A.S.A.P.

CYSCA Archives for before 2003

As we complete our ninth year we reflect on the many schools that we have assisted under our CYSCA Armenia School Aid Project (ASAP) through the good graces of our dedicated sponsors. Over the nine years we have made 18 semi-annual trips to distribute contributions from sponsors to over 100 schools. Our program has provided badly needed assistance to these secondary schools in Armenia and at the same time has become an example for other individual sponsors and organizations to follow.

In 1994, Eva Medzorian, CYSCA board member and ASAP program director, pioneered the concept of ASAP, linking sponsors with schools. As ASAP caught on, other individual sponsors and organizations saw that direct aid to a specific school is a very effective and efficient means of helping the schools and other similar programs began. And, we can say that although the situation with the schools today is still not optimal, there has been a lot of improvement and more in the works. Three years ago, the Armenia Social Investment Fund (ASIF) was established to support infrastructure projects with World Bank funds. In this period of time ASIF has provided significant funding for renovation and repair of schools on a matching funds basis.

In May and September 2002, we visited 19 schools delivering sponsors' funds and obtaining information to feed back to the sponsors. Among these is one school in the northeast of Armenia in a town called Berd, about 3 hours from Yerevan and on the Azeri border. During Soviet times this was a flourishing town. It is on the way to Kazak, a major city in Azerbaijan and many people were going back and forth during Soviet times. Today, it seems that no one goes to Berd, except for ASAP. Eight years ago, one of our sponsors, Edward Shooshanian, visited there with us and decided to sponsor school #3 which he has continued faithfully to support each year. In September 2002, he revisited his school with us and became so concerned by the major problems they face, that he promised to return home and begin a fundraising campaign to get funding to put the school in decent shape. Imagine that there is no water in the school, only one outhouse for a student population of 500 and staff of 50. One side of the building has missing window panes because the Azeris had shelled on that side; there is no central heat, the desks and chairs are all broken down and need to be replaced; there are no computers, etc. etc. BUT, in spite of these problems the school maintains high standards, as their students excel academically, with a majority of the graduates going on to a university.

Another example of individual initiative is CYSCA Board member Seta Sullivan. When she lost her mother Olivia Bakamjian in November 2002, she decided to request that in lieu of flowers donations be made to ASAP in memory of her mother, who, like Seta, was a kind, humanitarian woman, always wanting to help others. Donations can be made to: CYSCA-ASAP, In Care Of: Eva Medzorian, 8 Berkshire Drive, Winchester, MA 01890.

In December, ASAP received an extraordinarily generous bequest of $25,000 from the estate of Alice Ohanasian, who passed away on February 28, 2002. She had many charitable interests and contributed to a number of charities dedicated to promoting education and a better understanding of people and cultures in the world. CYSCA is deeply grateful for this gift and efforts will be made to receive matching funds from the World BankÕs Armenian Social Investment Fund.

And we can tell you many other such stories that all add up to win/win. The students, teachers, staff, parents, the community, the nation and our own sponsors are all winners with CYSCA-ASAP.

The Armenia School Aid Project (ASAP) has been one of CYSCA's most significant endeavors, focused on improving the lives of countless school children in Armenia who would otherwise have languished in substandard school buildings. Many of these buildings would have been condemned in the US. Eight years ago when we began this program there were approximately 1,300 secondary schools in Armenia and at that time the monthly salary was $2.00 for teachers and $3.50 for directors. From the inception of this project one hundred secondary schools have been aided by CYSCA-ASAP in locations ranging from Yerevan to remote towns, villages and devastated earthquake regions. Through numerous written reports and public presentations, we were able to bring public awareness of the deplorable conditions in the schools that the Armenian children and educators endured.

I founded this program in 1994 with the assistance of my husband Jack. Recently, Saro Khachikian Joined our team as Co-Director. One of our major challenges is to find interested sponsors in the US who agree to make a financial commitment to help a needy secondary school in Armenia. One hundred percent of the donor's money is given to the school. We cover our own travel expenses to Armenia. This is a labor of love where we can see the immediate benefit. The donor's school is documented and filmed before and after improvements are made. Letters and photographs are exchanged between sponsors and school children. We try to create a link between the sponsor and the school, which has resulted in some cases in visits by sponsors to their school during their trips to Armenia. Material aid in the form of library books, school supplies and computers have also been furnished to the needy schools in addition to the financial donations.

Today the average salary for teachers has grown to $15 a month and $20 for directors. In December, 2001 Jack and I delivered sponsors' donations to nineteen schools located in the villages of Berd, Saroukhan, and Ara, and in districts of Yerevan such as Shengavit, South West Massiv, Kanaker, Nor Zeytoon, Sari Tagh, Mashdots and Erebuni

Seven years ago, Jack, Haig Deranian and I introduced the concept of school aid for Armenia to the Grand Council of the Knights of Vartan, then under the leadership of Grand Commander Edward Medzian. In 1995, the Knights of Vartan adopted this project in their program under the chairmanship of my husband Jack, who set it up and ran it for two years. Today, it has become the premier program of the organization, including its Daughters of Vartan affiliate. As a result of this initial program, Armenia school aid is now part of the national Knights of Vartan program in the US.

Although many gains have been made, our project can still grow. Each one of us can actively participate to help save the children, and give hope a chance to bloom in the hearts and minds of the people as we reach out to show that we really care what happens to them.

For more information about this worthy program or to sponsor a school, contact Eva Medzorian at 781-729-6457.