Fund for Armenian Relief
Press Release
Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR)
Press Office
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Tel: (212) 889-5150; Fax: (212) 889-4849
email: press@farusa.org
web:
blog: farusa.wordpress.com
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2 0 years on record: FAR has been about changing lives of Armenians
More Armenians doctors are offering better care to more people. More
Armenian orphans have the chance get an education. More Armenian
children who were once neglected or abandoned now have the help and
support they so desperately need. More young Armenians have a chance
to better their careers. These marks of progress prove that the Fund
for Armenian Relief is making a difference to many Armenians .
In 2008 – 20 years since FAR’s founding – the organization was able to
continue and even expand its mission, all thanks to the resilience and
dedication of its supporters, who stood by the organization through
challenging economic times. The recently released FAR 2008 Annual
Report chronicles all of these achievements by highlighting not only
the cumulative successes of last year’s work and achievements, but
also those special partnerships that made our work possible –
partnerships with donors, fellow organizations, supporters and
volunteers.
The report details how last year, nearly 30,000 people in
Nagorno-Karabagh and the surrounding region saw their lives change
with FAR’s help. Six years of hard work on the Humanitarian Assistance
Program in Nagorno-Karabagh (HAPNK), which was funded by the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID), has brought new
homes, health centers, clean drinking water and employment to those
whose lives had been torn apart by years of war.
People like Shmavon Petrosyan and his family have seen their lives
transformed ever since FAR restored the house that had been crumbling
around them due to the fighting.
And for those in the village of Astghashen who for years lived without
any place to access medical care, HAPNK’s work may mean the difference
between life and death.
Now, a new medical center serves 2,000 people in the region.
FAR also continued to forge ahead with its tireless efforts to support
children, helping the most vulnerable Armenians like Kostas and Nadya,
find the love and support they need. Abandoned first by their abusive
father, then later abused by their mother, the two were sent to live
with their grandparents who eventually could no longer care for
them. With help from FAR’s Homeless Children’s Center, the two were
placed in the loving care of a foster family.
Considered by many to be the only safe haven in Armenia and Karabagh
for at-risk children, the Center has rescued homeless children and
those who are victims of abuse and neglect since 2000, offering them
everything from temporary shelter and intervention services to legal
assistance. With the support of the Helen and Ed Mardigian Family
Foundation, the organization helped nearly 1,000 at risk youth in 2008
– more than even before.
The annual report, which can be downloaded from FAR’s website,
also shows how FAR’s other long-standing and ongoing
programs, like the Gyumri Information Technology Center (GTECH) is
helping to transform a region by offering post-graduate training in
electrical engineering, computer chip design and development and web
technologies.
The success of GTECH is gradually reversing the economic decline from
which Gyumri has suffered since the devastating 1988
earthquake. Highly skilled graduates are staying in the region, using
their skills to invest in their homeland and building a growing middle
class.
Natives like Kristina Zayimtsyan, who saw their homes reduced to
rubble in December of 1988, are now part of a movement to strengthen
their hometown. Kristina almost died in the earthquake when the walls
of her school collapsed around her. Now a student at GTech, she is
focusing on using web design as a way to move closer to her dream of
becoming a designer.
"Our city has a future and I believe in it," she attests. "We, the
youth, will shape the future of Gyumri."
The report also reveals how more healthcare workers in rural areas
enhanced their skills through the Continuing Medical Education Program
(CME), which offers customized training from prominent doctors in
Yerevan. This sort of opportunity is crucial to enhancing medical care
in Armenia, especially in remote rural areas.
For a doctor like Armenuhi Rstakyan, who has always been devoted to
her hometown community, she can now better serve her patients – both
Armenians and Georgians – in the Javakhk region of Georgia. As a
gynecologist, Armenuhi provides necessary medical care at the
Maternity Welfare Center in the town’s regional hospital.
She faces obstacles daily. In addition to there being no light, no
water, and very little equipment, Armenuhi is isolated from the
advancements in her field. CME changed that. After a month of training
with leading specialists at the Maternal and Child Health Protection
Research Center, she learned about the latest technologies and modern
operating techniques in her field. She networked with leading
specialists, participated in English language lessons and in computer
literacy courses. Now back home, Armenuhi can better serve her
patients, impart her knowledge to her colleagues and ultimately spread
the benefit to an entire community.
Beyond these, FAR’s work encompasses even more. It impacts the arts
and sciences, education, the elderly and the destitute. The report,
which details all, shows how the work of the FAR family provides the
foundation for lasting social and economic change by making broad,
sweeping changes while at the same time touching recipients in deeply
personal ways. And it is only through the continued commitment of this
dedicated network of FAR’s supporters and volunteers that the
organization each day in solidarity builds a stronger Armenia.
# # #
About FAR
Since its founding in response to the 1988 earthquake, FAR has served
hundreds of thousands of people through more than 220 relief and
development programs in Armenia and Karabagh. It has channeled more
than $265 million in humanitarian assistance by implementing a wide
range of projects including emergency relief, construction, education,
medical aid, and economic development.
For more information on FAR or to send donations, contact us at 630
Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016; telephone (212) 889-5150; fax (212)
889-4849; ; e-mail press@farusa.org.
— July 21th, 2009
Fund for Armenian Relief | 630 Second Avenue | New York | NY | 10016