Tackling Educational Disadvantage in Rural Armenia 2021
Our first educational project "Tackling Educational Disadvantage in Rural Armenia" has just come to an end. The project has made a tangible impact on the target communities and has been received with great enthusiasm. We are happy to share the highlights with you:
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Beneficiaries103 children & teens aged 6 to 15.
Targeted communities: Yerazgavors & Bayandur, two frontier villages in the Shirak region of Armenia, which is known to have the highest poverty rate in the country.
ActivitiesÂ
art therapy sessions with Ms. Armine Arakelyan, one of the best art therapy professionals in the country;
painting & dancing lessons;
a study trip to cultural and historical sites of the Shirak region, including a guided tour of Gyumri city centre, a visit to Aslamazyan sisters' art gallery, a pottery workshop, and a lunch break in Aregak bakery&coffee shop, Gyumri's first inclusive cafe.
 Why this is importantWe consider art therapy a powerful therapeutic tool for working through our beneficiaries’ experiences and perceptions and help them battle the war and displacement trauma, social isolation and discomfort, and other psychological issues. This, together with drawing/painting and dancing lessons, helped the beneficiaries to feel less isolated and create strong social ties with their peers. Finally, a series of educational trips motivated our beneficiaries to study and strive for personal development.While therapy through art and culture is already in practice in many parts of the world, it is certainly a new territory for educational programmes in Armenia. Such opportunities are simply not available to children and teenagers living in our target areas. We want to bring a memorable and healing change into the lives of our beneficiaries and make an important contribution towards building stronger and happier communities.Every contribution matters, every donation counts.
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Latest article about the project: Healing War Trauma With Art Therapy
Project Report 2021
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