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AGBU Builds Second Karabakh Village, Dozens Prepare to Move Into Border Region
Perhaps as early as this year, ten families will move into the newly
established village of Pareshen in Karabakh's southeastern Hadrut
region, thanks to the generosity of AGBU. By the close of 2005,
the 900,000-hectare (2.2 million acre) site will be reconstructed,
becoming the 40th village in the region and the second built by AGBU.
The ten two-room houses will be built with funds raised by AGBU London
from the British Armenian Community.
>From June 11 - 15, 2005, AGBU London Chairperson Harout Aghajanian
and Treasurer Bedros Aslanian visited the site to finalize details of
their local committee's initiative. On June 13th, Pavel Nadjarian,
head of Karabakh's Migration, Refugees and Repopulation Department,
and Aghajanian signed the agreement on village construction, and the
official cartographic survey was completed on June 22nd.
The name Pareshen, submitted by Professor K. Pilikian, was selected
from a list of 20 entries in a village-naming competition organized
by AGBU London. The project will be overseen by the London Chapter
and managed on the ground by AGBU's Yerevan and Stepanakert offices,
utilizing the services of an independent architect and construction
firm chosen through a contract bidding and selection process.
Phase One is now underway with a budget of £53,000 (roughly USD$96,000)
from the generous donations of members of the UK Armenian Community and
matching funds from AGBU London Trust. Each home is approximately 5.2
million drams (approximately £6,600 or USD$12,000), but more funds are
required to complete a viable village with a minimum of 20 dwellings.
"We must develop Pareshen into a large and prosperous community that
will attract more and more people interested in the sustainability
of the village and contributing to the economic development of
the region. AGBU is playing the lead role in these objectives,"
said Aghajanian.
Karabakh authorities have taken the responsibility for supplying
water and electricity to Pareshen, and will also build a road that
will connect it to other villages and regions. AGBU London will also
meet the expense of connecting the homes to the water and electricity
networks.
NORASHEN CONTINUES TO GROW
Pareshen is the second village funded and built by AGBU. The
first, Norashen, is also located in the Hadrut region, adjacent to
Pareshen, and was built with financial support provided by AGBU France
District. Today, it is home to 100 residents, including 32 school-aged
children and 14 pre-schoolers, 23 houses and a kindergarten. On May 4,
a medical center, made possible through the gifts of French donors
Ara and Silva Aharonian, the Union of French Armenian Doctors (UMAF)
and the financial support of the Karabakh government, opened in the
village. While the center has a permanent nurse, doctors and nurses
form Hadrut regional clinic will visit the rural community twice a week
to examine and treat local villagers free of charge. AGBU Central Board
Member Levon Kebabdjian, Ara Aharonian and the Deputy Prime Minister,
Health Minister and Social Welfare Minister for Karabakh all attended
the ceremonial ribbon cutting. The youthful spirit of Norashen is
underlined by the fact that two weddings took place in the village over
the past two years, a remarkable number for a settlement of its size.
Pareshen will share the kindergarten, primary school and all-purpose
clinic facilities of neighboring Norashen. Both villages will also
share a secondary school, currently being built with funds raised by
AGBU Sydney and AGBU Southern California District.
Last October, over 100 AGBU members visited Norashen after the
organization's General Assembly in Yerevan. During the excursion to
the remote area, members witnessed first-hand the enormous impact AGBU
funds have had on a region still recovering from the 1991-94 War of
Independence. During the visit, Karabakh President Arkady Ghoukassian
praised AGBU for its vision and contribution to the Republic's
sustainability, particularly with the repopulation initiative.
The Karabakh Repopulation Project is a pan-AGBU venture first
initiated by the organization's French District. To date, AGBU
Chapters in France, London, Sydney, Toronto and Los Angeles have
contributed to the Repopulation Project with others poised to join
in the fundraising effort.
In addition to this project, AGBU supports other initiatives in
Karabakh, including the renovation and renaming of Alex Manoogian
Street in the capital city of Stepanakert, the reconstruction of a
multi-story apartment complex for war veterans and war widows, the
building of a modern secondary school in the capital and the funding
of the Karabakh Chamber Orchestra.
If you would like to contribute to the Karabakh Repopulation Project
please call 212-319.6383 or email agbuny@agbu.org. To contribute
directly to the Pareshen village project, please make your check
payable to "AGBU London Trust - Pareshen Project" and mail it to AGBU
London, Pareshen Project, PO Box 3102, Barnet, UK, EN4 0ZL.
Established in 1906, AGBU (www.agbu.org) is the world's largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City
with an annual budget of $26 million, AGBU preserves and promotes
the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and
humanitarian programs, annually serving some 400,000 Armenians in
35 countries.
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