The proprietor of Envoy Hostel, Erik Carapetian, Mr. Carapetian’s Father, Envoy Hostel employee, Emma, and friend of Envoy Hostel, Joe Levonian visited Gavar Special School to visit the children and view the conditions of the school. They brought with them small gifts for the children from Australia.

Envoy Hostel has been a long term supporter of the volunteers of Gavar Special School. In addition to this support, Envoy Hostel gave funds to the roof repair project. The staff and volunteers of Gavar Special School would like to thank Envoy Hostel’s owners and employees for their kind support.

The staff and volunteers are very happy that Envoy Hostel is becoming a community leader showing that through responsible business, many good things will come to Armenia. We wish Envoy Hostel continued success and welcome future cooperation. To show the school’s gratitude, Erik and Joe were presented with handmade needleworks prepared by the students of Gavar Special School.

Last year Gavar Special School had a Green Camp in conjunction with Peace Corps, but this year we have had it without the support of Peace Corps. The camp has been a great success. The camp broke the stigmas of exclusion that Gavar Special School carries due to the post-Soviet culture.

Participating children were taught that not all the students that go the Gavar Special School are weird, strange or crazy. Area students learned that Gavar Special School is a welcoming place with many caring people and the students who attend maybe different but do not warrant exclusion. The camp’s staff is hopeful that terms such as “stupid” or “crazy” has left the lexicon of the participating children and they realize that students of Gavar Special School just need a bit more assistance to learn as they do.

The volunteerism from the Gavar community was amazing! We had more staff than anticipated, and they were comparable to many paid American camp staffs, if not better. The local university students came to help during their finals week which is a major accomplishment as volunteerism is lacking the culture.

We had 44 campers and they were from all over Gavar and even from a few villages, some of the students walked for half and hour to come to the camp because they loved the opportunity to learn about the environment. A small portion of these were students of Gavar Special School. This was a wonderful experience for the staff of Gavar Special School as well as the local community to have a camp that was focused on environment and held in Gavar Special School which allowed for the breaking down of cultural separation barriers.

Special thanks to St. James Catholic Church and family and friends of Peace Corps Volunteer Kayte Williams. Your donations allowed for the purchase of camp materials, snacks and wonderful t-shirts with the slogan “Keep Armenia Clean!”

Gavar Special School is very luck to have friends that understand the basic needs of the children must be met in order for them to learn. Focus on Children Now, Inc (FCN) has undertaken a very large project by collecting clothes from around the greater Los Angeles area to help people in Armenia. Gavar Special School is privileged to be the first school to receive a donation. In the spirit of service, sisters, Eileen and Audria Amirian were influential in helping collect a great volume of clothing.

The clothing sent by FCN was used in part by Gavar Special School. About half of the 15 boxes of clothes were given to various families in the greater Gavar and Sevan areas. These families all have one thing in common and that is the fact they have special needs children and have had very bad luck. Most of the families have an annual income of less than $500 a year.

FCN will continue their project and help other schools and communities. The following article provides more information:

Glendale, CA based Focus on the Children Now, Inc. (FCN), an organization whose mission is to assist needy children in Armenia, has recently completed its first successful clothing drive. Collected were over 2000 items of clothing intended for the most disadvantaged people in the Republic of Armenia. Gavar Special School was selected as the first organization to receive a donation of 15 large boxes of gently used clothing to be used for the special needs resident students, with remaining clothing to be distributed within the larger Gavar community.

A large portion of the clothes were collected by Eileen and Audria Amirian of Glendale, California through activities held at Clark Magnet High School and La Canada Preparatory School. Students and families brought over many clothes with them to school where the items were collected by Mr. Vahik Rostami and taken to Prime Linen which donated laundry facilities and 1,500 square feet of storage space for holding and organizing the clothes in preparation for shipment to Armenia.

Brothers, Robert and Avo Amirian and Mr. Varooj Kureghian as well as the Amirian Sisters sent the first shipment of clothing to Gavar Special School which arrived on March 12, 2007 in Gavar, Republic of Armenia. The Staff and Volunteers of Gavar Special School have received the packages with enthusiasm, which have been unpacked and categorized for distribution. Over 200 people will receive items, with priority given to the 92 special needs children of Gavar Special School. Most of the students come from extremely poor family situations being that the Gegharkunik Region of Armenia from which Gavar Special School draws its student body is the poorest in the country.

Focus on the Children Now, Inc will continue its work to help some of the most disadvantaged communities in the Republic of Armenia by partnering with various community organizations around the country. Many of these organizations were met through the recommendations of Peace Corps Volunteers who live and work in rural Armenia.

In the future, Focus on the Children Now, Inc will continue to send shipments of gently used clothing. If you wish to donate items to help the most disadvantaged in rural Armenia, please contact Mr. Varooj Kureghian at 818-517-7080.

Over the winter break a few small improvements were made to Gavar Special School. One of the projects was to improve the conditions for the teenage girls by replacing the windows in their dormitory. Seven girls sleep in a room that had 30 year old windows that made no attempt to stop the cold. Even covered in plastic, the situation was very poor. Thankfully, a donation given in the name of Miganoush and Sevan Varteressian allowed the two windows to be replaced with modern double paned windows totaling over 4 square meters. The cost of the windows was just over $712 with installation.

In addition, a donation from the Armenian Pentecostal Church of Los Angeles, under the leadership of Mrs. Rosa Sepanian, which has been a long time supporter of efforts to improve special education in Gegharkunik was used to place a new door on the room. This will ensure the girls remain safe and prevent the cold air from the hall way from entering the room. To purchase the door and install it the cost was $215.

This is a small step but it makes a tremendous improvement of the daily lives of the 7 teenage girls that share the room. The room is quite pleasant as it has a gas heater from a previous project to put heaters in the sleeping rooms. The overall goal is to make the children more comfortable so they wish to come to the school to learn as they can be warm and safe. Once warm and safe, the children are able to learn much better as environmental factors do not disturb them.
Translator: Gohar Petrosyan
Editor: Jason

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.

A highlight of the day was that Hye Medznank gifted to every student of Gavar Special School a Praying Hippo for Christmas. The plush toy recites the prayer “Տեր Իմ Աստված” (translation: Oh My God). This was a wonderful gift for the children as Armenian language toys do not exist in Armenia. Also, Hye Medznank donated to Gavar Special School an art desk which has Armenian and English numbers as well as numbers. The art desk, coupled with a donation of educational blocks, will be wonderful learning tools for the first, second, and third form students as they strive to learn Armenian and a little English! Gavar Special School Staff and Volunteers would like to thank Hye Medznank for their kindness and generosity this holiday season in providing both fun and educational toys for the children. Please see the photo gallery for pictures of all the fun!

The new courtyard wall will allow Gavar Special School to accept more special needs children because it will provide a much needed safety measure. Due to the nature of the population of special needs children, in order to allow the children to have some amount of freedom, there needed to be a way to ensure that they cannot leave the school and endanger themselves. A substantial portion of the children that will come to Gavar Special School in 2007 will have mental deficiencies that cause them to be unaware of their surroundings and these children tend to bolt from the school trying to run back to their families. The courtyard wall has struck a balance between safety and access and is truly an important tool.

A few gracious organizations gave funds to help complete the wall. Those organizations were the Clymer United Methodist Church, the North Clymer United Methodist Church, the Ross Grange and the Nercessian Family. Other donations were made by individuals that wish to remain anonymous. The donations allowed Gavar Special School to pay for its community contribution as well as put in place a watchman’s house. The watchman’s house will be very important to ensure the safety of the children is maintained.

The future plans of Gavar Special School were very dependent on the outcome of this project. Now, more high risk children can be brought to the school without the fear that they will leave the school and become injured. At the same time, they will have protection from the people who may hold prejudices against special needs children. Gavar Special School would like to thank its community donors, Clymer and North Clymer UMC, the Ross Grange and the Nercissian Family. Thank you for being part of our community! Also, thanks goes to USAID and the United States of American Diplomatic Mission for the substantial economic assistance in completing this project.

Pictures of the project can be found in the gallery!

Saint Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church of New York held a raffle in support of Gavar Special School. Congregation member, Mr. Jiri Dersarkisian donated the Persian carpet for the raffle and it was held in conjunction with the Ladies Guild bazaar. Mr. Krikor Marcarian was the winner of the carpet and also donated additional money to Gavar Special School. Much work and effort was put forth by Saint Sarkis’ Ladies Guild for the event. The Staff, Students and Volunteers of Gavar Special School thank the congregation of Saint Sarkis for their kind support especially Mr. Jiri Dersarkisian, Ms. Mary Arslanian, President of the Ladies Guild, and Mr. Krikor Krikorian. They were instrumental in organizing the raffle in support of Gavar Special School. The funds collected will be held for the future $75,000 roof remodeling project of Gavar Special School. Please see the photo gallery to see pictures of the Saint Sarkis.

Gavar Special School for a week during October, was visited by a United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) mission group from Western Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. The group, lead by Dr. Richard Funt, had the purpose of remodeling the Կարմիր Անկյուն (translation: Red Corner) and make it much more comfortable for the students. The trip and work was organized by Ms. Pamela Karg, Volunteer in Mission. The Կարմիր Անկյուն is the section of Gavar Special School where the students spend their free time after they are finished with their studies and before sleeping which has never been remodeled and was dark, cold and decrepit.

The group came from three United Methodist Churches in Ohio, Centenary UMC, Epworth UMC and Bethel UMC. The Volunteers raised money for the project and gave significant personal contributions. They worked for 6 days doing such things as laying a new stone wall under the windows, putting in new electrical wiring and fixtures, spackling the walls in preparation for painting as well as making curtains and visiting with the students and staff. The Volunteers remained in Gavar for that time and had interesting experiences going to the local hardware store as well as trying to use the local internet. The group had two young ladies, Mari Sargsyan and Goghar Minasyan serve as translators. Both were Language Majors at Gavar State University and now are successful professionals in the Gavar Community.

Due to the complexity of the project, there was not enough time to finish the whole room as it is large and time was needed for the walls to dry between each step. The Volunteers ensured there were funds to pay for a specialist to finish the room. Khachik Khachaturyan was brought in to rip up the old flooring, lay new concrete and then place the new laminate flooring as well as paint the walls and ceiling. This took him about six weeks as a lot of time was needed to let the new cement on the floor dry and to let the new wall coverings dry as it took many coats of plaster and paint to finish everything appropriately.

The small amount that remained from the donated funds were used to put in place a safety fence around the heater in the room as well as reupholster an old sofa and chairs for the children’s comfort and enjoyment. The room is now much warmer and brighter for the children. It allows them to have some enjoyment such as watching cartoons or playing with toys in a warm and comfortable environment.

On December 5, 2006, Gavar Special School invited Ms. Karg to the school for the official opening ceremony. The students studied for a month to learn poems and songs in honor of the day. They performed well known Armenian poetry and songs and traditional Armenian dance was also performed. Many of the children made costumes for the performance. The students reveled in the positive attention they received for their wonderful achievement! Please view all of the pictures from the project in the photo gallery.

The Gavar Special School Students, Staff and Volunteers thanks the UMCOR Volunteers for the monetary contribution to Gavar Special School as well as for the energy and talent they put forth in remodeling the Կարմիր Անկյուն which is now called the Ohio Room in the honor of the Volunteers.

The Lots of Sun Foundation for Special Needs Children in Support of Gavar Special School has been founded by Lavrik Arevshatyan, Dr. Varazdat Karapetyan, Jason Sprague and Kayte Williams. The purpose of this foundation is twofold. The first is to provide tax advantages, in Armenia, for donations received by Gavar Special School. Armenian tax law does not view public schools as non-profit organizations thus these funds can be taxed. Although the founders of the foundation wish to pay the correct amount of tax, it is not fiscally responsible to the special needs children of Gavar Special School to pay more taxes than mandated by law.

The second purpose of the foundation is to allow for stronger financial oversight of the donated funds and to provide security for Mr. Arevshatyan, Gavar Special School’s Director. Previous to founding Lots of Sun, the donated funds came to Gavar Special School’s accounts. For small donations, this did not prove much of a problem but as the campaign to replace the school’s roof builds strength, it is expected that the bank account will reach $75,000. The founders felt strongly that the donations needed to be out of the reach of government officials because if the regional leadership wished, they could release Mr. Arevshatyan and assume control over the funds. Obviously, this could jeopardize the promise made to the greater Gavar Special School Supporter Community in which fiscal transparency and honesty will prevail.

The Lots of Sun Foundation, named out of appreciation for Mr. Arevshatyan’s work as School Director, will provide all legal oversights to the development of Gavar Special School and will be a shareholder in the school’s future. The foundation is open to all interested people who wish to join and have a voice in how Gavar Special School will be improved to meet the needs of its students. Please use the contact page to express your interest to serve on the Foundation.

The logo for the foundation was designed by Mrs. Elizabeth Gleason of Jamestown, New York. The foundation is a separate entity from Gavar Special School thus, the new logo will show a separation particularly domestically. The staff, students and volunteers of Gavar Special School would like to thank Elizabeth for the donation of her time to help forward the efforts to raise awareness of special needs in rural Armenia.

The foundation will begin to extend into lobbying the Armenian Government to provide greater support for special needs children. At the current funding, Armenian special needs children receive one-fifth the funding as children in the orphanage system while special need school provide 100% more services. As the membership of the Lots of Sun Foundation grows, the strategic plan will be decided. If you wish to have input into this plan, all interested persons are welcome!