It's been a while since I last wrote..... It's not as if no blog-worthy things have happened since my last post, but somehow I don't get around to writing and posting about them.
One of the things I have been busy with is the fundraising for the kidney transplant for my little friend Vardan. He is doing relatively well at the moment, undergoing some new kind of treatment that hopefully will bear fruit. It sucks so much (sorry for the choice of words) that this has to happen to him. He is such a bright kid with a nice character and a good heart!

Also, as usual, I spent some time in Spitak. I just have to go there every two weeks or so to see my friends, catch the latest news and gossips. I found out that I really need that time, I get cranky and nervous if I don't go. Many of my friends live there, my best friend A. lives there and I just know the town well. Every time I walk around the town center or I sit in the marshrutka to the town center, I run into someone I know. In many ways, Spitak feels like home to me, I cannot explain it. When I am in Spitak, I always stay at the house of my best friend A. She lives together with her parents, her brother, his wife and their two boys. A few weeks ago, A. celebrated her birthday in real Armenian style. Her father and brother had bought a sheep to be slaughtered and eaten on A.'s birthday and the women of the house were busy for three days (and nights) preparing all the food and cakes. It was amazing all the effort that was put into the preparations!! My duty was to entertain the two children so they would not be in the way of the adults. Entertaining 7 and 8 year old Tigran and Armen is not a punishment for any of the people involved. I am crazy about those two kids and the feeling is mutual. Anyway, the birthday was hectic, but a lot of fun, with friends and colleagues and relatives showing up. There were about 25 people packed around the dinner table and lots of toasts were made. Needless to say, the eating, drinking and dancing lasted until far into the night.

On a different note, our downstairs neighbor has replaced the fence around his garden with a big stone wall recently, sometimes working on it in the middle of the night. We started calling it the 'castle wall'. Last night, we noticed that in one of the corners of the wall he made a space to put his tv set. He was trying it out last night, turning up the volume. My boyfriend and I were jokingly wondering whether we should go down and ask how much a bear costs at this new outdoor cafe. I hope we won't have another source of noise around at night. The restaurant and the hotel next door are annoying enough at times. And also, the renovation works on Kievyan Bridge, which is very close to our apartment, seem to go on 24/7 (though the workers seem to have very extended lunchbreaks every now and then :-) ).
By the way, my boyfriend and I realized we will be losing our great view of Aragats soon, because the hotel is building an addition that will block our view of the mountain. Fortunately, we will still have the superview of Ararat from our balcony.
As you can see, there is more construction work (large and small ;-) )going on in the city than only in downtown.

I recently learned that one of the many children I know in Spitak is seriously ill and needs a kidney transplant, but the family lacks the money for the operation. Not just any kid, but one that is very dear to me. Vardan is one of the brightest kids I have met here. I have known him for the last four years, talking a lot every time I came to Armenia and when I was not we kept in touch through email, he was always a faithful writer, but then: Vardan loves writing and as long as I have known him he wanted to become a journalist. I hope he gets the chance to be one....

Yesterday I saw this article about him on the website of A1+ (www.a1plus.am).



FAMILY FROM CALAMITY ZONE ASKING FOR HELP

The fate of the 15-year-old Vardan Ghoukasyan cannot but touch people’s hearts. The family of Ghoukasyans who have seen the terrors of the earthquake can lose their last child. He needs urgent operation. Only 5000 dollars are missing to start it. “A1+” has started an action to save this boy. In the Spitak branch of ArmEconomBank accounts have been opened - 163178150153 for USD, 163178150161 for EURO and 163178150179 for AMD. Many of our compatriots have already responded to the call to help Vardan. But the necessary sum has not been collected. We think that by joint effort we can soothe the pain of the family from Spitak and save Vardan. We thank all those who were not indifferent to the pain of the family from the calamity zone.

The boy in the picture is one of the many children born in post-earthquake Spitak to soothe the pain after the earthquake. 15-year-old Vardan Ghukasyan knows his elder brother who died in the disastrous earthquake of December 7, 1988, at the age of 14, only by photos.

Vardan grew up with his other brother, but this did not last long either. The other elder brother went to serve in the army and three months before coming on May 18, 1998 was killed in Karabakh by Azeris. From the three sons only one remained in the Ghukasyan family.

After a recent investigation the doctors learned that the boy has the illness called “glomerulonephritis”, and the family learned that soon they will lose their last child. The two kidneys of the child are quickly losing the ability to perform their function. Living in temporary houses in the calamity zone greatly hastened the development of the illness.

Today the doctors do not have any means to cure the child. The only way to save him is to transplant a kidney. The operation is to be made in the «Arabkir» medical center, and the donor has been already found. It will be the father of the child. The Ghukasyans living in the calamity zone do not have the money necessary for the operation, and the doctors claim that the child must be saved within the coming months.

For his age, 15-year-old Vardan Ghoukasyan has great plans for future. Sending his articles to different newspapers in Spitak and participating in a competition he has already won a computer. Although it is an old one, Vardan is sure that it is the «instrument» of his future, as the future journalist needs equipment.

We call everyone and ask everyone to help the calamity zone one more time and to save the life of the child symbolizing hope with his birth after the disaster.

For information you can call (0255) 2-20-65 in Spitak, or 58-54-27 to «A1+», and write to info@a1plus.am.