Empowering Young Girls in Gyumri
Description
Nor Luyce aims to provide girls the means to become self-sufficient, healthy, globally aware young women, who have set personal and career goals and who have created an action plan of how to achieve them. Our program was developed to improve self-esteem, self-reliance, and a sense of community and then build on these skills and potential. We believe in empowering teenage girls from orphanages and low-income families to build a community of strong, thoughtful, creative young women who are the future of Armenia.
In order to improve the future and career opportunities for girls from socially disadvantage families and foster cares, we prove a 3-phase, 3-year mentoring program that impacts approximately 60 girls a year. Currently, we are seeking funding for our first phase, which will provide a mentoring to 20 new Nor Luyce beneficiaries, aged 13-14 raising the number from 60 to 80.
Our Mentoring Phase program covers 11 months, during which 20 girls, aged 13-14, from socially vulnerable families and foster care receive mentoring. Each mentor-mentee pair meet approximately 40 times for individual meetings as well as partake in 20 group meetings. During our mentoring phase, we also focus on empowering participants to become active community members through service activities, cultural events, and building leadership through various responsibilities such as presenting information to their peers and other organization members. We also offer tutoring services for any participant who is struggling academically.
In order to decrease the likelihood that girls will be trafficked or married off at a young age, we strive to provide teenagers (13-14 year old) with a positive role model and a strong connection with other girls and prominent community leaders. We focus on career aspirations and how to create the best version of themselves, using the traits, skills, and strengths the participants already have. We also believe, that in order to empower young girls, we need to have a comprehensive approach to their development, as such following the first phase we then focus on skill-building trainings, career development, and offer scholarships for higher education. As of now, we have seventeen girls currently involved in higher education institutions, two more girls have already graduated from colleges and universities and now they work with their profession. On top of these, we have one mentee who graduated from a college which she had to admit because of the inforce of her parents, however, she could find the inner strength to change her profession and pursue the degree that was close to her heart.
Region
City / Village
Start Date
End Date
Thank you to all our donors, we have met our fundraising goal.
The Need
Short Term Impact
All goals will be met in an ongoing fashion, throughout the ten-month program.
• 20 mentees will partake in at least 30 one-on-one meetings with their mentors
• 20 mentees will take part
in at least 10 group meetings focusing on various life skills such as moving from dreams to reality, conflict resolution, stress management, etc.
• All 20 mentor-mentee pairs will complete at least one community service activity
• All the Mentoring Phase mentees (20 girls) will take part in at least 10 overall group meetings focused on creating a global perspective on issues such as different cultures, human rights, government, etc.
• All mentees (80 mentees) will take part in at least one international event such as International Women’s Day, International Human Rights Day, etc.
• 20 Mentors will take part in prementoring and on-going mentoring trainings to provide better services to the mentees.
• 30 mentees will meet a number of well-known and successful people in Armenia who will share the key to their success. As a result of the meetings mentees will experience:
– Increase in academic performance by the end of program year
– Increase time management skills
– Creation of a career plan with short and long term goals of each mentee
– All 20 mentees will create a presentation and lead a group discussion
Long Term Impact
Sponsors Benefits
Mr. Arthur Koncagul
Troy, MI December 8, 2021Mr. Arthur Koncagul
Beverly Hills, CA December 8, 2021Mr. & Mrs. Richard & Sharon Chackerian
San Francisco, CA November 12, 2021Mr. & Mrs. Jack & Zarig Youredjian
Los Angeles, CA May 1, 2021Mr. & Mrs. Richard & Sharon Chackerian
San Francisco, CA December 21, 2020Mr. & Mrs. Ara & Michelle Chackerian
Berkeley, CA July 17, 2020Mr. & Mrs. Mark & Gretchen Albarian
Hermosa Beach, CA May 7, 2020Ms. Gay Hagopian
NJ, United States November 29, 2019Ms. Jeanette Derhagopian
Warminister, PA November 29, 2019{OMIT}
Boston, MA November 29, 20193 M's St. Mary Armenian Church
N. Caldwell, NJ November 15, 2019Anonymous
Boston, MA November 6, 2019Mr. Arthur Koncagul
Troy, MI December 8, 2021Mr. Arthur Koncagul
Beverly Hills, CA December 8, 2021Mr. & Mrs. Richard & Sharon Chackerian
San Francisco, CA November 12, 2021Mr. & Mrs. Jack & Zarig Youredjian
Los Angeles, CA May 1, 2021Mr. & Mrs. Richard & Sharon Chackerian
San Francisco, CA December 21, 2020Mr. & Mrs. Ara & Michelle Chackerian
Berkeley, CA July 17, 2020Mr. & Mrs. Mark & Gretchen Albarian
Hermosa Beach, CA May 7, 2020Ms. Gay Hagopian
NJ, United States November 29, 2019Ms. Jeanette Derhagopian
Warminister, PA November 29, 2019{OMIT}
Boston, MA November 29, 20193 M's St. Mary Armenian Church
N. Caldwell, NJ November 15, 2019Anonymous
Boston, MA November 6, 20192019-2020 program year was both challenging and exciting. In spite of the pandemic, these 10 months were full of both in-person and online meetings. As a result, 638 individual mentoring meetings, 13 pre-mentoring, and 6 on-going mentoring trainings for the mentors took place conducted by not only Gyumri professionals, but also trainers from Yerevan, San Francisco, Columbia State University, and more. There has also been 10 mentoring group meetings, 27 career planning meetings and 11 program-wide group meetings. Moreover, the mentees had a chance to meet with 10 guest speakers from Gyumri, Yerevan, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Beirut. All the mentees of the Skill-Building Phase could finalize the career plans that will guide them throughout their high school years. This year is also highlighted by our Alumni group taking initiative and organizing a series of group meetings to discuss women who motivate them.
A special birthday wish from Maroosh: For my birthday this year, I’m asking for donations to Nor Luyce Mentoring Center in Gyumri, Armenia. I’ve chosen this NGO because it brings together everything I care deeply about: education, young women and Armenia. Funds will be used to provide staff for mentor-training, and will help establish phase 2 of the teacher-training English program at the center, designed by Eileen Adamian. Eileen is a faculty member at City College of San Francisco. During her sabbatical, she established an English language resource center at the local library in Gyumri. In her own words, “I thought about ways to create a bridge so that those resources at the library are optimally utilized, and I have concluded that there is no better place to channel that than with Nor Luyce, an impactful mentoring program for young girls in Gyumri.” She is now launching a work-study program for university students to teach at Nor Luyce. This teacher-training program will provide funded internships and classroom space to student-teachers while also providing them learning opportunities to improve their teaching methodologies with mentor teachers based in the U.S. This is a program with a lot of potential for future generations of teachers (in Armenia), for the young girls who attend Nor Luyce, and it has promising ramifications for the City of Gyumri. I hope you join me in supporting these remarkable efforts. Maroush Dekermenjian