I have had numerous interviews with Armenians who have settled in Armenia due to the Syrian war and Armenians who have repatriated from different Armenian communities of the Diaspora, but this interview was exclusive in terms of the interlocutors, who were five children, two of which were twins. They and their parents had come to the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia to participate in the presentation of the book “The Bible of a Young Family” by General Secretary of the Bible Society in the Arab Gulf region, Chairman of the Board of the Bible Society in the Middle East, Dr. Hrayr Jebejian, who had brought the book to donate it to young Syrian-Armenian families and children living in Yerevan.

…The doors of the elevator opened, and…5 sweet, wonderful children came out one after another with astonishment. For a moment I thought I was seeing those faces in a dream. Later, I came to my senses and started talking to the parents and their children. Two boys and three girls in a family of repatriates…I wanted to share my joy with my colleagues and accompanied the children and their parents to the editorial office of Hayern Aysor where my colleagues also received them with surprise and admiration. The children were in a cluster after seeing so many people, and then…the important part of the meeting was when I started asking the children questions. I asked which of them was the cleverest, and the most active of the children, Daniel, said he was the cleverest. When I asked which of them studied the hardest, Daniel said he studies the hardest. When I asked which of them was the most mischievous, Daniel pointed at his siblings…At that moment, the elder sister, Zepyur and her brother, Sarkis smiled, making it seem like they were apologizing for something, and the twins were looking at Daniel with confused looks on their faces. As I looked at them, I remembered the children gathered around Jesus portrayed in the Children’s Bible and the Lord’s words: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Of course, the Lord’s words are about the purity and innocence of children, and I saw purity and innocence in the eyes of each of these five children. I listened to their prattle and the stories of their parents – Hrach Kevorkian and Armik Jacob – about repatriation and present it to our readers.

“I was born in Syria. In 1988, I moved from Aleppo to Libya and later to the United Arab Emirates where I lived and worked in Dubai. Later, I returned to Syria, and in 2007, I got married to Armik and we went to Dubai together. My family grew. My Zepyur was born in 2008, my Sarkis – in 2010, my Daniel – in 2012, and my Anna and Mary – in 2013,” Hrach Kevorkian  said as he talked about his family with infinite love and pleasure and continued: “I wanted my children to grow up as genuine Armenians and not forget Armenian, and so I decided to move to our Homeland. They were already attending a British school in Dubai, and even though Armenian was our household language, I feared that they might forget the language someday. I brought my children as a gift to my Homeland. Our children feel great here and have friends. When I ask them if we should go to Syria, they oppose. They grew to love Armenia and already speak in Eastern Armenian. Of course, it wasn’t easy to start a new life, but my love for Armenia is above everything else. I am a mechanic. I am currently unemployed, and my wife, Armik takes care of the children and has a lot on her plate. We receive benefits for the children and manage to make a living. We are very grateful to the Minister of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia who extended a helping hand and helped us manage to overcome the hardships and raise our children. We also receive help from an Armenian fund that helps pay 60,000 drams of our apartment rent. We thank everyone. Everything would be better, if I could find a job by my profession. The most important thing is that we are in the Homeland,” my interlocutor says, and I believe that our compatriots must fulfill all of their cherished dreams in the Homeland with such excitement and optimism.

…I bid this big and beautiful family farewell and the five little wonders holding the book “The Bible of a Young Family” tightly in their arms, and their looks of innocence are imprinted in my soul and eyes.

Karine Avagyan