Arina F.

The interview took place in February 2019.

Arina was born in 1932, in the village of Chankatagh. The family was large consisting of 7 children. Arina was 9 years old when her father went to the battlefield of the World War II and never came back. Her 36-year-old fragile mother had to take the burden of the family. 1941 was severe; Arina lost also her eldest and youngest brothers because of food poisoning.

She studied at the local secondary school. She finished school with Honor and entered Stepanakert Agricultural College, Department of field services in 1947. However, she had to leave the college to move to her uncle’s house in Baku and ease the family’s social condition. After two years of life in Baku, she moved to Sumgait to a relative’s house and started working in the chemical factory on three shifts. A short experience turned out to be life-long. She settled there and worked in the factory for over 40 years up to the Sumgait massacre. An article entitled An Escape from the Hell has been published recently where Arina depicted the horrible reality of that period.

Early in the morning of February 26 she was going to work absolutely unaware of the happenings and evidenced a lot of tanks along the building of the community council and soldiers in long overcoats she seemed to appear in a war film. Her colleagues were surprised to see her at work. She was feared and stayed at work with the Russian dispatchers until the morning, quit from job early in the morning and traveled to Baku. Soon she had to escape from Baku and settle in her sister’s house, in the village of Zoravan. She lived there for six years.

Her brother called her once in 1992 and told her to take her mother to Armenia to save from azeries. She reached Stepanakert with great difficulty and took her mother to her sister’s place. Soon the radio announced the liberation of their village and her mother insisted on moving to the village. They moved there in 1994 and Arina lost her mother in two months.

Arina’s relative helped her to link her life with Asri A. who has been living in Stepanakert and has grown up children. They have been living together for 24 years. Her son-in-law told her about Hanganak and she joined the organization seven years ago.

Arina has high blood pressure, atherosclerosis of the cerebral vessels. Hanganak provides her with Cardiomagnyl 75 mg N 30, Captopril 50 mg N 20, Tempalgin N10. She sees the doctor at polyclinic very rarely and instead turns to Hanganak’s doctor. Her pension is 44,000 AMD that is barely sufficient with the monthly provision.

She lives in a dark two-room apartment that belongs to her husband. Living conditions are below the average. She buys wood with her savings and adds Hanganak’s heat compensation to heat the flat.

She is very pleased and grateful to her nurse Elza Nersisyan ands often calls her Emergency Doctor. She is also thankful to everybody, all the benefactors who back these poor people and take care of them.