While the fates of children who grow up in orphanages are different, they have one thing in common – all of them have experienced loss and abandonment. This loss has shaped their attitudes differently and often many of them are bitter and not willing to forgive. Arman Nazaryan, however, is different. He accepts things that have happened to him during his life. He was six years old and his sister Kristine was only four when they came to Yerevan’s Zatik Orphanage after their father left their family. Their mother eventually lost her home and had to bring the children to the orphanage.
During a recent conversation with Arman, he told me that he vividly remembers the day he arrived. “It was dinner time and I was very hungry, but the instructors could not persuade me to leave my mother’s side and go to the dining room. My sister was a little girl and I don’t think she could understand that we were about to say goodbye to our mother for good.”
I asked how they were able to adjust to the orphanage. “It was very difficult. Maybe our isolation from mother was eased because we were surrounded by many children and other caring, attentive people,” Arman said. “We often played, participated in various interesting events, sang and danced, so the days were very full.” Their mother continued to visit them over the years and those meetings were always full of warmth, he said.
Arman graduated high school with good grades and got into the State Engineering University of Armenia’s Department of Radio and Communication. He was then accepted into FAR’s Gulamerian Scholarship Program. When Arman turned 18, he joined the Army and then resumed his studies.
Ever since Arman got into the Gulamerian Program he has maintained a sense of duty and pride. Now working on his master’s degree, he studies hard while at the same time is always ready to help people in need. He gladly participates in FAR’s charitable events. Today, Arman, 25, is married and has a one-year-old daughter Mari, named after his now deceased mother.
Arman is now working on his master’s degree and supporting his family as a driver for Zatik Orphanage. His wife, Aregnaz works as a lawyer for the orphanage. The two met at Zatik when Aregnaz was a graduate student at the Yerevan branch of the Moscow New Legal Institute and interning at Zatik.
I was so happy to see that these two people had found each other. Arman has made some good choices in life. We at FAR wish him the best.
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