LIVING ROUGH IN SASUNIK: GRANDMOTHER WASHES SODA BOTTLES TO SURVIVE
Grisha Balasanyan

2 010/02/22 | 16:24

Raises Three Grandchildren in Hut Next to Town Garbage Dump

For the past two years Laura Tadevosyan has been raising her three
young grandchildren next to a smoldering garbage dump in the village
of Sasunik, Aragatzotn Marz.

This is where Carmen Ghahramanyan, the children’s mother, died in
December, 2009.

The cause of death was tuberculosis of the lungs. Laura Tadevosyan
says that the family didn’t have the money for a doctor. When they
finally took her to the hospital, it was too late.

With the intervention of Gayaneh Danielyan, head of the Children’s
Protection Division at the Aragatzotn Regional Authority, the
grandmother has been officially recognized as the children’s legal
guardian.

Family burns garbage to keep warm

When he visited the abandoned hut, Laura came out to greet us. The
elderly woman was covered in soot and her cheeks were swollen from
the cold. The clothes she wore were old and tattered. She spoke in
a straightforward and lucid manner with us and said that the family
had always encountered hardships and that they had now adjusted to
their new situation.

The family owned a one room apartment in the town of Kapan, Syunik
Marz. They used the money to rent and lived in different places until
they wound up here, at the garbage dump.

"My son-in-law is from Masis and he wanted us close by. We sold the
apartment and came to Yerevan with the hope of buying a place here
to live. He got arrested for a robbery. We moved around for a while
and then found ourselves here. We first lived in Ashtarak, but an
acquaintance brought us here," said Mrs.Tadevosyan. "When money falls
into your hands, you get flustered and don’t know how to spend it all.

It was my daughter and her husband that managed the house money. We
spent it all and wound up on the street."

She and the kids live in a metal "tnak" (hut) that is falling apart
and the roof is missing in spots. When we stepped inside, the place
was engulfed in smoke. Soot and grime was everywhere. Even the bed
sheets were blackened by the soot. They had been burning garbage from
the dump, plastic bottles, pieces of wood and shoes, to stay warm.

Grandma Laura – "I’m ashamed to show you how we live"

The face of 14 year-old Arman was a grimy mess. Upon spotting us,
he shied away and cowered in a corner of the hut, throwing a rag over
his head. He didn’t want to be photographed.

The hut consists of two small rooms with two metal beds and a few
chairs.

"We live in a pretty awful state. I’m ashamed to even show you how we
live," Laura said. For the past two years the family has used candle
to light the house.

Mrs. Tadevosyan said they have no relatives in Armenia. They’ve all
moved to Russia. Her son also lives in Russia and she says he sends
money when he can.

Washing bottles for food and clothes

Washing glass bottles is their only source of income. Laura said that
there’s a soda plant in Ashtarak. They get the bottles from the plant
and wash them for 2 drams a bottle. Workers from the plant then come
and collect the bottles.

"I don’t wind up washing many bottles when it’s cold like this. At
best, I can wash 1,500 a day. When the kids are home they help me out
and I can wash more. The girl is just a child but she’s in water the
whole day washing bottles for money. What else can I do?" Laura asks.

She says that the kids also make some extra cash by plucking out
shards of semi-precious metal and other knick-knacks from the garbage.

The grandchildren, 15 year-old Rouzanna, 14 year-old Arman, and 8
year-old Isahak, go the Karin village school. Laura says the kids
are good students and that she helps them out with their lessons. She
doesn’t want them to fall behind in class.

Government promises to help

"The last time my son sent some money, I bought some clothes for the
kids to wear to school. But it wasn’t enough. If I buy some clothes,
there’s not anything left for food. But you need clothes to wear,
right?" Laura said.

The family receives no assistance or pension money. Laura went to
Kapan, where the family is officially registered, to fill out the
required forms to receive assistance for the kids. Officials in
Kapan promised her that, come March, they would forward the benefits
to Ashtarak.

Gayaneh Danielyan, from the Aragatzotn Division of Children’s
Protection, told us that she had spoken with her colleague in Kapan
and that the matter would be taken care of.

"The Aragatzotn Regional Governor gave Laura 20,000 AMD in assistance.

But we are concerned with something else. We have to find a way to get
that family out of that house. It’s an awful mess. The mayor of Sasunik
has found a rental in the village. We’re making preparations to move
them in. This family really is in need of help," said Mrs. Danielyan.