PRESS RELEASE
The Armenia Fund
Governmental Buiding 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel: +(3741) 56 01 06 ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
07 February, 2008
Three Initiatives of the Armenia Fund in Nagorno Karabakh
Yerevan, February 7, 2008 – The Armenia Fund’s infrastructure initiatives in
Nagorno Karabakh for the last month include three projects – renovation of
the secondary school in Togh village, construction of a school extension to
the school in Aknakhbiur village and a kindergarten in Mataghis village.
Renovation of the Togh School in Hadrut region is extremely important fro
the whole area. During the 1988-1990 Karabakh conflict the school and
facilities suffered greatly and the building fell into disrepair: the roof
is leaking and no longer safe, with no running water, there is no proper
sanitation. Cold winter days added to hardships and discomfort. With the
village water pipes frozen due to unprecedented low temperature, for more
than a month now the villagers depend on the water carried from nearby
springs. Residents say that it will be another month before the running
water be restored and life is back to normal in the community. Today,
some 100 students attend the school. They have their classes on the ground
floor of the old school building, as well as are hosted by the nearby music
school. Although rooms are heated by wood stoves, and are warm enough to sit
in, students look forward to the completion of the renovation, when they
will be able to have classes in well-lit, clean and heated classrooms. The
Togh School was built in 1979. The left-side block of the building is being
renovated within the Artsakh Rebirth Project (project cost AMD 139 million,
around US$ 462.5 thousand). Currently, landscaping of the building and
reinforcement of its foundations are being carried out. Within the coming
months, internal water network and heating system will be built,
refurbishment will be implemented. School surroundings will be improved too,
to provide a welcoming environment for the students to be in. "I will
finish school this year and, unfortunately, will not have a chance to enjoy
the new school conditions, but the junior class students are absolutely
delighted at the prospect of clean and beautiful classrooms," says Galina
Avetissyan, an 11th grade student. Galina’s favorite subjects at school are
biology and chemistry, and she is quite certain about her plans for the
future. She will enter the medical university, qualify for a surgeon, and
then go back to her home village in the hope that it will then have a
hospital, and she will be able to help the villagers, make their lives less
tough. The only health facility in the community of over 700 is a small
healthcare point. All those in need of professional medical assistance are
rushed to Stepanakert hospital. "We thank the Armenia Fund for its
invaluable support to us. For years we have been trying really hard to teach
and educate our children as best as we could, but provision of adequate
education under these circumstances is not very realistic. It feels great to
know that in a few months we will have a modern school with enough space and
facilities to also accommodate children from the neighboring communities of
Jrakuiz, Mariamadzor, Taghut, Tsakuri Hakaku, Mokhrenes, Tumi," Vladik
Ghahryan, director of the school said. Students also carry on with classes
of piano, pipe, painting and chess. "Not for a single day we disrupted
classes, not even during those harsh months of wartime with private homes
sheltering us," the director added proudly. The new extension to the
Aknaghbiur School with the community of over 330 aims at increasing the
school capacity. The two-story building has 8 classrooms which is not enough
to properly accommodate the 88 students attending the school. With extension
in place the school will have 4 more classrooms. The school management
expects to have the number of students rise to 120 in a few years. The
project (cost AMD 24 million, around US$77.5 thousand) is being implemented
through the sponsorship of The Armenia Fund French local committee.
Currently the former school of the Mataghis village in Martakert region is
being rebuilt into a kindergarten. The project (cost AMD 15 million, around
US$ 66.5 thousand) is sponsored by the Armenia Fund Lebanese local
committee. Donors have also taken care of the furniture for the place, so a
nice surprise awaits youngsters of the village and their parents in a few
months. It is noteworthy, that in 2007 The Armenia Fund completed
construction of the new school in Mataghis. The deputy director of the
school Nelli Gasparyan thanked the Armenia Fund working group for the
support the Fund had given and said they were very pleased that more young
people choose to stay in the village thanks to the new modern school – a
welcome place for school children to study and young teachers to teach in.
<During years, the Armenia Fund has given much attention to young people and
their education by addressing their needs and interests. Along with the
implementation of the Artsakh Rebirth Project, the Fund adopted and launched
the Rural Development Program in Armenia and Karabakh which will provide a
comprehensive solution to the problems of rural areas where there is a
growing concern with the quality of life." said Vahe Aghabegians, the
executive director of the Armenia Fund. ###
The Armenia Fund