Baku - Sevil had a happy childhood full of joy spending her time playing with her friends and going to school in her village of Kalbajar. Her life suddenly changed with the Naghorno Karabakh war outbreak when Sevil and her family were forced to leave their village with nothing in order to flee violence. Sevil and her family found safety in the Goygol district where they settled together with other internally displaced people.

“Life was not easy, my father could not stand this new situation and he soon passed away. I was the eldest and had to take care of my mother who was often sick and my four siblings”

With no sources of income, her father’s death, and her mother’s sickness, the economic situation of Sevil and her siblings were very unstable and difficult. Her uncle took guardianship of the family denying her the possibility to continue her education. Sevil then started working doing domestic chores for the neighboring families to offer financial support to her family.

During all these years, as the eldest sibling, Sevil always had the responsibility to support both emotionally and financially her siblings giving up her education and personal projects. Years passed and one day, Sevil found herself with no family of her own and in a difficult economic situation that severely affected her mental health.

In 2019, Sevil participated in an awareness-raising event organized by the NGOs Tamas Public Union informing the public of their assistance services including psychological care.

“When I called the shelter and talked about my situation, the Coordinator of the shelter proposed to take a psychological treatment and I accepted. That was the turning point in my life”.

Sevil received psychological assistance from the professionals of the shelters. During her recovery, she also benefitted from a business skills training organized by IOM Azerbaijan and received sewing equipment to start her own small business. Today Sevil is running her activity as a tailor.

“Many people cannot believe that I sew all these curtains. This is my small world; I am doing the work I like and able to”, said Sevil.