Gavar Special School

Gavar Special School is back in session but sadly, Mother Nature has not been nice to the Gegharkunik community this January. On the first day, 38 students were able to make it to the school from the snowy corners of Gegharkunik Marz but they were met with a few difficulties.

This December and January have been some of the coldest weather in many years. Even with the winterization of the School, most of the indoor and outdoor sewer pipes were frozen as well as the freshwater supply. With many four days of work, the administrative staff was able to find all the frozen areas to get most all of the water system working.

The best news was that Gavar Special School was able to escape damage from the earthquakes that struck the Gavar area on January 12th and 13th. However, a very strong storm with high winds struck on January 20th gave a fatal blow to the 31 year old roof, ripping away sections of the old metal covering. We are hopeful that 2007 will bring about the replacement of the roof to ensure the safety of the Gavar Special School building structure. The Staff and Volunteers of Gavar Special School do express our sympathies to many of our neighbors as many homes, schools and apartment buildings in Gavar Special School’s neighborhood sustained more damage than the school. We hope that the government will provide the quick and needed assistance to repair the community.

Over the next week, we will bring the children from all corners of the region. It is a struggle to have families release the students to Gavar Special School on a timely schedule. The family ties are very strong in Gegharkunik and we sympathize with the families being apart while the child studies at Gavar Special School but we are hopeful that we will return a stronger, more educated and more capable child to the family at the end of the year.