Yeghvard is a small border village in Armenia’s Syunik Region. It has a population of just under 300 people. Despite its population and border village status, Yeghvard has a vibrant kindergarten with almost a dozen children attending. The kindergarten does not have a gas connection for its heating needs, and old wooden windows make the space difficult to heat and operate in the winter months, thus leaving the children unable to attend.

Nor Luyce works with young girls, ages 14-17, from two local orphanages and/or from poverty stricken families from Gyumri, Armenia. Under the direction of their Executive Director, Shoghik Mikayelyan, the program provides their mentees with positive roles models and emotional support. The reduction of isolation is provided by mentors and by field trips, which expose the children to various work and educational settings. In addition, Nor Luyce’s program emphasizes the development of educational and career plans. They are now at the stage of either beginning or continuing to help implement each older child’s plan for higher education. Each child has also either completed or is in the process of completing a career plan, which includes the most appropriate type and place of higher education.

Nor Luyce is trying to provide the following young girls from Gyumri, with a scholarship that would reduce their out of pocket costs towards their education:

The Armenia Support Fund (ASF) was established in early 2020 to take on strategic initiatives impacting Armenians in both Armenia and around the globe. In response to COVID-19, ASF partnered with The Paros Foundation to launch the “Armenia COVID-19 Small Business Support Initiative,” which aimed to raise funds to support the business-related needs of family-owned businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19 in Armenia. This project raised $50,000 and provided small business grants to over 40 struggling businesses in Armenia. As part of ASF’s efforts to help rebuild Armenia after the devastation caused by the Azeri conflict, ASF has once again partnered with Paros to build the first ever exclusively Armenian online marketplace platform. This e-commerce website will be called, Shop Shouga (Armenian for marketplace) and will help businesses in Armenia sell overseas to diaspora communities and non-Armenians. We have handpicked and curated the collection to ensure the quality and value of the products. Our team will help purchase the products that ASF has sourced from Armenia as well as ship them to Los Angeles where they will be placed in a fulfillment center for delivery.

On the morning of September 27th, Azerbaijan, with a population of 9 million people launched an attack on the small Christian Armenian civilian population of only 150,000 people who have lived in territory of Artsakh for thousands of years. More than 800 Armenians have been killed and more than 110,000 civilians have been displaced. Internationally banned cluster-bombs are being used against the civilian population in Artsakh. Schools, churches, hospitals and more than 2700 residential structures have been damaged and destroyed by continuing shelling of these civilian targets. Azerbaijan’s oil-rich corrupt dictator, Ilham Aliyev, has said he will not stop the attack until there are no Armenians left in Artsakh.

Funds raised through this project will be allocated 100% to assist with the massive immediate humanitarian needs of people from Artsakh who have left and taken shelter in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia.

On the 27 September, the worst fighting in decades erupted over Nagorno Karabakh. The recent fighting began as helicopter, drone and tank clashes on the line of contact and has escalated with rocket and artillery attacks.

Families have been forced to abandon their homes and flee to bomb shelters.

Since 2001, HALO has been the only international organization working to protect the people of  Artsakh from explosives. They are currently on the ground, providing families that have been forced to flee to shelters with aid and supplies.

Their teams have also taken to the streets to mark and isolate cluster bombs and other explosives so they can be cleared. And as families remain threatened by scattered unexploded items, they are going to shelters and homes, alerting people with how to avoid these hazards.

The threat posed to civilians remains dire and HALO needs support now more than ever. Every donation towards the program in Artsakh will be matched by an anonymous donor.

We are back-to-school and Girls of Armenia Leadership Soccer (GOALS) is getting ready to relaunch its girls soccer leagues. Because of the recent pandemic children have been mostly isolated at home and most after-school activities had been either canceled or moved online. Children have been isolated from each other and haven’t been able to partake in physical activities. We are very eager to bring sports back to regional Armenia and give the opportunity to our girls to get back on the field. As you know health and hygiene education are more relevant than ever. GOALS has developed a new curriculum to ensure that our 80 teams across 8 regions of Armenia are practicing not only a healthy physical lifestyle, and keeping to hygiene norms, but also have a safe space to work on mental health. The topic of health and hygiene is underrated in Armenia, especially among rural communities. We know that by incorporating learning about health and hygiene into our sports activities we will be able to fundamentally improve the lives of over 1000 girls. Our anticipated indirect impact is estimated at over 5000 community members across Armenia. This is your chance to contribute to the overall wellbeing of our girls and Armenia. Your contributions will go towards ensuring our communities have the tools necessary to organize safe and healthy sports activities, this includes, uniforms, sports equipment, medical kits, masks, thermometers, etc. Every dollar you contribute to this project will be matched by our amazing partner. Subject to its rules, funding raised through this campaign will be matched by the EBRD Community Initiative to a maximum of EUR 50,000. The EBRD Community Initiative is a program dedicated to support staff who are engaged with local organizations helping communities in the EBRD countries of operations.

The Paros Foundation opened the Debi Arach Children’s Center in April of 2015. Since then, it has grown to serving more than 200 children and young people on a weekly basis. It’s holistic approach to working intensively with children has positively altered the lives of these children. Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, a number of new safety measures and precautions must be implemented to ensure the safety of the children. These include provide all students and staff with disposable masks, changing the manner in which meals are served to utilizing disposable lunch boxes and cups, creating outdoor classrooms, implementing systematic temperature checks and creating hand sanitizing stations in each classroom. These unexpected expenses were not budgeted into the center’s annual budget, but are essential to keep the children and staff safe.

1. Masks. The center needs approximately 9,000 masks to last through the end of the year. This takes into account half the number of kids until school starts and full occupancy from the start of school until the end of the year. The mask cost for this period will be 9,000 x $.26 or total of $2,340. The center has already purchased 5,000 masks, and needs an additional 4,000 which will cost $1,040. (Total cost $1,040)

2. Food containers. Food for the children will now be served individually rather than family style. This will enable the children to take their meal and go sit someplace socially distanced. We will have space both inside and out for the children to eat. It is worth noting that many of the children really do count on this meal as their primary meal of the day. The need is for 9,000 to go containers. The cost is about 10 cents each so the quantity we need to cover meals through the end of the year is $900.

3. Hand washing. Disposable paper towels will be utilized throughout the center, and the center is also are required to install hand sanitizer stations outside of each classroom. These additions will cost $500 from August to the end of the year.

4. Temperature checks. Two infrared thermometers for temperature checks will be purchased and utilized. They cost about just under $50 each. Total cost is $100.

5. Four pop up tents will enable the center to conduct classes outside until the weather becomes too cold. The cost is $75 each. Total cost is $300.

Total cost for these unexpected items is $2,840.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, schools around the world have been closing and classes have been moving online. For Varanda, a small Armenian village in the Republic of Artsakh on the Azeri border, this is not an option. The village has limited internet access and lacks the appropriate technology to enable online learning. The village school has resorted to holding classes outside, exposed to the elements, to try to reduce the spread of coronavirus. Varanda School has only two dozen students. Its small size has made instructional modernization challenging. Providing schools like these with the proper technology will not only significantly lower the risk of the virus spreading today, but also connect them to the online learning infrastructure for the future.

Support of this project will help obtain 33 tablets for the Varanda School, enough for 20 students, 9 teachers and four extra, should any break. Training on how to properly use the tablets will be provided by the Ohanyan School in Yerevan, Armenia free of charge. The students and their teachers then will be able to connect with online classes at Ohanyan School and an expanding network of other schools, which will be conducting online classes this coming Fall.

Once enough funding is raised to equip the Varanda School with their tablets, this project will expand to include aid to five more projected border villages, which also lack the needed technology to support online learning. All six schools will eventually join remote classes courtesy of the Ohanyan School in Yerevan.

Health care for residents living in Armenia’s remote and/or poverty stricken areas is very hard to find and difficult to afford. Residents in these communities have a high rate of health issues that could otherwise be prevented or cured if they had access to simple medical care. In order to help remedy this unfortunate situation, The Paros Foundation has launched Med-Aid ARMENIA.

Sponsorship of this project will help raise the necessary funds needed to obtain basic medical equipment, supplies and medicine. In-kind donations of any of these items are also welcomed. Furthermore, we specifically need physicians, nurses, pharmacists and more to help our volunteers conduct physical exams and provide basic medical care.

Nor Geghi is a village in the Kotayk Province of Armenia, located around 22 km north of the capital Yerevan, near the town of Nor Hachen. The village has a population of about 5,000 residents.

Beginning in 2015, several portions of the Nor Geghi kindergarten has been renovated including two restrooms, a large multipurpose room and an additional classroom and sleeping space for a second group of children.  Much of this work was completed through the efforts of The Paros Foundation with the support of the Nor Keghi Association of Detroit, MI and those families who descended from the historic village of Keghi.

The village once again has a need to expand the kindergarten’s capacity by adding an addition 30 children.  A large space on the second floor has been identified that will accommodate this new group of children. The scope of work will include the proper configuring of the space to accommodate a new classroom, playroom, kitchenette and bathroom.  In addition, the kindergarten needs to have its kitchen renovated and its entrance reconfigured.  This will work include the installation of new flooring, new electrical, new plumbing and the completion of the heating system.  The village administration is ready to assist with labor, furniture and other resources to help realize this important project.