INTERVIEW

MISSION EAST – Values in Action
Saryan 6, apt. 4
Yerevan, 375002, Armenia
Tel.:(374 10) 52.15.34, 566718
Email: missioneast@missioneast.am
Contact: Raffi Doudaklian
Web:

November 27, 2006
PRESS RELEASE

Up Close and Personal

Kim Hartzner’s Yearlong Sojourn in Armenia
Can Mean a World of Difference for Disabled Children

Sona Hamalian

Kim Hartzner’s bond with Armenia goes back to 1980,
when he first visited the country as a tourist. Little
did he know then that he would come back in the future
to lead large-scale relief efforts and unprecedented
advocacy programs to improve the lives of handicapped
children. In 1991 Kim Hartzner and his father, Rene,
founded Mission East, an international relief and
development organization, in their native Denmark.
Armenia became Mission East’s very first recipient
country, when in 1992 the organization established a
hospital here. Since then Mission East has distributed
thousands of tons of food to vulnerable communities in
Syunik and beyond. Beginning in 1998, Mission East has
focused increasingly on initiatives to help change
negative attitudes toward children with special needs,
promote better education and healthcare for such
children, and increase socio-economic opportunities
for the disabled and their families. In 1999 Kim
Hartzner was appointed Managing Director of Mission
East, called to oversee the organization’s expanding
aid operations in Armenia, Afghanistan, Bulgaria,
Nepal, Romania, Tajikistan, and elsewhere. In August
this year, Hartzner, who is a medical doctor, moved to
Armenia with his family for a year, aiming to gain a
broader insight into local issues and help optimize
the impact of Mission East programs throughout
Armenia.

1. You have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to
your organization’s objectives in Armenia by deciding
to live and work in the republic for a year. What do
you expect to achieve during this time, especially in
terms of Mission East’s recently-launched project for
disabled children?

The goal is twofold: first, I hope to form a better
understanding of the country’s root issues; and
second, I’d like to help expand awareness of these
problems on a wider, international level, including
the Armenian Diaspora. I’ve spent considerable
stretches of time in Armenia in the past, but today,
as Mission East approaches its 15th anniversary in the
republic, I think it’s critically important for me to
actually live here for a year or even longer, in order
to gain first-hand knowledge of the problems affecting
stakeholders, children in particular, throughout the
marzes, as well as to be better informed about
existing programs and the government’s response, about
specific policies and patterns of dealing with the
issues. I think first-hand knowledge of this order
will help me design more effective fundraising and
public-awareness campaigns, building on a long
tradition of assisting the Armenian people. You know,
Mission East has been in Armenia during the war and
the drought of 2000, providing emergency relief and
other aid to ease the pain of the population. I’d like
to engage the Armenian Diaspora and the broader
international community in our work. I’d like to have
donors and our Ministry from Denmark come and visit
Armenia to see what we’re doing here. And I would like
us to be available to the Armenian and international
media, to tell them how we see the situation.
Our two main programmatic areas in Armenia are health
and education. I think these are fundamental issues in
terms of helping get Armenia back on its feet. Some 50
percent of the country is underdeveloped. About 1.5
million Armenians live below the poverty line. And the
country is still gripped by an economic blockade. The
challenge of turning things around is indeed huge, and
it’ll probably take 10 to 15 years. But the situation
is far from hopeless. Armenia has many advantages,
including a well-educated population, a rich history
and an ingrained Christian tradition, as well as solid
connections worldwide.

2. The plight of disabled children in Armenia is a
complex issue that owes mainly to a lack of systemic
resources on the one hand, and negative social
attitudes toward vulnerable and marginalized children
on the other. How do you go about addressing these
core problems?

Basically, we address them through a comprehensive
approach. Take, for example, our 1998 pilot program at
the Nubarashen Orphanage. Imagine, the children did
not know their own birth dates; they didn’t know how
to tie their shoelaces; they didn’t know what money
looks like; they didn’t know how to buy a bus ticket.
They were socially handicapped. The orphanage
administration’s attitude was, `Why bother to teach
them if they’re not going to use it?’ The curriculum,
too, was a watered-down version of the mainstream
curriculum, with no real effort to foster actual
learning and understanding. So kids spent years in
first grade without being able to move on to second
grade. We began addressing the issue by first adopting
a hands-on methodology to impart practical knowledge
to the kids. We then implemented a more systemic
approach in terms of changing the very way that
children with special needs are taught. For the past
two and half years, we have worked to introduce a
novel curriculum designed specifically for such
children. At the same time, through our local partner,
the Bridge of Hope organization, we have successfully
lobbied the government to pass a law guaranteeing the
right of special-needs children to a good education.
As fundamentally, we are working to change the way
children’s mental aptitude is assessed in schools, the
way many children are automatically labeled as `unable
to learn.’ Well, there may be several reasons why a
child cannot keep pace: psychological issues,
developmental disorders, physical disorders, etc. We
need a team of psychologists, developmental
pediatricians, and even speech therapists to correctly
assess a children’s aptitude. We are now working to
introduce a thoroughly modern assessment tool to
assist children in the educational process, according
to their unique conditions. And we have worked
extensively to train teachers. All of these watersheds
now need to be applied in as many schools as possible,
step by step. As of today, there are seven schools
that have adopted our programs. We must continue to
train teachers, and also the trainers themselves.
We take a similarly comprehensive approach to the
children’s health situation, which is an enormously
complex issue. Aside from a lack of financial
resources, many medical practitioners in Armenia do
not have adequate training and generally function with
the Soviet belief that a child with a special need is
a child with a disease. Thus doctors are too quick to
give up on children with special needs. They’re not
trained to deal with conditions such as autism or
other developmental problems; they’re not equipped to
provide long-term treatment. Already there is a grave
social stigma attached to children with special needs,
with parents feeling ashamed of such children and even
going to great lengths to hide them from society.
Medical practitioners’ attitude only exasperates the
situation.
What Mission East does is to address the issue at all
the levels. For instance, we work through Dr.
Babloyan’s Arabkir Pediatric Center to train doctors
in diagnosing developmental conditions. Bear in mind
that of the 200 hours of pediatric training in
Armenia’s medical schools, only one hour is dedicated
to child development. We currently have a specialist,
trained in Switzerland, who trains doctors throughout
the marzes in identifying and diagnosing developmental
conditions. In Armavir alone, where we worked with 11
communities comprising a population of some 70,000, we
have identified 460 households that have children with
medical needs and/or needs for social assistance. This
is an alarming figure and it’s only getting worse, in
large part because parents are embarrassed of their
children and often don’t even take them to doctors,
fearing the family’s reputation will be ruined. The
problem is so widespread, so complex, that the
challenge is to address it in a truly comprehensive
manner – at the individual level on the one hand, and
the systemic level on the other.

3. Do you believe that Armenia’s ongoing bid for
democratization, coupled with the positive influence
of organizations such as Mission East, can lead to
more equitable treatment of disabled people,
particularly children, in Armenia? In other words, do
you believe it’s possible to achieve change not just
in actions, but also in an entrenched societal
mind-set?

Yes, it is possible. I think it is going to take a lot
of time, it is going to take a lot of work, effort and
energy, but I do think that people want to change. For
instance, at Yerevan State University, a facility has
just been created to assist students with
disabilities. This, I think, is a big step forward.
Another example is that of Mr. Ashot Yesayan, the
former Minister of Social Affairs (with whom Mission
East has worked since 1992), who is planning to
publish a manual for social workers. Such efforts
enjoy the support of a number of leaders, including
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and his wife, Nani. I
think it is important to persevere, and yes, I do
believe fundamental change is possible, otherwise I
wouldn’t be here.

4. You have three implementing partner organizations
in Armenia: Nairi, Bridge of Hope, and Arabkir. How do
they contribute to the realization of your projects?

Our three partners are involved in three different
stages of work. Let’s take Bridge of Hope first. Once
a minor organization, it has grown into a nationally
recognized organization as the country’s top
disability-rights advocate. Bridge of Hope has just
celebrated its 10th anniversary, and we are very proud
of them as we have played a great role in their
development during the past four years. Right now
Bridge of Hope and Mission East are conducting a huge
public-awareness campaign, with posters displayed in
metros, theatres, and all over town. We’re having
posters and other material sent to all
parliamentarians. We launched the campaign, which
included a recent press conference, with the theme
`your attitude toward me means more than my
disability,’ meaning societal attitudes have a major
and direct bearing on the lives of the disabled.

The Arabkir Pediatric Center is a highly specialized
facility with a superbly motivated, Western-trained
staff. Ara Babloyan is this big, charismatic driving
force behind the organization. Through local clinics
in the regions, Arabkir locates children with special
needs, provides critical help, including long-term
treatment, and trains medical professionals in
identifying and treating developmental conditions.
Arabkir depends on foreign assistance and help from
Mission East. Currently we are supporting them
financially to pay the salaries of their experts.

Our third implementing partner is Nairi, which is a
grassroots NGO providing direct relief, such as food,
clothing, etc., to children with special needs. We are
working with Nairi to make it capable of providing
children with medical help and education.

In addition, we are helping all three of our
implementing partners develop their organizational
capacities and become more sustainable in the long
run.

5. Beyond your implementing partners, how would you
characterize the level of support demonstrated by the
government of Armenia and other stakeholders toward
Mission East projects?

The Armenian government has always been positive
toward our work, partly because it sees us as an
organization with a long-term commitment to Armenia.
Of particular note are the Ministry of Social Affairs
and the Ministry of Education and Science. They have
supported us in designing a curriculum for
special-needs students and establishing clinics in the
Syunik region. Furthermore, they have actually bucked
the trend by taking responsibility for things. Our
work will have a much greater impact if we receive
this kind of support from other government agencies as
well.

We also have other partners, such as COAF (Children of
Armenia Fund), which is very supportive of Mission
East. This organization is currently funding the
construction of community centers and clinics.

6. For both the short and long terms, what are Mission
East’s main challenge and main asset in Armenia?

I think the main challenge is to change people’s
attitudes and ensure that reforms are actually
implemented. It is easy to draft a law, to draft a
plan, to even draft a curriculum, but it is important
to see it in practice. This is all doable.

We have an excellent staff in Armenia, an excellent
reputation with the government, and we are recognized
as a trustworthy organization. People believe in us.
They recognize us as honest, respectable, sensitive,
and thoroughly accountable and transparent as an
organization. This is probably our biggest asset.

7. Mission East considers Armenia a `pioneer’ country
in its work. Is this merely a reference to the
country’s early inclusion in Mission East programs, or
can it also point to Armenia as a model for other
transitional nations?

Both. Armenia was our first operational country. We
had Russia, Ukraine, but Armenia was our first
public-sponsored program. ‘Can it also point to
Armenia as a model for other transitional nations?’
This is a very interesting question. Inna, our program
officer, was in Georgia recently, attending a
conference, and representatives from Tajikistan came
to her and asked, `Can you please help our country in
the area of special-needs education?’ Which tells me
that what we have done in Armenia can be replicated
elsewhere.

8. Mission East’s `values in action’ comprise honesty,
integrity, compassion, valuing the individual, and
respect for all people. Based on your considerable
experience in Armenia, how would you assess its
connection to these values, at both the official and
societal levels?

I think I have said this in many other ways. Integrity
is about doing what you say you will do. Promising
something is very easy; doing it is much more
difficult. Compassion: if you do not have a heart for
the people, you cannot work here. If you’re biased, if
you are discriminating or have hang-ups about certain
sorts of people, I think you will not be able to work
here. Mission East is a Christian organization and we
see these as Christian values. In many ways these are
universal values. God is helping Armenia through
concerned people.

9. You were determined to learn to speak Armenian by
the end of this year. Will Kim Hartzner give a press
conference in Armenian anytime soon?

I hope so. Armenian is a far more complex language
than I first thought, but I will definitely learn it.
I’ll get there within a few months.

—
Sona Hamalian is a philanthropic consultant based in
Yerevan. She also heads Creative Networks, an
international public-relations firm promoting
nonprofit organizations, cultural and educational
institutions, and artists.