Spring in Armenia is beautiful because it brings with it hope and the mild fragrance of the fruit trees in blossom everywhere. The spring of 1993 was more special as it brought a new type of hope. Now that I had made the first step, I had to do everything possible to be accepted into the program. I was given the impossible task of completing the application…

It was the winter of 1993. Yerevan was covered with a white freezing blanket of snow. It was serene and peaceful outside, no cars, no people, nothing. Just the snow… and the occasional smoke emanating from a makeshift tin exhaust vent built into the kitchen or living room window, a pipe on a wall made black by whatever people had been burning to stay warm…