, “I have done nothing for them and won’t do anything. They’ll get nothing. There’s no particular reason but I won’t do anything to help them out.” Since the village mayor has refused to lift a finger to help this family, we went to see Marineh Hovakimyan, who heads the Children’s Rights Defense Division at the Armavir Regional Administration, in the hope that she’d do something to see that 12 year-old Anna attended school once again. Marineh Hovakimyan promised that come September she would review the matter and see what she could do regarding the girl’s education and care.