Mira is from the Artsakh region of Armenia. She, her mother along with her grandfather used to live in Stepanakert, (The Capital City of Artsakh). Mira is the only child, and lost her father years ago. We (Empower Armenia) virtually met Mira in 2020, when we needed to provide temporary housing to one of our beneficiaries (Mariam Khachatryan), who needed a place to stay in Stepanakert during the exam season to attend the Stepanakert State University. You can read more about Mariam’s University projects from the past four years here 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023. 

Mira has a law degree from Artsakh State University. Prior to the genocide and the ethnic cleaning of Armenians from this region by Azerbaijan, its ally Turkey and help from nations who have common interests with the latter two, Mira used to work at the Stepanakert courthouse, as a judge’s assistant. 

Mira also had a side business where she worked as nail stylist (Manicurist). It goes without saying that she wasn’t able to bring any of her tools with her.

Mira and her mother left Stepanakert on a bus heading for the outskirts of Yerevan today (September 29th, 2023). They could only bring a few items with them and literally just the clothes on their backs. They weren’t allowed to bring much due to lack of space on these buses. Mira’s grandfather had left Stepanakert earlier and is now living with an extended family member in a small town just outside of Yerevan. Mira and her mother will be joining them today (September 29th, 2023), and will be staying with them for a few days until they find a place to rent on their own.

We are looking to raise a lump sum of $2,500 CAD for the following items:

• To pay for three (3) months of rent to help Mira and her family to get back on their feet.
• To purchase tools for Mira’s nail styling (Manicure) business, so she can start working soon.
• To purchase and deliver some winter clothing for Mira, her mother and grandfather.

We will provide a more detailed breakdown of each item within the next week or so, depending on the rent prices, the number of tools and clothes we purchase.

All Canadian donations will receive a tax receipt.

Thank you.

Post Project Remarks:

This project was conducted and completed on October 15, 2023. By this time Mira and her mother were able to secure winter clothing for Mira’s grandfather and mother. We asked Mira if they would prefer us pay for a few months’ rent, or purchase household appliances and items, which they opted for the latter.

Please see below for project expense breakdown. You can see purchase receipts from both Canada and Armenia attached.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at info@EmpowerArmenia.com

Thank you for your donations and continuous support.

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.

If you’re new in supporting this project, here is a little background on Mariam:

We met Mariam in June 2019; when we were delivering school supplies to the younger students from grades 1 through 4, at her school as part of our 2019 School Supplies Project. Mariam Khachaturyan was from Mush village, located in the Qashatagh region of Armenia, just north of the Arax River. As a result of the Artsakh war in 2020, Mariam and her family along with the rest of the entire region were forcebly displaced out of their homes. Mariam along with her family are now settled in a village called Masis just outside of Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. For more details about Mariam and this project, please read her first year’s project description at the following links. 2019 University Fund #1, 2021 University Fund #1 – 2nd Year, and 2022 University Fund #1 – 3rd Year.

Those who donated to Mariam’s first year’s project know that Mariam’s mother was ill with ovarian cancer. Unfortunately her mother passed away in early 2020.  Mariam fought through this difficult time and completed her first year of studies, which brought her dream of becoming a teacher one step closer.

This year Mariam is starting her 4th year of five year studies. With your continuous support, she will be graduating soon.

The following is the estimated project cost breakdown for both semesters in 2023: 

4th year – 1st semester (Starts Sept 1st, 2022 until Jan 25th, 2023 – (Jan 09 -Jan 25 exam period) Long Distance Learning).

4th year – 2nd semester (Starts Feb 07th, 2023 until June 20th, 2023 – (May 21 – June 20 exam period) Long Distance Learning).

Notes:

1. The 250,000 AMD is the original annual tuition fee or 125,000 AMD per semester for long distance learning students. However the displaced students have received a 50% discount for this academic year for the Artsakh Government. In total it’ll cost 125,000 AMD (~ $454.55 CAD) for Mariam to attend university for this academic year at Artsakh University. The Remaining funds raised will be applied to Mariam’s next and final year of studies at the Artsakh University.
2. Jan 09 – Jan 25 (23 days) for 4 weeks, is the end of the 4th year first semester. Mairiam will finish her 4th year, 1st semester.
3. May 21 – June 20 (31 days) for 4 weeks, is the end of the 4th year second semester. Mairiam will finish her 4th year.
4. Expenses that may occur due to textbook purchases, photocopy or printing material throughout the year.
5. Mariam takes the taxi to Stepanakert but takes the mini-bus back.
6. During the time that Mariam spends in Stepanakert for the exam season, she also receives study material for the following semester. She will be required to stay in Stepanakert for an approximately 23 days at the end of the first semester and 31 days at the end of the second semester. The current daily rent that Mariam pays at her designated lodging is 4000 AMD / day (approximately $14.60 CAD). Empower Armenia will also cover the cost of her food, and will also allocating a small amount for spending “pocket” money, for the duration of her stay in Stepanakert.
7. Mariam will have to travel from the Masis village just outside of Yerevan, to the university in Stepanakert during exam season twice a year. (As of approximately December 12, 2022, the Berdzor Corridor, (a.k.a. Lachin Corridor), that connects Armenia to Artsakh have been illegally closed and occupied by Azerbaijani special forces personnel, under the cover of “eco-activists”. Until the re-opening of this corridor Mariam will be unable to travel to Artsakh to participate in the exam season. If the Artsakh State University conducts its exams online for its long distance students, the surplus funds will be allocated to Mariam’s next year’s tuition fees).
8. As of approximately December 12, 2022, the Berdzor Corridor, (a.k.a. Lachin Corridor), that connects Armenia to Artsakh have been illegally closed and occupied by Azerbaijani special forces personnel, under the cover of “eco-activists”. Until the re-opening of this corridor Mariam will be unable to travel to Artsakh to participate in the exam season, hence there is no need to fundraise for the items under this note, however we’ve included them as a place holder in our expense table, so the donors are aware.

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:
 

Notes:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. At the place where Mariam has been staying the utility fees were covered in the rent.
5. 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.
6. She didn’t require pocket money, since she was provided with some financial help for her lunch expenses, see note 5 above.

PRE-PROJECT REMARKS:

This is one of our annual projects, where we deliver school supplies to underprivileged children in villages in rural areas of Armenia. We started this project in 2014, with only 50 school supplies, and this was the case until 2019, where we expanded the project to 200 children. This year, we are taking another step further and going to deliver school supplies to 335 children, from rural underprivileged families of Armenia.

As per our procedure, we usually puts the photos of the actual supplies to be donated up on the website. However, for this year’s project the supplies were purchased form U.S.A., and not Canada, and they were directly shipped to Armenia. They are currently sealed in boxes, in the possession of one of our director’s, Arkadi Grigoryan so we won’t be able to post the actual photos of the supplies until the project commences in Armenia, in Spring of 2023 (due to COVID-19 travel restrictions), when Empower Armenia would resume its on -ground projects in Armenia. A detailed list consisting name and location of each school, along with quantities of supplies that will be donated to each school will be presented in the next few months on our website.

For details on our previous school supplies projects please visit the link here.

Please continue your support of our annual school supplies project, by visiting our ongoing projects tab. Since 2019, we have expanded to other educational projects, by supporting young Armenian high school graduates, who due to financial issues are unable to pursue a higher education, attend university. Please visit our ongoing projects for more details.

The donations are scheduled to be delivered in Spring of 2023. Please note, due to Covid-19 pandemic, Empower Armenia might push the project back to Summer of 2023.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please don’t hesitate to ask, we’ll be more than happy to address them.

If you like to donate via credit card or paypal please scroll down to see the paypal check out, or click on ‘Donate Now’ button and select ‘2021 School Supplies’ from the drop-down menu.

If you like to donate via e-mail money transfer (e-transfer option only available to Canadian donors) you may send your donations to info@empowerarmenia.com

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.

The following is the estimated project cost breakdown; it might be adjusted in the next few months for a more accurate estimate:

Notes:

1. It costs 250,000 AMD (~ $724.64 CAD) per year to attend Artsakh University as long distance learning.
2. 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 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 have been temporary moved to the Tatev village of Syunik Province. 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.
3. Expenses that may occur due to textbook purchases, photocopy or printing material throughout the year.
4. Due to the 2020 Artsakh war, Mariam will no longer need to travel to the university in Stepanakert during exam season twice a year. The items are left in the breakdown chart in case the circumstances change in the future. In a normal academic year, Mariam would have to travel to Stepanakert for the exam season, she would also have received study material for the following semester. She would have been required to stay in Stepanakert for a month. We calculated a flat rate of 80,000 AMD (else it is 5,000 AMD / day) for each time she stays in Stepanakert. She would have also had to pay for utilities, food and we will allocate a small amount for spending “pocket money”, for during each month that she stays in Stepanakert, if the current post war and pandemic circumstances change.