I am slowly catching up on my e-mails, I�ve had practically no internet service from home for almost 2 weeks (it�s been on and off). I have decided to wash my hands off my housing situation after more than a year. I knew all along that the problem would not be solved without bribing a few of the departments along the way, I wasn�t na�ve but I had hope. You know in a normal country when one pursues a matter, things gets accomplished, not in Armenia.

Seeing Ararat again last night placed me in a vulnerable mood. To put it bluntly, I need assistance. I received a mail this morning from a friend who met a 13 year old child with leukemia in its last stages. Because the family is from Martuni (near Vardenis, a very poor region in Armenia) and they are not registered in Yerevan, they are unable to treat their child with morphine as it is considered a narcotic and is only prescribed from a registered polyclinic.

My friend watched the poor kid being restrained by 3 adults as they applied painkiller after painkiller orally and a few injections on top, while the kid was in agony for 4 hours. Basically the kid has about 2 years to live if that.

Does anyone know of some international charitable clinic to help children with leukemia? If anything, the poor kid should be spared spending his last days in pain. Please contact me directly.