Family reunites thanks to their determination & World Vision support
The story of this family dates back to 2003 when a visibly happy couple with three young children, the youngest being only one-year-old, found their life together impossible.
“We lived together only because of the children, but one day even the children could not keep us together”, says Apetnak Avetisyan, 44, remembering how he came back home and found the doors and the gate of his house closed and his wife gone...After the official divorce his wife Varsik Avetisyan, mother of three, left her children with this utterly shell-shocked father.
It was difficult for Apetnak to take proper care of his children and of himself. Apetnak saw that his children were dirty, they had no clean clothes to wear, the household chores were left undone and there was no food on the table. “I didn’t know how to take care of the children. I didn’t know how to clean their clothes, how to bathe them, what to give them for breakfast and for lunch”, laments Apetnak.
Days passed and Apetnak couldn’t find a solution to the situation. The only thing he could think of was to temporarily give his elder children Ghazar, 11 and Artur, 9, to Sisian Boarding school. “I knew that one day I would take them back. But I didn\'t know when and how”, says Apetnak.
In the boarding school, otherwise known as a children’s institution, the children lived in much better physical conditions than their father could offer, but they still missed him and their home terribly. “It was good in the Sisian school but we wanted to go home. We wanted to live with our father and brother, and not with strangers”, says Ghazar, Apetnak’s elder son.
“When I visited them at the boarding school, all they asked was for me to take them home”, remembers World Vision Armenia Social Worker Annik Babajanyan.
When I visited them at the boarding school, all they asked was for me to take them home World Vision established an agricultural development foundation in Salvard Community in southern Armenia’s Sisian Region, in 2007 to support the development of the village through animal-breeding, land cultivation, as well as material support to the impoverished families of the community. Apetnak started to work in the farm as a farm worker and became aware of World Vision Armenia’s child protection activities.
World Vision specialists started to work with the family to enable the children to return home to their father. “We understood that Apetnak needed daily support; it was hard for him as a man to take care of three small children”, says Annik Babajanyan, “the family was in need of basic material support to be united again”.
the family was in need of basic material support to be united again The support came from World Vision Armenia’s Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances (CEDC) project, which aims to take children out of institutions and support their integration back into the family and community.
Through the CEDC project the Avetisyan family received important household equipment and supplies –such as a washing machine, linen, a small water-heating machine, clothing and school stationery for the children.
Annik Babajanyan also supported Apetnak through the documentation processes of taking the children out of the boarding school. “The school had a bureaucratic process to go through and he needed someone who knew the law and could help him through”, says Annik.
It took no more than a month to take the children back home. “Now I have this washing machine and I know how to wash their clothes, and the water heating machine helps me wash the dishes, bathe the children and keep them and the house clean”, says Apetnak.
Apetnak also bakes bread for his children, prepares food, cleans the house, takes care of the animals, does the laundry and stores the food – all the chores that the children’s mother used to do. He is fond of cooking and preparing food, “But it is so hard to prepare food three times a day, for four people”, he confesses.
Ghazar and Artur started to attend Salvard mainstream school, while their younger brother Samvel, 7, missed his first year of school because there was no other child his age in the whole village and the school administration couldn’t justify opening a class for one student. He will attend school next year, together with children slightly younger than him.
An agricultural loan from World Vision’s Microfinance Institution SEF also turned this family’s life around for the better.
In 2007, Apetnak took a loan of 200,000 AMD (US$655) from SEF and purchased turkeys to breed. Turkey-breeding is not a popular business in the region, but turkeys sell well in the markets and the restaurants of Sisian.
Apetnak’s breeding business was extremely successful and he was ready to repay the loan in six months instead of the 20 months in his contract. But the money that would pay back the loan had to be diverted unexpectedly.
Samvel broke his leg this summer and Apetnak had to take him to the capital Yerevan for surgery. “He needed to undergo several examinations and an operation. I spent all the money I had saved from turkeys on this”, says Apetnak. But Samvel’s leg was not operated on properly and now the leg that was broken is shorter than the other. “Doctors say he needs to undergo further surgery, but I do not have money for the surgery and for staying in the capital until he fully recovers”, says Apetnak.
Thankfully Apetnak still has a number of turkeys to sell and has decided to register as a single father to receive state allowance. “I will receive the allowance, I will continue my business with the turkeys, and I will collect money for the surgery”, says Apetnak with determination.
World Vision Armenia’s CEDC project started in 2004 and over the last four years has supported more than 15,000 children and their families. Thanks to the work of the CEDC specialists some 242 children have been reunited with their families and some 680 vulnerable children and children with special needs were integrated into mainstream education through 26 inclusive kindergartens and nine schools.
“We lived together only because of the children, but one day even the children could not keep us together”, says Apetnak Avetisyan, 44, remembering how he came back home and found the doors and the gate of his house closed and his wife gone...After the official divorce his wife Varsik Avetisyan, mother of three, left her children with this utterly shell-shocked father.
It was difficult for Apetnak to take proper care of his children and of himself. Apetnak saw that his children were dirty, they had no clean clothes to wear, the household chores were left undone and there was no food on the table. “I didn’t know how to take care of the children. I didn’t know how to clean their clothes, how to bathe them, what to give them for breakfast and for lunch”, laments Apetnak.
Days passed and Apetnak couldn’t find a solution to the situation. The only thing he could think of was to temporarily give his elder children Ghazar, 11 and Artur, 9, to Sisian Boarding school. “I knew that one day I would take them back. But I didn\'t know when and how”, says Apetnak.
In the boarding school, otherwise known as a children’s institution, the children lived in much better physical conditions than their father could offer, but they still missed him and their home terribly. “It was good in the Sisian school but we wanted to go home. We wanted to live with our father and brother, and not with strangers”, says Ghazar, Apetnak’s elder son.
“When I visited them at the boarding school, all they asked was for me to take them home”, remembers World Vision Armenia Social Worker Annik Babajanyan.
When I visited them at the boarding school, all they asked was for me to take them home World Vision established an agricultural development foundation in Salvard Community in southern Armenia’s Sisian Region, in 2007 to support the development of the village through animal-breeding, land cultivation, as well as material support to the impoverished families of the community. Apetnak started to work in the farm as a farm worker and became aware of World Vision Armenia’s child protection activities.
World Vision specialists started to work with the family to enable the children to return home to their father. “We understood that Apetnak needed daily support; it was hard for him as a man to take care of three small children”, says Annik Babajanyan, “the family was in need of basic material support to be united again”.
the family was in need of basic material support to be united again The support came from World Vision Armenia’s Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances (CEDC) project, which aims to take children out of institutions and support their integration back into the family and community.
Through the CEDC project the Avetisyan family received important household equipment and supplies –such as a washing machine, linen, a small water-heating machine, clothing and school stationery for the children.
Annik Babajanyan also supported Apetnak through the documentation processes of taking the children out of the boarding school. “The school had a bureaucratic process to go through and he needed someone who knew the law and could help him through”, says Annik.
It took no more than a month to take the children back home. “Now I have this washing machine and I know how to wash their clothes, and the water heating machine helps me wash the dishes, bathe the children and keep them and the house clean”, says Apetnak.
Apetnak also bakes bread for his children, prepares food, cleans the house, takes care of the animals, does the laundry and stores the food – all the chores that the children’s mother used to do. He is fond of cooking and preparing food, “But it is so hard to prepare food three times a day, for four people”, he confesses.
Ghazar and Artur started to attend Salvard mainstream school, while their younger brother Samvel, 7, missed his first year of school because there was no other child his age in the whole village and the school administration couldn’t justify opening a class for one student. He will attend school next year, together with children slightly younger than him.
An agricultural loan from World Vision’s Microfinance Institution SEF also turned this family’s life around for the better.
In 2007, Apetnak took a loan of 200,000 AMD (US$655) from SEF and purchased turkeys to breed. Turkey-breeding is not a popular business in the region, but turkeys sell well in the markets and the restaurants of Sisian.
Apetnak’s breeding business was extremely successful and he was ready to repay the loan in six months instead of the 20 months in his contract. But the money that would pay back the loan had to be diverted unexpectedly.
Samvel broke his leg this summer and Apetnak had to take him to the capital Yerevan for surgery. “He needed to undergo several examinations and an operation. I spent all the money I had saved from turkeys on this”, says Apetnak. But Samvel’s leg was not operated on properly and now the leg that was broken is shorter than the other. “Doctors say he needs to undergo further surgery, but I do not have money for the surgery and for staying in the capital until he fully recovers”, says Apetnak.
Thankfully Apetnak still has a number of turkeys to sell and has decided to register as a single father to receive state allowance. “I will receive the allowance, I will continue my business with the turkeys, and I will collect money for the surgery”, says Apetnak with determination.
World Vision Armenia’s CEDC project started in 2004 and over the last four years has supported more than 15,000 children and their families. Thanks to the work of the CEDC specialists some 242 children have been reunited with their families and some 680 vulnerable children and children with special needs were integrated into mainstream education through 26 inclusive kindergartens and nine schools.
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