Matching Challenge for Getahovit School

Getahovit is a village just outside of Ijevan in Armenia’s Tavush Region. This community is home to more than 2,000 residents. Getahovit’s school is in terrible condition and needs a complete renovation. The school was built in 1971 and serves 250 children in the first to twelfth grades. The community of Getahovit and the school’s leadership has tried to maintain the school the best they can given their extremely limited resources. However, crumbling plaster, lack of heating and non-functioning bathrooms make for a terrible environment for these children to learn. To properly renovate the school, this large project will be addressed in phases. Firstly, the school needs to have a functioning heating system prior to the start of winter. This effort, combined with the repair of the school’s roof, changing of the balance of old windows and the start of renovations one of the school’s wings including classrooms and bathrooms will serve as a huge source of inspiration for this community. To kick off this important project, Hovhannes Mardirossian and his wife Anahit, whose mother taught at the school for 45 years, have announced a matching challenge grant for phase one renovations. For every dollar raised towards this effort, they will contribute a matching amount up to $25,000 for a total of $50,000 for phase one!