The area is characterized by increasing levels of malnutrition and child illnesses, conditions aggravated by old roads, health posts, schools and water supplies that have not been renovated in decades.
Recent accomplishments include:
- Operating six youth computer centers, training children on computer operation and improving their future opportunities.
- Renovating kindergartens, enhancing the learning environment for children.
- Providing medical check-ups for over 1,200 children, helping to ensure good health.
- Renovating a drinking water system, improving access to safe water for 5,000 people.
- Supporting start-up businesses like wax paper production and a sewing workshop, teaching skills to more than 500 children and improving their future employment opportunities.
- Organizing Christian activities and celebrations for 4,000 children, offering spiritual nurture.
The Republic of Armenia is a small landlocked country that sits between the Black and Caspian Seas on the crossroads of Europe and Asia. It is a mountainous country bordered by Georgia to the north, Iran to the south, Azerbaijan to the east, and Turkey to the west.
Lake Sevan is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in the world. A popular tourist spot, it is a source for electricity, irrigation, and fish. The country’s natural resources include small deposits of gold, copper, zinc, and bauxite.
The Armenian people have occupied the Southern Caucasus region since approximately 2500 B.C. Today, 98 percent of the population is ethnic Armenian. The Yezidi, a Kurdish-speaking people, and Russians round out the inhabitants. Most people in this former Soviet republic speak Armenian; however, the Yezidis and Russians speak their own languages.
Armenia became the world’s first nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion in A.D. 301.
Since becoming an independent state in 1991, Armenia’s transition from the Soviet centralized system to a market economy has led to a severe drop in living standards and a rise in poverty. More than 80 percent of the population lives on less than $4 a day.
The country also continues to suffer from the effects of the 1988 earthquake and a growing refugee population. In some urban areas, housing and school facilities are crumbling. Many children who are members of a farming family stay home to work in the fields for months at a time. Some parents keep their children from attending school out of fear that corporal punishment is being used.
Children frequently suffer from various ailments caused by the cold, moisture, and dust. The government provides very limited health care, so most families struggle to afford anything beyond the basic services. Clean drinking water is often inaccessible during certain parts of the day.
Through sponsorship, World Vision is partnering with families and communities to help meet immediate needs and promote lasting changes that will strengthen communities and move families toward self-reliance.