"I envy cave dwellers. In a cave, the wind only comes from one direction. Here it's everywhere. How can you feel like a human being in such conditions?" says one of the residents of Stepanavan's Building #179, when we asked about life in this crumbling building.

After the earthquake in Stepanavan, hundreds of families suddenly became homeless, and many still live to this day in buildings that could collapse any second.

There are currently twelve buildings considered to be in such shape. A study done ten years ago by HaySeismShin divided these buildings into several categories. Two of the twelve were considered Category 2 (still livable), six were Category 3 (on the verge of collapse), and two others were also considered Category 3 but in need of immediate repair (which means living there is dangerous). The rest were considered Category 4, meaning residency is illegal. Nevertheless, people still continue to live even in the buildings of the last category, despite legal repercussions.

In Stepanavan's Mayor's Office, we were told that the families who live there were provided with apartments a year ago according to a priority list. Those who live in the building do not deny that, but note that after the earthquake their families increased in size so one apartment was not enough.

Charents 179 is a Category 3 building "in need of immediate repair". 48 families live there. Most of them have been there since the day it was built, which was over 33 years ago.

"Even in those days people said that something was wrong with the building," said 77-year-old Araksya Mardoyan. One of the first residents of the building, she lives on the 5 th floor with her daughter. It is people on this floor that are worst affected by the structure's dire condition. The roof disintegrated long ago, and rainwater comes straight into the apartment.

"We suffer a lot on rainy days and when the snow melts. We walk around the house with umbrellas, put buckets all over the floor so that no water gets into the house, and no water gets into the neighbor's apartment, so that his floor won't get messed up and a fight doesn't ensue. But what floor is there left? My downstairs neighbor and I scream and shout every week, as if it's my fault that this happens," complained Araksya's daughter Amalya Mardoyan, adding, "The roof was hanging down and was close to collapsing, but we managed to fix it somehow with some mud and stones. I, a woman, had to climb up and fix it, but how can you live under a roof like that?"

Most of the apartments in the building are privatized, thus lying outside the responsibility of the city's apartment construction department, which means that renovating the apartments is left to residents. But the residents ignore safety issues; for them it's enough just to have a roof over their heads.

The deterioration of the internal sewer and water pipes are another big problem for the building. As a result, water seeps into the building's foundation, increasing the already great danger they face living there. City Hall officials told us that they were aware of the problem, but the only thing they could do was ask the Ministry of City Reconstruction for help, as there was no money in the local budget.

"We sent a proposal to the Ministry of City Reconstruction regarding these buildings, but I don't think there will be progress on that issue anytime soon. The number one issue now is to provide homeless families [living in trailers] with apartments," said Rostom Kocharyan, deputy mayor of Stepanavan.

According to the priority list for new apartments, there are 164 people in Stepanavan in need of homes. But there is another list as well, of those who were not living in state property at the time of the earthquake. There are 612 families on that list. The majority of them still live in trailers, and naturally the local authorities focus their efforts on these families, which means that it will be a while before to the families living in the ruined buildings get there turn.

Two years ago a woman died when a balcony in one of the Category 3 buildings collapsed. People talked of nothing else for a week. Then, the apartment was sold and the new owner built a new balcony and everyone forgot that the building's deteriorating condition had cost a human life. And people go on living here.

Tsoline Mikayelyan