Ani Gasparyan

Siranush Margaryan, her five sons, daughter-in-law and grandson reside in a dilapidated dormitory building located at4 Sisakyan Streetin the Achapnyak District of Yerevan.

Their apartment is very small, with scant amenities. The furnishings consist of a few chairs, a small table, four beds that barely accommodate the family members, and some kitchen utensils.

Forty-eight-year old Siranush works round the clock –she bakes pastry at home and sells it to stores in an attempt to scratch out a living. As a needy family, they are entitled to make use of a soup kitchen operated by MissionArmenia; Siranush brings hot food home five times a week.

Only two of her sons are adults; the other three are still in school. The three A-students face the same problem every morning – what to wear to school. As a rule, the good clothes go to whoever wakes up first, but there is some room for maneuvering. For example, if one of the boys has something important to do, he chooses the clothes that fit and the others make do with whatever is left. “My sons are the meaning of my life,” Siranush said, and began to talk about them, describing each one's personality, likes and dislikes.

Siranush worked for 22 years within the system of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications as a telegrapher. “In those years, I met my future husband. We got married and in 1984 my first son, Edgar, was born. Four years later Artur was born, and in 1991, when my third son, Arman, was born, the Ministry provided us - as an incentive for my diligent work - with this apartment, which consisted of one room at the time. And in 1992 my fourth son,Aram, was born,” Siranush recalls.

Hard times came toArmeniaand the family found itself in a very difficult plight. Her husband was working as a bus driver with a very low salary. As time went by their needs grew and the tensions in the family worsened. Then in 1994 her husband abandoned the family, heaping the care of their four sons onto the shoulders of his pregnant wife.

“That was the hardest period of my life. In the beginning, I subconsciously blamed my unborn child for my misfortune. I thought that if it weren't for him being born, my husband would not have left us. But always, at the hardest moments of my life, I met kind people who helped me to overcome the hardships. When I was giving birth to my son, my doctor was there, who helped me both materially and morally. To express my gratitude to him I named my son Karen after him. With my son's birth it seemed that all my troubles and suffering went away. Now I can't imagine what would have happened to me if Karen hadn't been born. Of all my sons, I am closest to him. He is like my friend, my advisor and helper,” Siranush said.

When Karen was born their living situation became even worse. It was almost unbearable for the family of six to live in the ten-square-meters room and Siranush as a single mother with many children appealed to various state agencies asking for an additional room, but in vain.

“One day I decided to send a telegram to the president of the republic asking for an audience. Frankly speaking, I didn't have much hope that there would be any reaction, but much to my surprise a few hours later I got a response. President Levon Ter-Petrossian agreed to receive me the very next day. I prepared myself, put on my best dress, had my hair done - my hair was long and beautiful at the time and I looked like a real Armenian woman – and went to the president's office.

“When I went into his office he immediately got up from his chair, walked toward me and asked me to take a seat. He asked what my question was. I described my situation, explained that it was impossible to live under such conditions with five sons, especially being a single mother, and asked him to provide me with the room adjacent my room. When he found out that I worked for the Ministry of Communications he asked if I had appealed to the Ministry leadership. I said I had, but had been turned down. He immediately picked up the phone and called somebody. I was waiting, petrified. At first I couldn't understand who he was talking to, but then I realized that he had called our minister. He asked why had my request been turned down and listened, evidently, to some explanations. Suddenly he struck his hand on the table with force and his pencil holder fell over on the desk, and then he said in a loud voice: ‘I demand that this woman's problem be solved promptly and the results be reported to me.' He hung up the phone and said to me in a quiet voice: ‘Madam, your request will be complied with, don't worry.' In twenty-four hours the room was at my disposal,” Siranush recounted.

Siranush left her newborn Karen in the care of her oldest son, who was barely ten years old, and began working. She worked wherever she could find a job: washed dishes in restaurants, baked pastry, and even worked at nights at a bakery.

She has not worked at the Ministry of Communications since 2000, for health reasons.

“My sons are my pride. It seems to me I have brought them up right, because growing up in need and without a father, they have never taken the wrong track. I remember that a man came from the military registration and enlistment office, asked for my oldest son and said: ‘Your son has to go to the Army; why hasn't he reported to our office?' Then he asked, by the way, if I had another son. I said I had four others. ‘Very good, so we will have many soldiers from this house,' he said. I got angry and said, ‘If you want to enlist five soldiers from this house so badly, why don't you ever ask how I am supposed to raise these soldiers to give to you?' I was very agitated and the man was moved, too. When he was leaving he said, ‘You are the Great Lady Mamikonyan.' After that, whenever we met he always asked: How are you, Lady Mamikonyan?'” Siranush said.

Her oldest son, Edgar, has already served in the Army. In 2006, twenty-two-year-old Edgar brought home a bride. The same year Siranush's first grandchild was born.

Now Edgar has a job. Though there are other things he likes more – he writes music and poetry – he realizes that he can't support his family on them. Edgar learned furniture making at a vocational school and now works in this field.

The family of eight barely makes both ends meet but Siranush hopes that when her sons grow up they will be support and encouragement for her, since they all are talented and intelligent.