We met Khoren at the Huys Orphanage.

The wide smile on his face couldn’t conceal a hint of sorrow in the corner of his eyes.

He hadn’t changed; just gotten taller. The same curious glance, the same comportment – half childish, half adult.

The orphanage is now called the Fridtjof Nansen Institution for Child Protection and Care, located in Gyumri.

Khoren has resided here since 2006. He used to live at the Children’s Home, an orphanage for special needs children. Khoren was six months old when he wound up at the Children’s Home. His parents had taken to the Home due to the boy’s Pfeiffer syndrome - a genetic disorder characterized by the premature fusion of
certain skull bones.

Khoren couldn’t sit or walk until the age of two. He suffered from bronchial asthma as well.

He was able to stand only after long bouts of physical therapy. When he began to speak, staffers at the orphanage were convinced that his skull composition had in no way affected his mental capabilities.

Orphanage Director Ruzanna Avagyan did all she could to return the smart and energetic boy back to his family. But Khoren’s parents refused to take him back.

They argued it would be difficult to explain Khoren’s presence to their other children.

For centuries, society has preferred to shun those regarded as less than whole. Those with disabilities and deformities were neglected and separated out from the rest.

In ancient Sparta, a society known for its martial prowess, disabilities were not tolerated and such children were put to death. The same fate awaited disabled kids in ancient Rome and Nazi Germany.

Many in today’s society continue to turn away from the disabled because they remind all of us of our human frailties and vulnerability.

The biggest obstacle that Khoren faced was probably when he had to leave the Children’s Home. It is designed for children up to 6 years old. Director Avagyan wasn’t comfortable with the idea of sending the boy to the orphanage. That’s why she tried to arrange for his return to family life.

Khoren stayed at the Children’s Home till the age of 12. “I got bored there. Everyone was younger than me,” was how Khoren described those years.

In school, Khoren integrated well and made friends.

In 2006, he had to relocate, leaving all he knew behind him. Khoren’s initial phase at the Nansen Institution had its ups and downs.

“I’d get angry many days. I’d go to my room and cry,” Khoren confessed.

Anahit Karapetyan, Director at the Nansen Institution, told me that the boy’s tense behaviour has subsided and that he now freely relates to kids from different age groups.

Gohar Voskanyan, the Institution’s psychologist, seconds the director’s opinion. “What is most important is that Khoren’s physical disabilities do not lead to complexes. With our help he’s also overcome difficulties in creating mutual relations with others. It was rough at first. Little misunderstandings would lead to larger problems. But that’s all been ironed out.”

Khoren, now 19, will soon be entered a new, adult, phase of life on his own. The walls of the Institution will no longer be able to shield him from such challenges. He must face these challenges on his own, says the psychologist.

Khoren is now on a waiting list for an apartment allocated by the government for parentless children.

I ask Khoren what he will do when he gets an apartment.

“I’ll go and live. What else will I do?” he responds with a shrug of his shoulders.

I ask Khoren if he remembers our first meeting when he was 12 years old.

“I had asked you what your biggest dream was. You told me you wanted to have a large family – father, mother, a sister and brother. Do you still have the same dream?” I asked Khoren.

Khoren was caught off guard and let out a sigh.

“No, I don’t have that dream anymore. I was a kid then and didn’t understand much. Now, I just want to be a famous singer and make a lot of money to help the poor. I’ve decided to hold large concerts and distribute the revenue I make to the less fortunate,” Khoren answered, a twinkle in his eyes.

This year, Khoren enrolled at the Kara Mourza State Music College in Gyumri; second year.

He really has a fondness for vocal classes and the instructor, Yura Melkonyan.

“The problem is that Khoren has no prior musical training. But his vocal abilities are great and we work on them. He can’t read music but this too will be overcome. Khoren wants to focus on traditional Armenian songs but the classics are also important,” says Mr. Melkonyan.

Khoren has no fears when it comes to performing on the stage. This confidence and his God-given talent have won him his share of awards at different competitions both in Armenia and abroad.

In 2006, at the “Kastalsky Kluch” competition in St. Petersburg, Khoren walked away with the “Everything is Possible” award. Mr. Melkonyan, his vocal coach, says they plan to enter the Rebirth International Song Festival next year.

At the conclusion of our talk, Khoren confessed that he would like to live overseas and get a foreign education. “That’s why I need to really improve my English,” he says.

There is yet any challenge Khoren must overcome.

In 2010, he left leg was surgically lengthened by 8 centimetres. The operation went well but Khoren cannot flex his knee.

“I got lazy. The doctors kept telling me to exercise the leg. Now it won’t bend properly. I went to the rehabilitative center for massages but the problem persists,” Khoren said.

But he remains an optimist despite it all. He knows there are specialists out there who can help.

His first CD of songs will also be released soon, also with the assistance of people of goodwill like the specialists Khoren knows will help him.

Khoren lights up when he talk about the CD.

It’s this positive energy that has kept him moving ahead all his life – towards the realization of all his dreams.