Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is an important border village with a population of more than 1,100 residents in the Berd area of Armenia’s Tavush Region. This community remains under constant risk of sniper fire and renewed armed conflict. NKA was the single most damaged Armenian village during the Azeri conflict in the 1990’s. The economy of the village and the livelihood of many of its residents have suffered due to these difficult and dangerous conditions. In particular, 70% of their fertile land is unusable because of frequent sniper attacks. Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is a beneficiary village of the Paros Foundation’s Prosperity on the Border Initiative. With major financial support of Jean-Marie Atamian and his family over the last ten years, much of the village’s infrastructure has been completely rebuilt and improved including, but not limited to, its large secondary school, expanded kindergarten, medical center, emergency services building and water distribution system. In addition, several families have benefited from agribusiness and animal husbandry projects. Having funded the rebuilding of NKA’s infrastructure, the Atamian family is now focusing its attention on the reconstruction of severely damaged houses to provide decent and safe homes for deserving families in the village. Since 2012, a variety of work (ranging from $2,500 to $30,000) has taken place on more than 20 homes in the village.  

Ashot A. lives with his wife, his two sons and one of his son’s families.   A total of eight people live together.

Prior to the birth of the newest grandchild, Ashot had begun to do some work on their home including making roof repairs and had hopes of building the family a bathroom and new kitchen.  However, the baby’s medical problems have consumed any available funds for hospital bills. The work will include a new roof, windows, kitchen, bathroom, heating system and a complete interior remodel. This will allow the family to leave in clean, sanitary and comfortable conditions.  

Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is an important border village with a population of more than 1,100 residents in the Berd area of Armenia’s Tavush Region. This community remains under constant risk of sniper fire and renewed armed conflict. NKA was the single most damaged Armenian village during the Azeri conflict in the 1990’s. The economy of the village and the livelihood of many of its residents have suffered due to these difficult and dangerous conditions. In particular, 70% of their fertile land is unusable because of frequent sniper attacks. Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is a beneficiary village of the Paros Foundation’s Prosperity on the Border Initiative. With major financial support of Jean-Marie Atamian and his family over the last ten years, much of the village’s infrastructure has been completely rebuilt and improved including, but not limited to, its large secondary school, expanded kindergarten, medical center, emergency services building and water distribution system. In addition, several families have benefited from agribusiness and animal husbandry projects. Having funded the rebuilding of NKA’s infrastructure, the Atamian family is now focusing its attention on the reconstruction of severely damaged houses to provide decent and safe homes for deserving families in the village. Since 2012, a variety of work (ranging from $2,500 to $30,000) has taken place on more than 20 homes in the village.  

Rafik P.  is 44 and his wife is 32.  They have two sons.  Roman and Mark, 8 and 5 years old.  Rafik works occasionally at a store doing basic labor on an occasional basis when they need him.   Anna studied management but does not because she is caring for her children.  The family lives on Rafik’s income plus, they have one cow, one calf and  some chickens.  They also care for Anna’s father’s beehives and they split the honey with him.  Rafik’s home is in very poor condition and needs to be completely renovated.  The family is trying their best to make ends meet but their house is in very poor condition and they have little hope of being able to renovate it themselves.  The work will include a new roof, windows, kitchen, bathroom, heating system and a complete interior remodel. This will allow the family to leave in clean, sanitary and comfortable conditions.  

Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is an important border village with a population of more than 1,100 residents in the Berd area of Armenia’s Tavush Region. This community remains under constant risk of sniper fire and renewed armed conflict. NKA was the single most damaged Armenian village during the Azeri conflict in the 1990’s. The economy of the village and the livelihood of many of its residents have suffered due to these difficult and dangerous conditions. In particular, 70% of their fertile land is unusable because of frequent sniper attacks. Nerkin Karmir Aghbyur is a beneficiary village of the Paros Foundation’s Prosperity on the Border Initiative. With major financial support of Jean-Marie Atamian and his family over the last ten years, much of the village’s infrastructure has been completely rebuilt and improved including, but not limited to, its large secondary school, expanded kindergarten, medical center, emergency services building and water distribution system. In addition, several families have benefited from agribusiness and animal husbandry projects. Having funded the rebuilding of NKA’s infrastructure, the Atamian family is now focusing its attention on the reconstruction of severely damaged houses to provide decent and safe homes for deserving families in the village. Since 2012, a variety of work (ranging from $2,500 to $30,000) has taken place on more than 20 homes in the village.  

Varsik Vardanian lives with her son, daughter-in-law and four young grand-children. 

The village of Verishen is located in Armenia’s Syunik Region and is part of the Goris administrative district.  The village is home to more than 2,200 residents.  The community has a large kindergarten that operates three groups with almost 90 children.  There are more than 40 additional children waiting to attend the kindergarten, however space limitations prevent them for opening two additional groups and accepting these children into the kindergarten.  In addition, the existing building is in overall poor condition and needs a complete cosmetic remodel including a new kitchen and new bathrooms throughout to improve the sanitary conditions of the facility. 

The Kharpert Home for Special Children is an orphanage located in the village of Nor Kharpert serving more than 250 children with varying degrees of developmental disabilities. The orphanage is a state run facility that receives governmental support to provide these vulnerable children with basic care and education.

Excursions to amusement parks and/or other appropriate venues provide these children with both valuable community experience and needed recreation. Children with disabilities in Armenia are generally kept sheltered from society. These children do not attend school, but rather attend classes at the orphanage. It is important for both these children and society that they experience community life.

For each donation of $250, approximately 20 children and an appropriate number of care provides will be able to go on an excursion to Yerevan at Victory Park, or another appropriate venue for a morning or afternoon of activities including transportation, admission and snacks. Please consider supporting multiple excursions for these children.

The village of Khndzoresk is located in Armenia’s Syunik Region, south of Goris near Artsakh.  More than 2,000 people live in Khndzoresk.  The school is home to more than 300 children.  Several years ago, The Paros Foundation worked at this school to renovate seven restrooms for use by the students and staff.

The school’s auditorium is in very poor condition.   Old and broken windows and insufficient heating make this space unusable in the cold winter months.  Students from nearby villages also come to Khndzoresk to take their college entrance exams because other schools in the area do not have a large space like this at the school’s disposal.  

Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, who’s grandfather was from this village, has taken a special interest in the school.  She, along with her supporters, wish to renovate this space into a fully functioning multipurpose room that students can use year-round.

Work to the auditorium will include new and reconfigured windows, heating, flooring, ceiling and new electrical.  New auditorium  seating, artwork and audio visual technology will complete this space.  

The Paros Foundation established the Debi Arach Children’s Center in Gyumri, Armenia on April 15, 2015. The center, which provides over 180 children each week the necessary academic, psychological, social and humanitarian support, has since been a source of positivity in this city. The residents of Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city have endured very devastating realities since the tragic 1988 Spitak Earthquake. More than 100,000 residents were left homeless, and plagued with unemployment and rampant poverty for years to come. In turn, the fate of children in Gyumri has also been affected. Dealing with the difficulty of finding means to feed and care for their families, many parents are unable to provide their children with the proper guidance, supervision, educational aid and the financial resources for them to excel in school and have successful futures. The Debi Arach Children’s Center, which in Armenian means “moving forward,” helps these socially vulnerable children through a holistic approach providing them with both humanitarian and educational support. The center provides counseling and group therapy with a psychologist on staff, homework help and tutoring for almost every subject the children learn in school including English, Math, Art/Design, and Computer classes.

In 2016, Debi Arach launched their vocational training program at the center in order to provide young adults with a set of skills and tools they will need to secure gainful employment and help break their family’s cycle of poverty. Students participate in their choice of several programs including computer programing classes using a curriculum developed by the Union of Information Technology Enterprises, 3D printing and related software and programming, and computer repairs – both hardware and software. In 2019, additional vocational options was added to the program including instruction for cosmetologists, hair stylists, make up artists and manicurists and the eventual launch of the Hianali Beauty Center. The salon is run as a social enterprise open to the public for services as well as training classes for students. Furthermore, vocational courses are also offered at Digital Pomegranate and the Lentex Textile Factory, both located in Gyumri.  

In 2019, the vocational training program was renamed  Assarian Vocational Training Program in honor of the Dr. Gary and Linda Assarian Family Foundation, whose generous donations underwrite the vocational training programs. 

Sponsorship towards this project will help run the vocational programs in Gyumri, including staff wages and supplies. The goal is to help hundreds of people develop a vision for a successful future, and to give them the skills they need to reach these goals.

Following the 1988 Spitak Earthquake, tens of thousands of people were left homeless in the City of Gyumri. Many of these families took refuge in the overseas shipping containers (domiks) that were shipped into Armenia loaded with humanitarian relief supplies, or in condemned buildings. An entire generation of children has grown up in deplorable conditions, often times with no running water and little or no heat. The Armenian government has provided most of the families that lost their homes in the Earthquake with new housing units.

As people moved out of those makeshift housing units, others moved in. The 2,500 or so families that remain are Gyumri’s desolate families, who are not in line to receive a government provided apartment. Many of these families are comprised of single mothers, multiple children and/or the disabled.

This project will identify suitable needy families who can be moved into a new apartment and can demonstrate that they can afford their monthly utilities, etc. This is a sustainable model in that families that have been moved into permanent housing in the past have had a high degree of success maintaining their families and their new homes.

Once the move is complete, the make shift housing unit will be destroyed to prevent its future occupancy.

Verin Tsakhavan is a village in Berd area of Armenia’s Tavush Region. It is home to more than 900 residents. To help provide drinking water to the village, their main water supply was augmented with an additional supply via pump.  This has caused increased pressure in the main distribution pipe to the village and is causing the existing pipe to continuously burst in several places.  The pipe needs to be replaced along a 200 meter section to fix this situation and provide water to the community.  

The Bosnoyan Family has generously decided to give back to Armenia while memorializing their beloved husband, father, brother and uncle, Levon Bosnoyan. In lieu of flowers, they have decided to adopt a very special classroom in Vanadzor (Kirovakan), Levon’s birthplace. One of Levon’s favorite pastimes was playing chess. It is the family’s hope that by renovating a chess classroom in Levon’s name, they will help give children the opportunity to appreciate the game, just as he did. 

Sponsorship of this project will help raise the funding needed to renovate a chess classroom in a school in Vanadzor.