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Six-year-old David is unwilling to talk about the shelter of his childhood, the metal container. He and his sister were born and raised experiencing the hardships of living in a confined area. Meline, who grow up without games and friends' visits, confesses, that her mother never complained so as not to burden her father with hardships, instead, she taught them to dream and overcome the problems.

The Sargsyans from the village of Vardenik now experience an important and positive change in their life. The harsh climate of Gegharkunik region is not a problem for them anymore. Thanks to the support of Viva-MTS and the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia, the family dream of building their two-storey house is now a reality. Yurik, who was injured during the 1992 war, started building his house adjacent to the metal container seven years ago, but could not complete the construction. Now everything has changed, the memory of hardships is now replaced with bright and positive emotions. A few more days, and the metal container will be dismantled for good, Viva-MTS said in a press release on Monday.

“We have lived in a metal container. My children's childhood-home was the metal container. It was difficult to raise children in such conditions. There was no place to move; it lacked basic utilities, we had to bring the drinking water from outside. It was very hot inside the metal during summertime and very cold during wintertime. Life was very difficult, but when you have to, you adjust to it. Now, everything is left in the past. We will return the metal container to where it was before after dismantling it,” said Armine, the young housewife.

“Feeling the changing predisposition of the home owners witհ every house that is built strengthens my faith in the housing program and our partnership. Throughout these years we have come across many families who have been in desperate situation. At times there have been more than one generations raised in metal containers or half-built houses. I am glad to see there have been positive changes in the lives of those families. If we have managed to inspire hope in the souls of people in despair then our efforts have been fully justified. Now they should do their best to forget the hardships of the past and should build a better future,” Viva-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian said during the video call.

“The existence of metal containers has become an evil in the lives of our people. The psychology of people has changed a lot over the years as they had to adapt to the situation. Adequate steps were needed to be taken to correct it and support our compatriots. In this regard, success may be reported for the project. Regardless of the conditions dictated by time, we manage to implement the housing project together and bring the families back to life,'' said Ashot Yeghiazaryan, the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia President.

The heads of Viva-MTS and the “Fuller Center for Housing Armenia” consider important not only the visible result of the project, but also its psychological effect on the families. The dismantling of the metal containers and giving the families possibility to start a decent life has become an important goal.