SERVICE Armenia 2018 participants spent four days working on the art school in the village of Kanakeravan.

The Paros Foundation’s SERVICE Armenia 2018 group wrapped up another great summer of service, touring, and fun bringing the number of program alum to over 100. The nine participants and coordinator from around the United States joined us in Armenia to work on impactful service projects. During the one month program, participants also visited historic sites and developed lifelong friendships. Service Armenia was established in 2013 and provides Diaspora youth ages 17-22 years the opportunity to work on meaningful service projects and to have fun in Armenia. Next year’s program will run from June 23 to July 23, 2019. Applications are now available at www.parosfoundation.org.

This summer’s service work included renovations at the Zorakan Village School in the Tavush region. SERVICE participants painted six classrooms as part of the second floor remodel. The remainder of the second floor was completed prior to the start of classes, however, $75,000 is still needed for the renovation of the first floor of the school. The Zorakan Village School services 135 secondary school students. At the Kanakeravan Art School in the Kotayk region, participants poured the subfloor and installed new flooring in three rooms. This combined with the complete renovation of these classrooms has created a beautiful environment for the art school students.

SERVICE Armenia 2018 participants visited the Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial.

One of the highlights of SERVICE Armenia is always visiting the Debi Arach Children’s Center in Gyumri. This year minor renovations were done at the Center and a “Packs on Backs” distribution was carried out, providing 185 children with the necessary school supplies and backpacks. SERVICE youth had a chance to get to know students at Debi Arach through a fun day of dancing, playing sports, and socializing. While in Gyumri, Dustin Hochmuth, a repeat participant of SERVICE Armenia, also spearheaded the “Groceries for Gyumri” distribution for 100 families. His efforts included raising the necessary funding, obtaining and assembling food packets with his SERVICE Armenia peers, and coordinating the delivery of basic grocery staples, fresh fruits and vegetables, and personal hygiene products to families in need.

Other 2018 highlights included four exciting excursions with the Yerevan Children’s Home, the Vanadzor Orphanage, the Kharpert Home for Special Children and the Ghoghanj Children’s Center. The SERVICE Armenia group also toured many monuments and important historic locations throughout the country, along with overnight stays in the Lori Region and Artsakh. In addition to the well known religious and cultural sites, the group was able to experience hikes at the Hunot Gorge and the Kobayr Monastery, a tour of the Areni Caves and the Historic Noy Cognac Factory, and to visit the World UNESCO Heritage sites, Sanahin and Haghpat Monasteries. From Artsakh to Zorakan, SERVICE Armenia 2018 was definitely a summer to remember.

“This program was executed perfectly for the age and the interests of our group,” said Ani Shahinian. “In the three times I’ve been to Armenia, this was my favorite experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip!”

A visit to and lunch at the Geghard Monastary was among one of the many historic and religious sites visited throughout the month long program.

Applications for SERVICE Armenia 2019 are available on our website www.parosfoundation.org. The program includes tours to historic, religious and cultural sites in Armenia and Artsakh, English speaking staff and guides, safe and well located accommodations and transportation combined with interesting cultural and educational activities that will ensure all will have an engaging and memorable experience. The program is open to both Armenian and American young people wishing to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity. Knowledge of the Armenian language is not required. Join us and create a lifetime of great memories and friends. The deadline to submit the completed application is April 1, 2019.

For more information, please contact Peter Abajian (310) 400-9061 or via E-mail peter@parosfoundation.org

Children at the Kindergarten in Nor Keghi performing at the opening celebration!

On July 6, 2018 The Paros Foundation’s staff and SERVICE Armenia 2018 participants joined the mayor, staff, parents and children of Nor Keghi in Kotayk province to celebrate the opening of the newly renovated kindergarten auditorium.

The Arakelyan Kindergarten facilitates the early education of more than 85 children.  The renovation of the multipurpose room, stage, ready room, adjacent hallway and stairwell was made possible by the generosity of the Detroit based Nor Keghi Association which sponsored the project.   The Paros Foundation had previously renovated two bathrooms at the kindergarten as part of its 100 for 100 Projects for Prosperity initiative in 2015 with the support of the Nigoghosianfamily.

“We were able to help Nor Keghi’skindergarten solve another important issue with the help of the Nor Keghi Association and its fundraising efforts,” said Peter Abajian, Executive Director of The Paros Foundation. “The village population is increasing, and the kindergarten principal has requested we help them expand by renovating additional rooms.”

Nor Keghi Mayor, Kindergarten staff, parents, and friends gathered with The Paros Foundation’s staff and SERVICE Armenia 2018 group to celebrate the successful completion of the remodel.

For the auditorium project, The Paros Foundation team installed new doors and windows, resurfaced the existing wood parquet floors, installed laminate flooring in the ready room and stage area, added new electrical and lighting throughout and repaired and painted the walls and ceiling.  The team also worked with the mayor to bring proper heating to the facility.  Following the renovation, 80 high quality stackable chairs were delivered to outfit the multipurpose room. A plaque will be installed in the auditorium acknowledging sponsorship of the project by the descendants of Keghi through the Nor Keghi Association in association with The Paros Foundation.

“It is so heartwarming to see pictures of the renovated multipurpose room of the Arakelyan Kindergarten,” said Nor Keghi Association President, Richard Norsigian. “When my son, Shant and I entered the room in person last September, we were

Children at the Kindergarten in Nor Keghi express their appreciation during a performance in the newly renovated multipurpose room.

devastated – it looked like a tornado had hit it!  It was unusable.  We were deeply saddened to think our little Armenian kindergartners did not have an indoor facility for activities.  The pictures of the now completely renovated multipurpose room brought tears of joy to my eyes.  To our generous Keghetzis and friends who made the renovation possible, I say vartzkernees gadarand God willing, we have only just begun!”

Join The Paros Foundation October 16-29 for a Journey through Armenia

Experience all Armenia has to offer through an exciting 11 day itinerary, which will include several visits to UNESCO world heritage sites, amazing cultural outings and several visits to Paros project sites. Opportunities to interact with Armenia’s children through service work will certainly leave you with a memorable and lasting impression. Delicious food, premium accommodations and transportation and English-speaking staff and guides ensure all will have a meaningful experience.

In-country fees including airport pick up, lodging, in-country transportation, tours with admissions to all sites and cultural activities and most meals:

$2,500 double occupancy
$3,200 single occupancy

Price includes a $500 tax-deductible donation in support of Paros projects. Pricing does not include airfare. This trip is open to everyone.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING US PLEASE COMPLETE THE REGISTRATION FORM AND RETURN TO US.

* THIS JOURNEY THROUGH ARMENIA IS COORDINATED BY THE PAROS FOUNDATION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIMA TOURS & GROUP LEADERS JEANETTE BORAS AND CHARLENE ASDOURIAN.

DON’T MISS OUT ON THIS ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTY OF ARMENIA.

Its been a while since I blogged about our current activities.  Certainly NOT because our team is not getting things done, but just the contrary! We are in our pre-summer run up to SERVICE Armenia 2018 and a in the midst of planning for a terrific fundraiser in New York on June 7th.  I have to say, it has been difficult being in the US watching from afar the incredible changes that are taking place in Armenia this last month.  I honestly feel cheated that I am not in Hayastan. My timing really does suck.  I have been in Armenia each year for the last 12 years for no less than three months a year via four or five trips annually–and I missed it!  But, I will be in Armenia in a couple of weeks and we have accomplished a bunch of important things.

Our team in Armenia is working on several smaller projects with funds remaining from our Support Our Heroes project that is worth mentioning today.

One of Nodorik’s new piglets.

Several weeks ago, construction was completed on the barn in the village of Gugark for the family of Nodorik Margaryan. We paid for all the materials, labor and supplied them with three piglets and feed.  We are hopeful this will help them expand their agribusiness and allow them to better care for themselves.

Roof renovations in process.

Up in Saragukh, a village near Novemberyan, we are helping a father/son soldier team with roofing materials to complete the construction of their village home.  These men and their family moved to this village and are living in a rented home until they are able to finish construction.  They are both contract soldiers and are stationed about five kilometers away from their home on the border.

Fitting for a new prosthetic leg.

Late last week, our colleague Gegham met a soldier who is stationed in Artsakh.  About two years ago he had his foot and part of his leg blown off from a landmine.  The prosthetic leg that he was given has continuously given him problems with sores and open wounds.  So, Gegham met him in Yerevan at the master prosthetic maker in town to fit him and we ordered him a new prosthetic.  Hopefully this higher quality leg will fit him better and allow him to get around easier.

Finally, we are supporting cancer treatments for the mother of a soldier that was injured and left partially disabled as a result of the April war.  We have supported two rounds of treatments and we are hopeful that her condition will improve.

We have lots of big projects moving forward in full swing that I will report on from Armenia, but I didn’t want these important, but smaller projects to be overlooked.

As Armenians come together today around the world to commemorate the 103^rdanniversary of the Armenian Genocide, our thoughts and prayers not only remember the 1.5 million Armenians who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government, but turn to our compatriots living in this remarkable time in Armenia.

Scores of fearless people, facing uncertain consequences, took to the streets leading a well-organized, peaceful protest aimed at preventing a power-grab by Serzh Sargsyan, who had pledged not to pursue the office of Prime Minister following Armenia’s change to a parliamentary form of government. Calls for acts of peaceful civil disobedience initiated by young people and then joined by tens of thousands of citizens from all walks of life culminated in Sargsyan’s resignation. Throughout these tense days, both citizens and Armenia’s police exercised incredible restraint.  The protestors, police and Sargsyan himself should celebrate the fact that Armenia is maturing and its growing pains were not met with loss of life, but rather a peaceful transition.

In the coming days, what the future holds for our homeland and its citizens is unknown.  On behalf of The Paros Foundation, we join in the spirit of positive change and collaboration to build a bright future for Armenia’s children.  We support our brothers and sisters in Hayastan on their path to long-term nation building over short-term personal gain. We, at Paros remain committed to mobilize Diasporan support for the implementation of valuable projects and the progressive leadership necessary to ensure their long-term success.

By remembering our past, we will build a homeland together that is safe, secure and prosperous, and one that our ancestors would be proud to call “Mer Hayrenik.”

My last day in Armenia started at my apartment at 7:30 a.m.   I had to pack and clean up.  I always know that it is time to leave Armenia and head back home when I run out of my stash of American coffee…

Picked up Gegham at 9:30 a.m. and we dropped off a few things at our storage garage and did a bit of warehouse organization.  We then met Sos at 10:30 a.m. to check out some furniture that another organization is selling and that we might be able to make use of.  We found some great things and now Gegham will just have to negotiate a terrific price–LOL.)

Russian manufactured hay baler for Baghanis.

The bayer is new and will arrive into Armenia within 30 days.

We then headed to Erebuni to meet with the official representative of a Russian farm equipment manufacturer to firm up our purchase of the hay baler for the village of Baghanis.  In case you read Russian, here are the specs..

Next we headed to the Yerevan neighborhood of Avan to look at stainless steel dishwashing sinks for the kitchen at Rind.  We found a perfect double sink set up that Gegham will purchase after his next visit to Rind to confirm the sink size.

Our next stops were at RV Comfort and Aquatech to check out material and pump options for a couple of other projects.  After these stops, we were able to grab a bite before our meeting at 3 p.m. with both the Armenia and International Red Cross.  Sevan joined us at the headquarters of the International Red Cross in Armenia to discuss the kindergarten construction in the village of Baghanis.  The Red Cross has agreed to work on this project with us jointly, so we wanted to meet and agree on a timeline for the launch of construction.

Afterwards, Sos, Gegham, Sevan and I met for a bit to firm up our steps forward.  As usual, we had a whirlwind of a couple of weeks together and wanted to sum up the decisions we reached and future activities.  I dropped off my car rental, had a manti at Zatar Pizza and crashed for a couple of hours before Gegham picked me up at 3 a.m. for my airport departure.

Sos, Gegham and I departed for a two day trip to Gyumri yesterday.

People lined up for free bread for Yerevan’s City Market’s baking facility in Malatya.

On the way out of town, we drove past a location  in Malatya that Yerevan City Market uses to bake lavash and distribute it free to anyone who lines up for it.  The oligarch that owns Yerevan City Markets is generally not well regarded, but is clearly trying to help people in need at some level (and trying to improve his image.)

On our way, we tried to visit the “Armenak & Ann Tadeossian’s” Children Rehabilitation in the Aragatsotn Region of Armenia, but the Center is closed on Monday (go figure.) The entire clinic and rehab center was built in 2014 and we have collected some funds to help with the children’s rehab related costs.  We will have to connect with them next trip!

First of our “To-Dos” in Gyumri was to meet with and tell two families who are living in Domiks, that they were selected to receive new apartments through our Purchase a Home project.  Initial meetings had taken place with these families about two months ago, and now, with cash in hand thanks to the Ekmekjian Family from Los Angeles, we are ready to purchase both families a new apartment and oversee the tear down of their old domiks, and thus help clear Gyumri of these eyesores. We stopped at the Shirak Center, NGO and picked up our friend Vahan Tumasyan to take us to the families we had previously screened.  Unfortunately, all of these domik neighborhoods in Gyumri look kind of the same and having Vahan as a friend and partner definitely helps move along the interaction with these families.  Plus we enlist Vahan’s services to help organize the crew to tear down the domik after the family has moved out.

Neli and I in her family’s domik.

Rima’s little girl.

Thanks to the generosity of a bunch of different donors, this is the 8th and 9th family we have been able to visit and tell that we are ready to move them into a new apartment.  It is a humbling experience and the families are almost always in shock when they hear the news.  Both Neli & Artyom (and their three kids) and Ashot & Rima (and their three kids), were quite excited with the news.

After telling both families the good news, we departed for a quick visit to The Terchoonian Home.  A couple of years ago, we renovated the third floor of this orphanage/school with support from our good friend Herman Hintiryan and the Terchoonian Home Foundation in Michigan, and the Arslanian family from New Jersey.  Terchoonian currently has 23 children living at the facility full time, about another 22 or

The solar panel array at The Terchoonian Home.

so that live their during the week and go home on weekends, and another 40 or so that come there each day and attend school and go home in the evenings. Overall things seemed ok and I was pretty impressed with a new solar array that has been installed to help subsidize the electric costs of operating the facility.  Sonia, the director of Terchoonian, indicated that it has saved them as much as $300 per month in electric costs.

Next we began to cruise the Mush 2 neighborhood in Gyumri to try and find two apartments to purchase for our families.  Sos had secured a couple of phone numbers and we set up appointments to view them.  Most people advertise their apartments for sale by simply putting a small sign on a piece of paper in the apartment’s window. Other’s list the apartment for sale on List.am, Armenia’s version of a Craigslist type service.  We successfully were able to view two apartments that might work.

Students at Debi Arach competing to solve the math problems using our new SMART projectors.

Before calling it a night and heading to our hotel, we also made a short visit to Debi Arach to arrange a few facility upgrades.  It was very cool to see our new SMART projectors being used to help augment the teaching methods in the math class.

We ended the day at the Gyumri Hotel.  Our plan was to walk to dinner and have a drink from one of our many bottles of vodka from our Tavush trip.  We figured we would ask if it was ok to drink our own and worse case just buy a bottle from the restaurant and drink ours….well, Gayane the waitress was NOT having it and totally put us in our place!

Next morning we had a quick breakfast and headed back to Mush 2 and the surrounding neighborhoods to try and secure some more potential apartments for sale.  We got a couple of more leads and was able to lock up the first apartment.  We got to Debi Arach and I was able to meet with Aida and Sarah and discuss our next fundraising approach while Sos and Gegham took care of a few odds and ends at the center.  We barked out some orders and took off to Yerevan (LOL).  On the way, we visited one of our work crews at the school in Hatsik to check up again on their progress.  Things are coming along nicely!  As a bonus, I was given some honey from our one of our worker’s home!  Yummy!

Made it back to Yerevan at a decent hour, so instead of calling it a day, we went searching for pipes and pumps for the water project in NKA to try and solidify the budget for this project.  We were able to find a vendor that called the water pipe manufacturer in Armenia and got us a firm price on the kind of pipe we need.  In addition, he seems to carry some high quality fittings that we will ultimately need when running a new 2,000 meter water pipe.  After this stop we called it a day and I dropped the guys off and headed home.

Apparently stickers are used for manicures too!

Meri and her team joined Gegham and I today to purchase all of the equipment and supplies to start her classes on March 20th in Koghb.  This consisted of Gegham and I standing around like fish out of water, while Meri and her two colleagues bought a ton of stuff for make up, hair, facials and manicure classes.  We spent a little over one million drams and the only item I could identify with was a hair brush!  We still need about $1,500 to complete this project, but it is off and running.

Gegham and Meri’s team at the checkout with our stuff.

Meri and her team will be training 20 women from nine villages along the border in Tavush so they can work and help support their families.

All packed up and ready to head back to Tavush!