Since our first project in 2014, one of our main goals has been to enable individuals from underprivileged families to receive a higher education at their desired university or college. Building hospitals and schools are great; however, they require professionals to operate, and together we can help young professionals in Armenia to accomplish their dreams. Thanks to our donors’ continuous support, we were able to sponsor our very first university student, Mariam Khachatryan in autumn of 2019.
A little background on Mariam, if you’re new to supporting this project: We met Mariam in June 2019; when we were delivering school supplies to the younger children at her school as part of our 2019 School Supplies Project in the village of Mush, located in the Southern part of the Qashatagh region of Artsakh, Armenia. She was part of the school choir who welcomed us by singing a few beautiful songs for us. After speaking with the school principal, we realized that one of the grade 12 students (Mariam) to graduate that year was unable to attend university due to financial reasons. By promising Mariam that we would provide financial support, she applied to Artsakh State University, and successfully passed the entrance exams. Since the round trip to the university from Mush village is about 300km, Mariam would have to move to Stepanakert. Because of her mother’s condition, Mariam decided that she would attend the first year of university online (long distance learning), so she could be at home with her mother, and support her while studding. Those who donated to the first year’s project know that Mariam’s mother was ill with ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, her mother passed away in February of 2020. Mariam fought through this difficult time and completed her first year of studies. Her dream of becoming a teacher is one step closer because of your donations. However due to the 2020 War, Mariam and the rest of her family were displaced out of their village. For the time being they currently reside in Tatev, located in the Syunik province of Armenia. Although due to the war, Mariam’s studies have been postpones for a year, she is very much eager continuing her studies.
In the previous year, (academic year 2020-2021 – Mariam’s 2nd year at the university) The Artsakh State University waved the tuition fee for their students that were enrolled under long distance learning like Mariam (a.k.a. “attending” university online), so a significant amount of funds that were raised for her university fund for the 2021 academic year were remaining, and were used for this year’s tuition fees and travel expenses. The reason for the significant discounts were due to the Artsakh War of 2020. The remaining amount was 400,376 դր, which equals to approximately $1,067.67 CAD. The 3rd academic year commenced from Fall of 2021 and concluded on June 19, 2022 (last day of exams).
The following are this year’s project cost breakdown:
| Description | Total (AMD) | Times per Year | Total (AMD) | Total (CAD) | Notes |
| Tuition Fee | 125,000 դր. | 1 | 125,000 դր. | $333.78 | 1 |
| Transportation | 45,000 դր. | 2 | 90,000 դր. | $240.32 | 2 |
| Textbooks/Misc. | N/A | 0 | 0 դր. | $0.00 | 3 |
| Rent for 30 days | 106,000 դր. | 2 | 212,000 դր. | $566.09 | 4 |
| Utilities | N/A | 0 | 0 դր. | $0.00 | 4 |
| Lunch Money | 15,000 դր. | 2 | 30,000 դր. | $80.11 | 5 |
| Pocket Money | N/A | 0 | 0 դր. | $0.00 | 6 |
| Total | 457,000 դր. | $1,220.29 |
| Exchange Rate | |
| CAD | AMD |
| 1 | 374.5 |
Notes:
- It costs 125,000 AMD per semester or 250,000 AMD (~ $667.56 CAD) per year to attend Artsakh University as long distance learning, however the Artsakh State University had announced that to provide some financial relief to the refugees from the 2020 Artsakh War, the second semester was going to be free of charge.
- Prior to the 2020 Artsakh War, Mariam would have been required to travel from her village of Mush, to the Artsakh State University in Stepanakert during exam season twice a year. However due to the occupation of her village of Mush and the rest of the Qashatagh Region of Artsakh and to escape the eminent threat of ethnic cleansing by the Azerbaijani occupying forces, she and the rest of the population of the entire region and the nearby regions have been displaced to various parts of Armenia. Mariam and her family are currently residing in the village just outside of Yerevan. Due to these circumstances she will not be required to travel to the university for the time being, and she will be conducting her studies online.
- Expenses that may occur due to textbook purchases, photocopy or printing material throughout the year, however the school provided these material free of charge to the students for this academic year.
- At the place where Mariam has been staying the utility fees were covered in the rent.
- We had allocated some financial help to Mariam for her Lunch money during the time she would be in Stepanaker, attending Artsakh State University for her end of semester exams.
- She didn’t require pocket money, since she was provided with some financial help for her lunch expenses, see note 5 above.