Armenia Fund, Inc.
111 North Jackson St. Ste. 205
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PRESS RELEASE
Contact ~ Sarkis Kotanjian
[email protected]
Reconstruction of Togh Village School Completed
Project Funded by AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School Students
Los Angeles, CA – Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region is pleased to
announce the completion of the Togh Village Secondary School’s thorough
reconstruction. The school is located in the Hadrut Region of Nagorno
Karabakh. Over $115,000 of the total $465,000 needed for the
reconstruction was donated by the students, parents and faculty of AGBU
Manoogian Demirdjian School in Los Angeles, California.
Togh is a historically Armenian village situated in the picturesque
Hadrut mountains. However during the Soviet Azeri rule it had become a
`mixed’ village due to the forced influx of Azeri families. Armenians
were segregated and Armenian children had to enter the school from a
separate entrance. During the Artsakh Liberation War, this village
witnessed fierce military action and sustained serious damage. Today,
the population of the village is growing and has reached 730 residents,
exceeding the pre-war numbers. Several families have relocated to Togh
from Armenia and Russia.
`The school was built in 1978 and has not been renovated for the last 30
years’, said Sarkis Kotanjian, Executive Director of Armenia Fund U.S.
Western Region. `I remember visiting the school in 2006 before Armenia
Fund found a sponsor for the school. I was shocked to see the
conditions. But what touched me the most was that despite those horrible
conditions, children were neatly dressed, studying hard and getting good
grades. It was like they didn’t notice that the windows were broken,
bathrooms didn’t work and the classrooms were heated with an ancient
wood stove. As I spoke to the children, they were full of optimism. They
told me: `Don’t worry – things will get better…’, with a big smile on
their faces. As I came back to Los Angeles, I visited the AGBU Manoogian
Demirdjian School for a meeting with students and faculty discussing the
2006 Telethon. As I was speaking with the AGBU MDS class of 2006
students, Azatui Karaoglanyan, Aline Mnayan and Anna Vardanyan told me
with the same big smile: `Don’t worry, we’ll raise the funds, we’ll
build the Togh school!’, added Kotanjian.
A year later, Armenia Fund was demolishing everything in the school
leaving only bearing walls, floors, and ceilings. Everything was
stripped to bear concrete. The school underwent thorough seismic
retrofitting: foundations were reinforced and the entire building was
encased in a fine rib bar cage – inside and out. Sewage and water
piping, electrical wiring was replaced. Carcinogenic asbestos roofing
was removed and replaced with metal. Windows and doors were all
replaced. All restrooms have been built anew and fitted with new
plumbing fixtures. A new stand-alone boiler house with a new internal
heating system was installed. Armenia Fund also provided new school
furniture for every classroom.
`It is safe to say that Armenia Fund practically built a new school in
Togh. We only used the existing concrete skeleton of the building,
reinforced it and build everything else from scratch. I want to thank
the AGBU MDS school class of 2006, students and parents who made all of
this possible. Raising $115,000 dollar-by-dollar by going door to door
in 2 months is a mission impossible by itself. This is historic, as no
other Armenian school has done anything like this before. I remember the
enthusiasm of the students – they organized a walkathon, a fashion show,
bake sales, and numerous other events benefiting the Togh school
project. I want to thank the AGBU MDS’s principal Mr. Hagop Hagopian for
his support and faculty member, Mrs. Anahid Nalbandian-Pezeshkian, who
helped the students reach their goal’, said Ara Aghishian, Vice Chairman
of Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region and an AGBU MDS parent himself.
`I believe it is very symbolic that the Armenian school students in the
Diaspora donated a new school for Armenian students in Artsakh. I
believe that this is the most important course of study that the Class
of 2006 took at AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School, just as important as
the Armenian language and history. I remember that during Telethon 2006
at the studio, Aline Mnayan, an AGBU MDS student told me that her dream
was to one day become the principal of Togh School. Now these Diasporan
kids have a tangible connection to their Homeland – a bridge that will
help them stay Armenian no matter where they end up in this life’, said
Maria Mehranian, Chairperson of Armenia Fund U.S. Western Region.
A video story about the reconstruction of Togh School will be featured
during Armenia Fund’s 11th International Telethon. The 12 hour live
broadcast originating from Los Angeles will be aired live in the United
States and across the globe on Thanksgiving Day, November 27,
8:00am-8:00pm PST. The general sponsor of this year’s Telethon is
Armenia’s largest cellular communications provider, VivaCell MTS
Corporation.
Armenia Fund, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation
established in 1994 to facilitate large-scale humanitarian and
infrastructure development assistance to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
Since 1991, Armenia Fund has rendered more than $190 million in
development aid to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia Fund, Inc. is
the U.S. Western Region affiliate of `Hayastan’ All-Armenian Fund. Tax
ID# 95-448569