The Women for Development NGO (WFD NGO) was founded in Gyumri in 1997. Since its establishment the organization has been implementing educational, health care and community development projects in the villages of the Shirak region. Their mission has been to mobilize these communities through increasing community involvement and education.

One of the villages that the WFD NGO is involved with is Tsoghamarg Village located in the Shirak Region of Armenia, 20km from Gyumri. There are 558 residents in the community. Working alongside WFD, village residents came together and built an events hall. Meetings, workshops and events are organized and held in this space. This hall was built to support the community, provide a space to help residents raise and solve existing problems, and to promote the community members’ participation and mobilization. Next to the hall, 110 children from the village play on their new playground set installed with the help of our SERVICE Armenia 2017 group and with support from WFD NGO and Paros donors. In addition, a community library and a ”Tsoghamarg Youth Centre” will also be established in the building.

However, absence of a public restroom is a problem for proper functioning of the events hall and playground. While organizing different events the population faces a problem of discomfort, which in its turn brings about sanitary-hygienic and ecological problems. Next to the events hall there is space where a small Western style restroom can be built. Organizers of events, as well as village residents working in the building and playground will take full responsibility for the use and upkeep of the restrooms. The goal of this project is to provide basic sanitary-hygienic conditions for people during events, as well as people either working or visiting the Tsoghamarg Events Hall. Sponsorship of this project will help construct two Western style restrooms at the Tsoghamarg Events Hall; one for women and one for men.

Dogs of Gyumri (D.O.G.) is Gyumri’s first Animal Welfare and Adoption Center. D.O.G. was started in October 2017 by Sarah Derderian, a Repat who moved to Gyumri two years ago from the United States (US), to take on a position as Assistant Director at the Debi Arach Children’s Center. While filling food terminals for stray dogs around her house, she witnessed a public school security guard kicking and beating a two month old puppy. In an attempt to stop them, she yelled at the guard and took the puppy home. The puppy was later named Luna and adopted by a family from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania through her diligent advocacy on social media. Sarah has since established a humanitarian model through which she and her team rescue stray puppies, have them examined by veterinarians, and find loving homes for them both in Armenia and abroad. Since the inception if D.O.G., they have successfully had 20 adoptions in Armenia, US and Canada! The D.O.G. team’s mission is to decrease the population of stray dogs in Gyumri, as well as advocate for the rights of our four-legged friends. In a city that still has a government funded animal kill order, this type of organization is pertinent to saving stray dogs and working towards creating a more humane process by which to deal with this growing issue. In order to help care for the puppies as they wait to be adopted, D.O.G. is launching the Lend a Paw program. For $200 you can sponsor a newly rescued puppy for two months. During these two months the puppies will be placed in a comfortable foster home to temporarily stay at while they wait for their forever home. In addition, their basic needs such as food, treats, and toys will also be provided through the funding. If the puppy you are sponsoring gets adopted the remaining funds will immediately be transferred to the next puppy in need. In the future, the D.O.G. team plans to present a thorough proposal to the Armenian government to put a trap, neuter, vaccinate, and release plan in place, but until then puppy adoptions are a small way that we can make an impact on this huge issue.

The Armenian Dental Society of California and The Paros Foundation have successfully partnered in order to help the mobile dental clinic bring dental care to poverty stricken communities throughout Armenia.

Dr. Viken Garabedian who has worked closely with Drs. Gary Kevorkian and Jack Bayramyan  and the ADSC mobile clinic, is ready to tackle the challenge of bringing expanded dental health to the communities in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor region by adding a second mobile dental clinic.  In partnership with ADSC, the Syunik Development NGO and The Paros Foundation, a second bus will be converted into a mobile dental clinic and serve the isolated and poverty stricken communities in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor region.

Many of the villagers in Vayots Dzor live only a few hundred meters from the Azeri Border.  Many of the men in these villages serve in the army, protecting Armenia’s border.  The harsh and isolated conditions in these areas has forced many of the residents to flee their homes and resettle in the larger neighboring cities.

$30,000 is needed to retrofit the bus with two dental chairs and the proper equipment.  The monthly operating budget for the mobile clinic once it has been put into operation is $3,000 per month.

Border villages in Armenia, such as those in the Tavush region, are plagued with economic hardships and unemployment. These villages have very few options for employment (agriculture, teaching and few municipal positions) and do not have the means to seek training for new professions. For this reason, many of the residents (mainly men) flee to Russia to find employment and stable income. This leaves many women alone in their communities, without a profession and dependent on their husbands/fathers/brothers to send them money from abroad.

With support from The Paros Foundation, two professional training programs in the hairdressing services, manicure tech, makeup and cosmetology have already been successfully implemented. In order to expand the range of opporunities and offer additional viable employment solutions for these women new training courses will be offered in Catering & Food Design and Balloon Decoration. Both of these skills are in high demand since there are limited services for wedding celebrations, anniversaries, high school graduation parties, kindergarten and other events held in several border villages. Currently, village residents turn to businesses in nearby cities for these needs which can be expensive or simply unaffordable for rural community residents.

A benefit of this project is to ensure the villagers can benefit from the services offered to them locally and at an affordable price. Sponsorship is needed in order to fund classes for women from 10 border villages including: Barekamavan, Koti, Voskevan, Voskepar, Baghanis, Djuyevan, Dovegh, Koghb, Berdavan and Zorakan. 18 women will have the opportunity to participate in one of the two classes for the duration of two months, twice a week for tw0-hour class periods.

10 women will be enrolled in the Catering & Food Design classes. In addition to designing students will be taught how to make salads and hors d’oeuvres. The food will be made with fruits, vegetables, sausages, cheese, pastry, sweets, bread, etc. The fresh meals prepared during classes and special table setting and decoration days will be distributed to the local, non-governmental and childcare organizations for free. This will help avoid wasting the food and promoting their services.

Additionally, eight women will be enrolled in the balloon decoration classes. Participants in this course will likely be chosen border village kindergarten staff. It is often necessary to decorate the kindergarten halls, courtyard or rooms during celebrations. In such cases the parents usually raise a certain amount of money to sponsor the work of designers or decorators. The goal of this program is to teach the kindergarten personnel how to decorate for those special events, so that the decorating could be performed by a local expert.

Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is a village with approximately 1,100 residents in the Bert area of Armenia’s Tavush Region. This community lives on the border with Azerbaijan under the risk of sniper fire and renewed armed conflict.  110 households in Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur, an estimated 500 people, only get water to their homes for 20 minutes every three days. This is because the supply of water to the water pipeline distribution network is not sufficient. To remedy this difficult situation for these families, a lower reservoir will be repaired and filled from an artisan well and pumped to the water distribution network.

Girls of Armenia Leadership Soccer (GOALS) is the only NGO working in several regions of Armenia to use sports for education outside the classroom. Girls who play sports exhibit higher confidence levels, better mental health, improved teamwork and communication skills, increased graduation rates, and leadership skills. GOALS directly impacts more than 2,300 girls and boys in 65 communities.

● Girls Soccer is taking off in Armenia!

● GOALS is growing by 50% annually with over 400 girls now in our leagues

● Everyday more girls ask us to play…WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

Help us continue reaching and empowering more girls in Armenia to move the country forward. Our youth are our future!

Representatives of The Paros Foundation have visited more than 100 schools throughout Armenia. While some schools have either been renovated thanks to the Armenian government or as a result of the generosity of international donors, many remain in deplorable conditions and have little hope of being renovated in the near future. These conditions affect both the ability for students to learn, as well as the health of students and teachers. How is a student supposed to learn if there are not proper desks, chairs or windows in the classroom? One of the schools recently identified in need of a complete renovation is located in the large village of Ljashen in the Gegharkunik region at Lake Sevan. Ljashen Village has a population of 5,000 and one local school. About 300 students attend this run down school. In addition to several classrooms, the Paros Foundation will directly oversee the renovation of the hallways, two staircases, and restrooms at this school including doors, flooring, lighting, paint, and electrical, as needed. The heating system was replaced 10 years ago by Developmental Services for Armenia, a California based humanitarian organization, and is still fully functioning. Whenever possible, the school, students and their parents will be incorporated into the classroom remodel project to help build a sense of community and personal investment.

Border villages in Armenia, such as those in the Tavush region, are plagued with economic hardships and unemployment. These villages have very few options for employment (agriculture, teaching and few municipal positions) and do not have the means to seek training for new professions. For this reason, many of the residents (mainly men) flee to Russia to find employment and stable income. This leaves many women alone in their communities, without a profession and dependent on their husbands/fathers/brothers to send them money from abroad. This project aims to provide a viable employment solution to women from nine border villages in the Tavush region. Women from the villages of Berdavan, Koghb, Dovegh, Djudjevan, Barekamavan, Koti, Voskevan, Zorakan, Voskepar and Baghanis will have the opportunity to participate in an intensive three month training in the areas of hair-dressing, cosmetology, manicure technician and makeup artist. Sponsorship of this project will allow 20 women total (at least one from each village) to participate in the three-month training program. Trainings will be held three times a week for 2.5 hours a day. Students will be trained at a local salon that is approximately equal distance from all of the villages. Tools and supplies will be provided along with some basic business management and marketing classes, and transportations stipends. After completion of the training, participants will receive the necessary equipment they need to work from their home or a salon. They will be encouraged to work in their village and provide services that many villagers may go elsewhere for. These women will greatly benefit from the opportunity to participate in these occupational training courses, which would result in jobs, financial stability for their families and better the economy of their communities. In addition, their success will help empower them through a new sense of independence. This project is modeled after the successes of a pilot project carried out in the village of Koghb. 10 students from 8 border villages took training courses in cosmotolgy and hair-dressing. The project was a great success. The aim of the project was to prepare professionals who would be able to start working and earning their daily living. Upon completion of this program, participants were able to return to their respective villages and have been utilizing their new skills for income.

Paravakar is a border village in Armenia’s Tavush Province. About 1,300 people call Paravakar their home. Because of the threat of Azeri sniper fire, a bridge leading to the city of Berd is uncrossable. Villagers are forced to wind through the Shamshadin mountains to reach Berd, which almost triples their journey. Almost 230 students attend the village’s primary school.  The school was renovated by the Armenian government about ten years ago, however serious leaks in the roof has created a situation whereby the gym is dangerous to enter.

More than 1,200 children live in Armenia’s 15 orphanages. These facilities provide for the children’s basic needs, but their limited budgets do not allow these children to participate in visits to popular historical sites, an amusement park or concert, or attend a cultural event.

Armenia’s orphan children should have the opportunity to experience popular cultural events, exhibits, and excursions in Armenia, or simply have a fun afternoon or activity that they normally would not be able to experience. Many different activities and excursions can be organized for these children. The extent of the activity or trip is directly related to the sponsorship amount. For sponsorships amounts between $250 -$750 approximately 20 children and an appropriate number of chaperons will be able participate in a memorable activity. Please consider supporting multiple excursions for these children.

The Paros Foundation staff and volunteers will organize and oversee the excursion/activity. Opportunities to sponsor excursions for orphanages serving both disabled and non-disabled children exist. Whenever possible, our staff will work with the destination for the excursion to secure group pricing and/or discounts.