Emili Aregak is a social-development center for special needs kids & young adults based in Gyumri, Armenia. Their mission “is serving people with disabilities and their families with love and compassion and fostering an inclusive society.” Their vision “is a society in which diversity is celebrated, where people with disabilities live a dignified life, and all children have equal opportunities to develop and realise their potential.”

In my time working with this center we visited 4 families, all with children with cerebral palsy, to discuss their challenges, needs, and to help raise money for material improvements and medical equipment. Each family has their own unique and invaluable story. This specific set is part of a wider project and interview translations are still currently underway.

Vartan was 22 years old at the time of this visit. His mother, Siranush, has four children and has been effectively a single mother since Vartan was two or three years old after her husband left for Russia to find work and did not return. In 2022 her two older sons were soldiers serving in two different front line areas between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Vartan would wake up each day and pray for his family and his brothers. Siranush and her mother need to carry Vartan up and down the steps of their apartment and is incredibly taxing on their bodies. In addition to providing therapy and care for the children, and support for the families, Emili Aregak Center is also raising funds to purchase wheelchair lifts for the many families who need them.

Nare lives with her mother in Gyumri. Her mother was an Army nurse for about 15 years. Just before we had planned our visit, she had broken her leg while maneuvering Nare's wheelchair and was bedridden at the time of our visit with very few people around to help. Nare and her mother have since found a new home that is more accessible.

Both Yuliana and Davit live on the fourth floor of an apartment building. Yuliana's mother must manuever her wheelchair down four stories which also leads to an unfinished walking path.

Infrastructure in Gyumri remains one of the biggest challenges facing families who care for children with disabilities, as well as a lack of financial assistance. Some of these families either currently live or had previously lived in what are called “domiks”, makeshift housing that served families who lost their homes in the 1988 earthquake. The consequences of this disaster remain deeply felt even decades later.

You can find more infomation and support Emili Aregak at caritasaregak.org