The idea for this Community Impact Project was developed in collaboration with teachers , school principals , and of course , students . Together , we designed an educational resource center in the local school building , equipped with teaching manuals , games , computers , and a projector for presentations . The resource center would be open to educators from the local and neighboring communities . It would be a space to gather , share experiences , learn from each other , and design and implement events .
We planned to launch the center with a ten day-long training for teachers in October . Because of COVID-19 , the event had to be adapted to a virtual format . Then , on the morning of September 27th , Artsakh woke up to war . Within the first few days , most of the community fled .
During the war , I returned to Armenia . I hosted one of my students in my home and kept in touch with others who were displaced to different communities in Armenia . We knew that our part of Artsakh was being bombed , but we had no information from the ground , like whether our school building was still standing . Meanwhile , many schools were looted , causing me to worry about the fate of the resource center .
After the war , I returned to my school community in Artsakh along with other residents . We were relieved to see that the school building survived and the resource center was intact . We have slowly returned to our routine , including restarting our Community Impact Project . Although it is difficult to concentrate on work , we have to do everything in our power to make things better than before and teach for hope . It gives me hope knowing that I can now continue my Community Impact Project . While the pandemic and the war caused tremendous hurdles , I am committed to achieving impact through this teacher resource center .
This story is a continuation of Elen ’ s reflection , which can be found in the “ Hope in Artsakh ” section of the Introduction .
Elen Nazaryan , Community Impact Fund Recipient 5th Generation Teacher-Leader in Artsakh
Annual Report 2020 35