For Immediate Release
February 18, 2014

ARMENIA FUND’S BRITISH AFFILIATE SPONSORS CONSTRUCTION OF KINDERGARTEN IN SASUNIK

NEW YORK, New York — With financial support from its British affiliate, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has started building a two-story kindergarten in Sasunik, a village in Armenia’s Aragatsotn Region. The project is co-sponsored by the Sasunik Municipality.

Sasunik’s old, run-down kindergarten has remained closed since 1998, forcing some residents to consider sending their children to a kundergarten in nearby Ashtarak. Yet even this option has not been feasible for many. “Very few families can take their children to and from the kindergarten in Ashtarak or afford the high tuition,” said Sasunik mayor Arman Margaryan.

As he went on to discuss some of the infrastructure and other issues facing his village, Margaryan said that among the community’s most urgent needs are the construction of an irrigation network and the renovation of the community’s roads. On the plus side, the mayor added, there have been 23 weddings in Sasunik since the beginning of 2014, pointing to the fact that many are opting to stay put and continue to live here.

Incorporated within Sasunik is the village of Karin, which is populated by refugees from Baku. There are about 4,000 residents in Sasunik. The main local occupations are viticulture and animal breeding, with more than 100 residents employed at Sasunik’s Armenia Wine factory.

In recent years, the financial support of the Armenian community of Britain has made possible the renovation of the Delivery and Surgery departments of the Maternity Ward at Yerevan’s Surb Astvatsamayr Medical Center (2009), the Pediatric Department of Kapan Medical Center (2011), and Yerevan’s Shengavit District Boarding Kindergarten (2012). Also through British-Armenian support, more than 20 schools in Armenia’s border villages have been provided with furniture and school supplies.

ARMENIA FUND USA: founded in 1992, was one of the first of “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund’s 21 international affiliates and serves constituents in all states east of the Mississippi. As a non-profit, non-governmental, nonsectarian organization, the Fund represents all Armenian constituents, supporting strategic infrastructure projects in Armenia and Karabakh. The Fund has adopted a policy to go “Beyond Bricks and Mortar” to provide sustainability for projects it sponsors.