Comments on: Homeless Special http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2006/01/16/hetq-homeless-special/ Journalism and Photography from Armenia and the Surrounding Region Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:49:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: Knarik O. Meneshian http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2006/01/16/hetq-homeless-special/#comment-612 Fri, 20 Jan 2006 06:20:31 +0000 http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2006/01/16/hetq-homeless-special/#comment-612 Garo, I guess it must be easier to say, "...get over it..." instead of having to acknowledge that there are people in Armenia who are homeless or andoon. They are not bums or "bomjh" as they are callously called. They are people, poor, unfortunate people who have no jobs and no place to live, and so the streets become their home, their way of life. There is a family in Gyumri whose father, an educated man, has been unemployed for several years now. His wife is also unemployed. They want to work. They desperately want to work, just like so many others in the country. They have three children. Their eldest, a university graduate and military veteran like his father, found a job in a factory and for a brief while the family, including a grandmother who lives with them too, was elated that at last someone in the family was earning an income. For the last couple of months, though, the factory has been closed. And so, once again the worries have begun. The father says that as long as he has something to sell, even his ring, in order to feed his family, he will do it. So, after everything in the house gets sold what will they do? What will others like them do? Onnik, your piece on the homeless was haunting and painful. How can anyone "get over it" after watching such poignant footage? Knarik O. Meneshian Garo, I guess it must be easier to say, “…get over it…” instead of having to acknowledge that there are people in Armenia who are homeless or andoon. They are not bums or “bomjh” as they are callously called. They are people, poor, unfortunate people who have no jobs and no place to live, and so the streets become their home, their way of life.

There is a family in Gyumri whose father, an educated man, has been unemployed for several years now. His wife is also unemployed. They want to work. They desperately want to work, just like so many others in the country. They have three children. Their eldest, a university graduate and military veteran like his father, found a job in a factory and for a brief while the family, including a grandmother who lives with them too, was elated that at last someone in the family was earning an income. For the last couple of months, though, the factory has been closed. And so, once again the worries have begun. The father says that as long as he has something to sell, even his ring, in order to feed his family, he will do it. So, after everything in the house gets sold what will they do? What will others like them do?

Onnik, your piece on the homeless was haunting and painful. How can anyone “get over it” after watching such poignant footage?

Knarik O. Meneshian

]]> by: Christian Garbis http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2006/01/16/hetq-homeless-special/#comment-610 Wed, 18 Jan 2006 10:38:02 +0000 http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2006/01/16/hetq-homeless-special/#comment-610 This is powerful stuff. It figures that no one has bothered to leave comments since Armenians generally pretend that homelessness does not exist and thus refuse to address the issue. I have already taken flack for writing about yet another eviction of families from their homes just behind the apartment building in which I live next to Republic Square. I was told to "get over it." This is powerful stuff. It figures that no one has bothered to leave comments since Armenians generally pretend that homelessness does not exist and thus refuse to address the issue. I have already taken flack for writing about yet another eviction of families from their homes just behind the apartment building in which I live next to Republic Square. I was told to “get over it.”

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