A new kindergarten, now under construction, is the fourth major community-development project to be implemented by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund in Karin Tak, a village in Artsakh’s Shushi Region. In recent years, the fund has built Karin Tak’s multifunctional community center and new potable-water network, and completely renovated the local school gym. The construction of the kindergarten is co-sponsored by the Devejian and Ekserciyan families as well as Krikor Simsiroglu of Argentina, the Greek-Armenian and the Cypriot-Armenian communities, and the government of Artsakh. Proceeds from the upcoming Phoneathon of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s affiliate in Greece will likewise benefit the kindergarten-construction project.
The future kindergarten is designed to accommodate up to 50 children. The facility will feature a complement of state-of-the-art amenities, including a boiler room, a central-heating system, and an outdoor playground with various play equipment, all of which will make for an enriching and comfortable learning environment. The structure is already up and the roof is finished. In the next phases of the project, crews will work on the exterior and interior decoration, the installation of the boiler room, and the landscaping of the grounds. When completed in the summer of 2017, the campus will open its doors to the community’s 40 kindergarteners.
Karin Tak has a population of over 650, with a large percentage of young people. According to Mayor Mkhitar Arushanyan, the necessity of a kindergarten has long been felt in the community, given its steady demographic growth. “Our villagers feel a very strong bond with their native land,” Arushanyan says. “Even during the war years in the 1990s, when the village was under constant bombardment, our residents refused to abandon their birthplace. Today, thanks to a string of marvelous development projects, Karin Tak’s quality of life is improved significantly, and our residents have great faith in their future.”
Located five kilometers from the city of Shushi, Karin Tak was founded in the 18th century. It is among villages that were utterly devastated during Artsakh’s war of liberation. Every year on January 26, the residents of Karin Tak commemorate their community’s heroic battle and victory in 1992.