Gavar Special School

Gavar Special School is blessed to have a community of people who wish to see the situation improve for special education. The Community is growing with each person’s effort to educate friends and family members about the issues facing special needs students in Armenia. The Staff, Students and Volunteers are very thankful for the help of Armenian Relief Society Mayr Chapter and the New York Armenian Students Association!

Special thanks to Anahid Ugurlayan, President of the Armenian Relief Society Mayr Chapter and her Staff for organizing the event to aid the children of Gavar Special School!

Press Release:

On February 2, 2007, over 50 people from the tri-state area, upstate New York and Washington D.C. braved the cold winter rain to gather at Sortie, a trendy midtown Manhattan lounge, to support a worthy cause - the construction of a roof for the Gavar Special School in Gavar, Armenia. Located in the impoverished Gegharkunik region, the Gavar Special School is dedicated to educating children with special needs. At present, there are nearly 700 special needs children who receive no education (special needs or otherwise) in this region. Indeed, orphanages in Armenia receive five times more funding than special needs schools and only provide half the services.

The school is fortunate to have two dedicated Peace Corps volunteers, Jason Sprague and Kayte Williams, who, along with the school’s director, Lavrik Arevshatyan, have worked tirelessly to meet the children’s education and other needs, provide a safe environment in which the children can learn and raise money for necessary repairs for school, even paying out of their own salaries to do so. Recently, a foundation called The Lots of Sun Foundation for Special Needs Children in Support of Gavar Special School was formed to, in part, lobby the Armenian Government to provide greater financial support for special needs children and ensure that donations from the school are not unduly taxed.

The school and the region also face weather-related challenges. The last two months have been the coldest in the last few years, freezing indoor and outdoor sewer pipes of structures in the region as well as its freshwater supply. The roof is made of metal sheeting which is leaking and causing widespread structural damage to the school. To make matters worse, on January 20, 2007, a storm with high winds ripped away portions of the roof’s dilapidated metal covering. The estimated cost of the roof’s construction is $85,000, a figure which has nearly doubled in the last year due to the increased costs of building materials and the appreciation of the Armenian dram against the U.S. dollar.

Fully aware that the safety of the children is further compromised, the attendees of the mixer and other donors responded generously and over $1000 was raised for the roof construction. The ARS Mayr Chapter and NY ASA wish to extend their thanks to the attendees and other donors for their support for this worthy cause.

In response to the mixer, Jason Sprague of the Gavar School sent the following message: “The Staff, Students and Volunteers of Gavar Special School wish to thank all those who attended the Armenian Relief Society Mayr Chapter of New York and the New York Armenian Students Association for their gracious support of Gavar Special School. The donated money is obviously important but more importantly people are learning of about the situation of special needs education in rural Armenia. Especially in Gegharkunik, there are over 650 children that have special needs that receive no education. As many as 500 of these children could benefit from special education and have a productive life. The situation is dire for these very wonderful children. Your help will be used to create a safe learning environment. We hope you will visit Gavar Special School on your next trip to Armenia to meet the students, staff and volunteers and see the changes your support has helped to ensure. Please subscribe to http://www.GavarSpecialSchool.org to see the changes as they happen and stay abreast of the news at Gavar Special School. Thank you again for your kind compassion and we consider you part of Gavar Special School’s community!”

Additional donations of any amount are greatly needed and appreciated, and those who are interested can log to the Gavar Special School website at http://gavarspecialschool.org/donate.

The ARS was founded in 1910 as an independent, non-sectarian, non-governmental organization (NGO), serving the humanitarian, social, and educational needs of Armenians. The ARS has affiliate entities in 24 countries with a membership of approximately 18,000. An NGO on the roster in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, the ARS is a 501© (3) charitable, tax-exempt organization. The ASA is a nationwide membership organization that promotes Armenian culture and education by providing Armenian communities with social, academic, and educational events. All funds raised by the regional branches contribute to the ASA’s scholarship fund for Armenian students studying in the United States.