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Someone knew who I was. Yesterday, (November 4, 2003) I am standing outside the orphanage and a kid from the upper window notices me and calls, ‘Nigol’s woman, where is Nigol?” (Nigoli aghchig Nigoln vordegh a?) I’ve been visiting this mankadun for more than three years.
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| Vorpanotz is located in Zeitoun and housed, at that time, 70 kids from
age two to seven.
Dzovig’s family gave a ‘hokejash’ for her father’s requiem. It was lahmajun, veggies, and taan. No alcohol. They are hayrenatarz Armenians. The extra lahmajun they wanted to give away to an orphanage and located the mankadoon. |
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| For months everytime I visited, the kids would run to me and call me Dzovig, then someone would say ‘she’s not Dzovig’. |  |
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PICTURES 2000 |
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| The first two years we took them slippers, shoes, underwear every summer and boots, pyjamas, sox every winter. Then we gave four TVs. |  |
| We also took tourists, the ones that are not shy of visiting orphanages. Most of them chipped in. |  |
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Pictures St.Sahag Mesrob |
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| Last year we took a group of French notaries. They, and their tour organizer, Henry Emard, donated money. With some of the money we got shoes. The principal of orphanage, Ungeruhi Greta, said they needed laundry machines. What they had was from the sixties and was leaking water. |  |
| We could not find an industrial washer in the market and Greta said the smaller washers better served the purpose and helped isolate viruses. We got them five, Seven months later the washers were still not used. Greta said they needed hot water to operate the machines. It also meant, the kids were walking from one building to another thru corridors for their baths in cold weather. |  |
| This year there was a change in status and the mankadun/vorpanotz turned into a dormitory for kids. Ungeruhi Greta says now it’s under Ministry of Social Welfare and they are getting better funding. |  |
| The visible implication of the change is the increase of dormitory population. Since September one-hundred-and-twenty kids reside in the institution and a new section is opened for toddlers. The toddlers barely walk. Picture a giant walking, boom-boom-boom, hard to keep balance, toddlers walk like that. They approach you and raise their arms and want to be held...They also want to leave with you. |  |
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| The war orphans are at least ten years old; the earthquake orphans
are older. Kids in these institutions are from broken homes or from socially
insecure families. Hopefully, one day they will have a home to return to.
‘Nigolu nersum a’ I answer to the kid of the upper window. “Pa vordegh a, inchi mer mod chi kalis? Inch a perel”.
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| This kid is one of the original five. A French Armenian wanted to sponsor
five orphans. Perhaps he had other plans, like adopting one of them. Five
kids were identified as being orphans; later we discovered that all of
them had at least one close relative.
Nigol is supervising the renovation of the bathrooms/washrooms, installing hot water system and water bugs (tanks). Four sets of bathroom/washrooms are now completed and there’s two more to go. |
and after
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| ‘Zoukaranern a norokoom’. I say and feel the absurdity. The kid doesn’t care about the washrooms and bathrooms. He is expecting bonchig, fruits or candies. Well, Next time. Meanwhile Nigol and I would like to thank people who donated to different projects of mankadun/institution these past three years. |  |
| We will also make and post placards with sponsors names at the entrance
of each bathroom.
Some people will hate me for announcing their names. Sorry for doing it, but we fill we are accountable. |
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Thank you all. |
Pictures of Bathrooms |
