A Childhood Marked by Loss, a Future Built on Love: Anahit’s Story at Mardigian Center

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, The Cafe on the Edge of the World, The Kite Runner, And the Mountains Echoed, A Thousand Splendid Suns—and many other books—are always close at hand on Anahit’s table.

Sixteen-year-old Anahit Bagamyan is drawn to psychological and philosophical books. Even when the stories end painfully, she says she does not feel discouraged. For her, these books are a way of understanding life, of learning how to walk her own path.

For the past two years, Anahit has been living at the Mardigian Child Protection Center with her ten-year-old sister, where her life has fundamentally changed.

“During my first months at the center, I cried constantly,” Anahit says. “My younger brothers were staying in an orphanage in Gyumri, and my relationship with my parents was very difficult. I spent days drawing, because it was the only thing that made me feel a little lighter.”

Her talent for drawing did not go unnoticed. Anahit’s strong sketches and sense of design opened new opportunities for her. She joined a three-month graphic design course at GAZZAR Studio. Today, she is already working as an intern, with the possibility of paid work in the near future.

She speaks warmly about the team that welcomed her and the knowledge they shared with her. With the money she earns, Anahit hopes to support her siblings—her ten-year-old sister Astghik, and her brothers Gor, 9 and Shmavon, 11.

“I want my sister and brothers to have the things I dreamed of as a child but never had,” she says quietly.

Beyond earning an income, Anahit’s greatest professional dream is to become a social pedagogue—to stand beside children who are growing up with family difficulties and guide them through hard moments. She wants to do this by following the example of the educators who once stood beside her.

“I wasn’t guided or taught many things while growing up, and I always felt that absence,” she says. “When an educator shows you direction, you feel that they care. You feel that someone is there for you. My mother didn’t come with me to the hospital, but my educator did. That’s when I understood that these people help with love. I want to be that person in someone else’s life, because there are many children like me.”

Anahit describes herself as determined. Despite a difficult childhood, she continues to move forward by believing in herself and with the support of kind people around her.

“When I decide to do something, I do everything I can to achieve it—without hurting anyone along the way,” she says. “People matter to me. Human values matter. And above all, I believe everything should be built on love.”

Your support helps ensure that more children, like Anahit, can return to the safety, dignity, and love of family. Join us in making this possible by donating to FAR today.