"My dream is to hear my daughter call me dad"

Shamkhal is 26 years old. He works as a parking boy near the Molokan garden. This work was found for him by a familiar policeman. Shamkhal helps park cars and looks after them in the parking lot.

He says that every job has its difficulties. More precisely, he types on the phone, and I read. Shamkhal has congenital hearing problems. He communicates with gestures, and if gestures are not enough, he writes.

Shamkhal was born and raised in Jalilabad. When his father fell seriously ill, the family had to sell the house to pay for the treatment, but they still could not save him.

Shamkhal wanted to be a teacher since childhood, but due to the difficult situation in the family, he could not get a higher education, he had to work instead.

Now Shamkhal lives in Baku in a rented apartment with his wife, daughter, mother and brother. Shamkhal receives a disability pension of 200 manats (about $120). He says that this money is not enough for anything, so he is very glad that he has a job.

Shamkhal studied at a school for children with hearing and speech problems, where he met his future wife. They fell in love with each other, and got married a few years later, when Shamkhal began to earn money.

Shamkhal says that his one-year-old daughter Melek is the whole world for him. Melek hears, but still does her first attempts to speak. Shamkhal says his biggest dream is to hear Melek say "dad".