CONSEQUENCES OF POOR LIVING CONDITIONS
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The Sahakyans and Haroyans differ from the other families of the neighbourhood. One is deprived of family benefit; the other has no dwelling place. They both live in domiks - “temporary” shelters in Gyumri’s Nor Avan district.
The eight-member family of Sahakyans has been denied family benefit since there is a workman in the family. 71-year-old Lusine Sahakyan has diabetes which has led to gangrene.
The Haroyans live side by side with the Sahakyans. One of the family’s two children, 15-year-old Varsik always has a bandage on her mouth. Doctors say her white blood cells are below normal. Varsik is aware of her illness. She knows that the cancer found in the glands has spread reaching her chest and armpit.
Alongside with other medicines, the doctor has recommended that the child be taken to a warmer and drier place with more sunlight. Varsik studies in the 9th form. She hasn’t gone to school for six weeks. She has been warned against reading as chemical medicines can cause blindness.
The treatment will take another two years. But the family’s financial state hinders the child’s further treatment. “I can no longer keep the child here as she gets a cold in the domik. I cannot afford to buy the necessary medicine,” says the girl’s mother Mrs. Karine.
The only workman in the family is Grigor Haroryan who cannot even afford the family’s bare necessities. Thanks to Haroryan’s friends Varsik has undergone five courses of treatment.
In her diary Varsik writes she would like to do reading and watch photos. God grant that she may spend more time with her friends and relatives.
Tsayg TV, Gyumri.
