In the field of artistic education and social work, the most sophisticated and promising program was launched in February 1993, in close collaboration with the Araratian diocese, in three children’s centers located in three different neighborhoods at some distance from downtown Yerevan: Arapkir, Nor Malatya, and Nork. Several thousand children from these working-class neighborhoods flock to the three centers every afternoon in order to participate in a wide range of activities that take place in immaculate surroundings under the guidance of competent, motivated group leaders: art, music, dance, language training, computer pro¬gramming, and gymnastics. Conceived in the Soviet period with the aim of encouraging children to develop all their talents to the full, this program was, fortunately, preserved. It helps maintain social harmony in three outlying, low-in¬come and middle-income neighborhoods of the Armenian capital, enabling parents to give their children access to rewarding after-school activities. Adjoining these three children’s centers are soup kitchens run jointly by the AGBU and Holy Echmiadzin. They offer full meals to pensioners, who can eat them either there or at home. There are three more such soup kitchens in Hrazdan, Echmiadzin, and Sevan.
The construction of St. Sarkis Church in Nor Nork, thanks to a gift from Sarkis Gabrielian, ... Read all
Armenia and the Presidency of Louise Manoogian Simone