SUPPORT ARTSAKH VETERANS AND WARAFFECTED WOMEN

Ruzanna one of the beneficiaries of our project, is a mother of 6 children: 4 boys and 2 wonderful girls. The family lives in Yeghegnavan, a small village in Ararat region, Armenia. Ruzanna's husband is unable to work because of a serious eye injury which caused blindness in one eye and reduced the vision in the other eye to 10%. Thanks to Ruzanna's friend they found a house with relatively affordable rent, however the house is in severe need of reconstruction.

Nver, Ruzanna's oldest son, was 20 years old when the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war started. He was a soldier in the Armenian Army at the time. When the armed conflict began he was sent to Hadrut region, then to Martuni. During the last months of the war Nver was serving in Askeran region. Just like so many families, Ruzanna's family was hugely affected by the war, both psychologically and financially. “Having your oldest son on active-duty at border during war, not being able to be there for him, not knowing what could happen to him at any point was the hardest thing I ever had to endure”, - says Ruzanna.

Nver is now back home and he has put up his mind to renovate their house, so that his family can have a warm and dignifying place to live. Seda, the youngest is 4 years old. She has a dream of becoming a doctor and judging from her vivid and determined character, that is distinguishable even at such a young age, she will pursue her dream.

Ruzanna has mastered the craft of sewing from a very young age. She always loved making things with her own hands. Anything from table clothes to bed sheet sets. Yet, it was not until long ago when Ruzanna realized that she can earn money by doing the work she loves. She first started selling her product to her neighbors and friends. Overtime her hand-made floral hankies, doily aprons, bed linens and blankets gained more and more demand. However, the sewing machine Ruzanna was using broke, as it was very old, and she was no longer able to make a living. This is when we have learnt about Ruzanna and her family. Thanks to the generosity of our donors we were able to buy a brand new sewing machine and all the necessary products, including fabric, so that Ruzanna could continue her entrepreneurship. Our team will also help Ruzanna to expand and to promote her small business via social networks.

Dear supporters,

we look at this project not just a one-time action but a link in a whole chain of activities that For Equal Rights NGO has been implementing since the first day of the war (Sep 27, 2020) till now. The activities we have already completed include:

• Supporting 11 000 people from Artsakh residing in Armenia with humanitarian support packages, including hygiene products and clothes,
• Supporting 1700 schoolchildren and their families with clothes, hygiene products, stationery materials and enrolling each and every kid in this regions in schools and ensuring their engagement in the educational process in dignified manner physically and psychologically,
• Art therapy through long term arts and crafts courses for 40 kids from Artsakh residing in Sevan and Sisan communities, storytelling courses and fairy tale book creation with participation of 40 children from Shinuahyr and Tatev communities, theater perfomances for more than 500 people in Goris and Gavar communities,
• Training courses for around 100 high school students from Artsakh residing in all over Armenia,
• Women Entrepreneurs' exhibition fair engaging women from Artsakh residing in Armenia,
• Photo exhibition of documental photos of the war showing the humans of the war and giving a face to the disastrous numbers.

As a result of the abovementioned activities we set a ground for successful implementation of the current one. More specifically, during one year of constant contact and communication with our constituency we gained their trust and also have their support towards our initiatives. Secondly, we gathered first hand information, did needs assessment and situation analysis and see the bigger picture. Third, we have been working with the relevant state agencies and also partner CSOs not to have overlaps or misuse of the resources and combine our efforts for the sake of our common mission.

In the meantime we also used the time to reach out other international donors in order to be able to meet the goal we have set in the beginning. We have not touched the amount gained as a result of the crowd-funding. We will use it for the first group of war-affected women which will start their course starting from October 15. 10 young women will be involved including the wives of the veterans, prisoners of the war or the victims of the war. They will be engaged in professional development courses which will be enriched with additional psychological support and entrepreneurial capacity building courses. 

Thanks for support!

• The amounts received to be spent starting 15 Oct (PDF)