Lost and Found through Hope and Care

When Lilit opens the crystal-clear package of new bedding, her face lights up with excitement. Without hesitation, she begins changing her sheets. “We changed them a while ago. We also received this winter blanket from FAR,” she says. Once she finishes, 15-year-old Lilit Danielyan glances at the tarnished mirror and softly remarks, “I used to have long hair.”

For Lilit, the loss of her long hair is more than just a physical change; it has deep emotional scars. In 2023, when her family-her mother and seven siblings-were forcibly displaced from Artsakh, they faced immense hardship. Struggling to find shelter and lacking basic necessities, including hygiene supplies, Lilit and her siblings developed head lice. Back then, she had long, flowing hair, but one day after school, she came home and asked her mother to cut it off.

Anahit Melkonyan, the psychologist working closely with Lilit, explains that she has developed entrenched trauma from the displacement, leading to anxiety and social withdrawal. When the shelling started, Lilit instinctively grabbed her three-year-old brother, Artyom, and ran to the basement. It was dark and overcrowded, filled with crying children, some separated from their parents. She stayed there for hours until her mother, Varsik Sargsyan, 34, managed to gather her other children from schools and kindergartens. They hid in another basement before being taken to a Russian military base, where Varsik received the devastating news that her husband, a contracted soldier, had been killed. Two days later, the family boarded a bus to Armenia and eventually settled in Haghtanak village, in the Noyemberyan region of Tavush province.

Now, the children-Apres,12, Eva, 10, Aram, 8, and Arsen, 7, - attend the local school, while Artyom, 3, stays home with their youngest sibling, Maks, who is just eight months old. Lilit, however, has not returned to school since the day she cut her hair. Instead, she takes care of her younger siblings.

The family has received essential supplies, including hygiene packages, winter firewood, home appliances, kitchenware, and bedding. This support has been made possible through the "Comprehensive Assistance to Refugees from Nagorno Karabakh and Vulnerable Host Communities" project, funded by a generous grant from the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) to FAR and Sign of Hope (SoH). Thanks to this support, over 400 refugee families in Berd, Ijevan, and Noyemberyan have received mental health and psychosocial assistance, protection services, and aid with shelter, non-food items, and winterization.

“Anahit has become my dear friend,” Lilit shares. “I’m not shy or afraid to talk to her about my fears. When she first asked me to paint them, I drew the basement all in black. I was terrified of it. Then I tore up the drawing and threw it in the trash. It’s gone now, just like my fear of the dark.”

Through both individual and group therapy sessions, Lilit has become more social. While she has not yet resumed formal education, Anahit confirms they have reached a mutual agreement: Lilit will join carpet weaving and embroidery classes in a nearby village. “This will help her develop social skills, make friends - something she lacks here - and express her creativity,” says Anahit. “We are also working on getting her back to school.”

Anahit notes that the monthly humanitarian assistance the family has received since last autumn has significantly improved their hygiene routines. “Now that Lilit has proper hygiene care, I’m confident her hair will grow back, and she will feel happy again, leaving behind those painful memories,” says Anahit, who has worked with hundreds of families in the Noyemberyan region. She notes that poor hygiene and social burdens have significantly worsened psychological trauma among displaced families, an issue they are addressing through both group and individual therapy sessions.

Despite the hardships, Varsik remains hopeful. “I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I’ve grown attached to this village and its people. I might move to another house, but I won’t leave the village. My children and I have finally found some peace. Now, all we need is a roof over our heads and a small piece of land to grow our own food,” she concludes.