Since early childhood, Vahe Sargsyan, 12, has lived with his grandmother in Etchmiadzin, while his parents divorced. In 2017, he joined the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy in Kolkata, India, through an exchange program with his school in Etchmiadzin. He spent three years there.
“I had an eye-opening journey in Kolkata. I improved my English, made friends with the locals and students from other countries, and more importantly, stayed off the street,” said Vahe, who has struggled for a long time with behavioral problems. He would often get into fights when he was aggressive and angry with his teachers, peers, and others around him.
Upon his return to Armenia, his grandmother passed away and his stepfather refused to take care of him. Soon he found himself at the FAR Child Protection Center where he spent around a year.
“The Child Protection Center has imparted upon me a feeling of a caring, healing family. It also gave me the opportunity to forget my ‘bad boy' character and learn to respect and care for my family and friends,” said Vahe who recollected his sincere conversations with the center pedagogues and psychologists.
But Vahe had always wanted to be in his own family, to live in a caring and loving environment with a mom and a dad—something he felt he never really had. So the center provided him with an opportunity to continue his life in a foster family, with his foster parents Arsen and Lilit Tadevosyan, who have their own two-year-old son Hover.
Currently, the family lives in Etchmiadzin, where Arsen is a deacon at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and Vahe attends the local public school. Deacon Arsen said he has already noticed a great change in Vahe. The decision to take him into their family was fast.
“We’ve always wanted to do something good,” said Arsen. “And after meeting with Vahe a couple of times, we decided that we wanted him in our family. He first joined us for a weekend visit and it went well. Then he moved in with us last August and overall I think we are happy to be a family.”
“He helps me with Hover, with housekeeping,” said Lilit. “Vahe is very clever; he just needed a helping hand. We do our best to help him feel at home.“
Vahe has found the family he's been dreaming of. “I learn a lot from brother Arsen and sister Lilit; we like to attend Sunday Liturgies together, have dinner on weekends, and play with my little brother Hover. I’ve also learned to read the Bible before going to sleep,” he said.
To support children in need of safety and stability like Vahe, give to our Child Protection program today.
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