By Ani Gevorgyan

Silva Hakobyan, an architect by profession, cannot find work in her sector. Thus, she paints and sells her creations in Yerevan.

“I’m 56.When I apply for a job they tell me I’m too old and that they are looking for young people,” says Hakobyan, who lost her two kids in the 1988 Spitak earthquake that devastated her native town of Gyumri. Hakobyan was also buried under the rubble but miraculously survived.

“Previously, I thought that I had undergone the worst days of my life in Gyumri, but the post-Soviet era was no less difficult,” says Hakobyan.

“After the earthquake, we lived in tomiks (trailer) for twenty years. Later we decided to move to Yerevan and start a new life.”

Hakobyan says she hasn’t found work in her profession in Yerevan.

“Architecture is a field in which big money is made. Here, they just don’t hire anyone off the street.”

“I then decided to go to Saryan Park, to make sketches and sell them.”

“I lived a few years doing that. I sketched and they sold.”

“Now I have some health issues. My hands have weakened and I can’t sketch quickly.”

“I’m going to the park now and taking some finished paintings in the cart. Hopefully, some will sell.”

“I receive 29,000 AMD per month for my disability.” (US$60)

“I occasionally think that had I known this was to be my future life, it would have been better to have died in the earthquake.”

“I hope that one day I will again sell my paintings.”