I was born in 1982 and grew up in Spitak, a town of then about 20,000 inhabitants. I lived with my family in an apartment in the city Centre. When the earthquake happened in 1988, our house was completely destroyed, and we had to move to a temporary container house in “Italakan” district. I have lived in this temporary housing ever since. The earthquake left painful scars on our lives. I was six years old when it happened and I was attending preschool. It was nap time and most kids were in beds but I saw the teachers eating sunflower seeds and wanted to have some. They refused to give me any, so I secretly convinced my four friends to run out to play in the yard. As we were playing suddenly the earth shook and we saw the whole preschool building collapsing into a pile of ashes in front of our eyes. The ground cracked open beneath us and I fell down, terrified.

At that time, Armenia had a tense relationship with Turkey and Azerbaijan. I remember shouting: “Mom, the Turks are attacking!” I thought the city was being bombed as I didn’t know what an earthquake was. Everybody died in our preschool; my four friends and I were the only survivors. Thank God all my family was safe but all we had was destroyed. We were evacuated to a neighboring town and stayed there for a couple of months. When we came back to Spitak our hearts were filled with happiness to be home but sadness with all that was lost. My parents were able to continue their jobs which enabled us all to be provided for and get a good education.

UPWARD INCOME

I have always been a very active and cheerful person despite all the difficulties I faced in life. I trained as a teacher and worked in a school for children with disabilities.


Once my daughter was born it was very hard financially for my husband and I and we had to take out a loan just to provide for our basic needs. When my daughter was old enough for nursery I started a job in a flour factory testing the quality of the flour. That was an interesting job and I enjoyed it, but unfortunately three months later the factory was shut down and since then I have been unemployed. I tried to find another job but have had to success, which has been devastating for me. My husband is employed in the army and serving on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border where there is constant fighting, so he is often away from home. At times I have cried for days because life has felt so hard.


I am so grateful for the people from Depi Ver who have encouraged and supported me over these last two years. With their help last year I was able to earn an income planting and harvesting vegetables. This year they helped me plant potatoes on our own land that will be harvested in the Autumn. We are now expecting our second child and all I dream of is having a peaceful and secure future for my family.