Miriam lives in Fizuli camp, amid the lush plains of Fizuli district, over three hundred kilometres southwest of Azerbaijan's capital Baku.
At ten years old she is small for her age, like many of the children in this settlement for displaced people.
NAGORNO KARABAKH
All the children were born to parents who fled the Nagorno Karabakh region in 1993, when Armenian military forces drove them out.
While there has been a truce in place since May 1994, there is still no peace and everyone is awaiting the outcome of the ongoing political negotiations between the two countries.
DISPLACED AND REFUGEES
Some 600,000 people are displaced within Azerbaijan as a result of the conflict with Armenia, which first erupted in 1988, while another 200,000 ethnic Azeris fled Armenia, their country of origin, and are now refugees in Azerbaijan.
Nearly 140,000 of the 600,000 internally displaced people came from Fizuli district, half of which has been occupied by Armenian forces since 23 August 1993.
STANDING IN LINE
Miriam stands in line waiting for the monthly food ration being distributed by WFP.
As part of the agency’s Food for Education programme, launched in the camp in March 2003, the distribution targets all 130 primary school students.
As one of them, Miriam is entitled to nearly three kilograms of vitamin-fortified wheat flour, 300 grams of vegetable oil, 150 grams of sugar and 150 grams of iodized salt for attending school on a regular basis.
MALNUTRITION CONCERNS
“WFP food is a big help. Though there are no surveys, we worry about malnutrition among these children," says Gulyiev Faig, a teacher in the school.
"You can see that many look small for their age, and this food helps ensure they receive the proper nutrition.”
ARMENIAN TANKS
Faig arrived at the camp in 1993 when 65 Armenian tanks entered Horovly, his hometown in Jabrayil district, forcing him to flee with his family.
“We had everything and we lost everything. We fled on foot with only the clothing we were wearing,” he explains, bitterly.
His brother was unable to escape and is now among the nearly 4,000 Azerbaijanis still missing.
SHORT STAY
When they arrived in Fizuli camp, they thought it would be a short stay.
“We were brought to a camp in an empty field. There was nothing here, not even trees, but it was supposed to be temporary,” Faig explains.
He gestures to the trees planted later which are now fully grown and bear witness to the number of years that have passed.
PRE-FABRICATED BUILDINGS
Thanks to funds from the European Union (ECHO), three white, pre-fabricated buildings were built in 1996 to house the camp’s school.
The school has brought hope to the community and a sense of direction to the children, all of whom were born here.
“We continue to teach our children that they will be going home,” stresses Faig.
YOUNG GRADUATES
But with the passing of more than a decade, he worries about his young graduates. Most are unemployed like their parents and few can contemplate marriages or furthering their education.
Their frustrations have not yet translated into adult misbehavior but his concern is deep.
“The youth don’t have money to get drunk or into drugs, but the joblessness troubles us all,” he adds.
BIRTH CERTIFICATE
When her turn comes, Miriam hands over her birth certificate. It is her only identification.
At 10 years old, Miriam is the youngest person collecting food; most of the other beneficiaries standing in line are parents of the students.
But Mariam’s parents are both ill and her mother, who had a nervous breakdown two years ago, is living in a psychiatric hospital.
HEAVY RATION
The ration is heavy for someone Miriam's size, but she carries it alone; up the dirt path, past the classrooms, past the music school where she plays the piano and the rows of containers that house this community.
The sound of instruments fills the air. For many people from Nagorno Karabakh, music is part of the culture; some of the best Azerbaijani musicians come from the region.
WHITE METAL CONTAINER
Miriam lives in a white metal container with her four siblings, elderly grandparents and her sick father, Shahsuvar Hasanov.
A graduate from the Music Institute in Fizuli in 1968, Hasanov later trained as an electrical engineer in Kostrama, Russia.
Assigned by the then Soviet government to work in the Agricultural University in Ganja, Hasanov left teaching to return to Nagorno Karabakh as a voluntary soldier when war broke out.
SETTLING IN FIZULI CAMP
Six years later he fled with his wife and elderly parents when Armenian troops occupied the territory in 1993.
They settled in Fizuli camp along with other displaced people from Horovly and began to raise a family.
HEALTH PROBLEMS
When Miriam was seven, Hasanov began to have serious health problems. Doctors say he won’t survive without open-heart surgery.
A year later his wife was institutionalised. The four young children take turns in the hospital so that they can be with their mother and assist her.
BLEAK FUTURE
The future looks bleak on all fronts.
Miriam says she has a wish list: she wishes for the health of her parents, she wishes to be a teacher and she wishes to go home.
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