Warmth for Hope of a New Life

What are we fundraising for and why?

Following the arrival in Armenia of over 100,000 forcibly displaced ethnic Armenians (including 30,000 children) from Nagorno-Karabakh, a severe humanitarian crisis is unfolding as winter is coming. These families need to heat their barely minimal homes and have nothing to do so! Oxford Armenia Foundation pledges to send emergency aid to the Noyemberyan Community (Tavush region - Northern Armenia), which has welcomed 115 families so far. Although these families have been provided temporary housing, they still lack basic necessities. Most importantly, they need heating devices and heating fuel to survive the harsh winter in the region.

We have worked with Noyemberyan municipality social services to assess the homes and family numbers and evaluate their energy needs accordingly. We are also working hard to develop this initiative in other communities where displaced Armenians have been allocated an abandoned house.

Fundraising Campaign Beneficiaries:

The forcibly displaced families of Nagorno-Karabakh are facing a critical situation as winter approaches, urgently requiring heating devices and heating fuel to endure the harsh weather conditions. The Karabakh Armenian community is deeply rooted in family values, often marrying at a young age and raising large families living together under one roof. Tragically, since December 2022, these families have been deprived of essential resources, including food, medicine, and heating fuel, leaving them with numerous pressing needs.

Budget:

Heating devices - £2,800 (for 115 families)

Heating fuel - £30,475 (1 ton per family for winter months). We are currently discussing cost-effective and environmentally friendly options to import briquettes.

Total budget: £33,275

Fundraising context:

On 19th September, after nine months of an imposed blockade, Azerbaijan started a military aggression on the ethnic Armenian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. After many deaths and international pressure, Azerbaijan opened the Lachin corridor. Over 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled their ancestral homeland, leaving everything behind to find refuge in Armenia. This violent ethnic cleansing has created a dire humanitarian crisis within Armenia, whose capacity and structures to provide aid are extremely limited.

Displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh represent an increase of over 3% of Armenia’s own population who lives already in very poor conditions, particularly in the regions outside Yerevan.

Why is an educational charity raising funds for heating devices and fuel?

We would like to stress the impact of energy access on education and schooling. Since 2021, we have visited many schools in rural Armenia where attendance problems are related to extreme poverty often combined with border zone conflicts. In this rural context, children have to gather wood for fuel, help with younger siblings and too often prioritise household chores rather than school or homework. This sudden increase in the population is already causing significant strain on essential social services, including education.

As part of our effort to support emergency educational needs, we decided to start a one-off fundraising drive to bring warmth to families in need of heating devices and fuel. We are working in coordination with the Noyemberyan municipality to identify the families in need and provide urgently needed warmth to their households.

All our 2023 educational projects have been financed including the “Stepping Stones to Reading” project aimed at improving the development of literacy for preschool children aged 4 to 5 running until April 2024. We would like to clarify that our commitment to quality education in rural Armenia is continuing as normal and that no funding will be taken away from our ongoing educational projects.

Help us bring warmth to displaced families’ households! We can only achieve this with your help and support! Please support us by donating and sharing this page. Every contribution matters.

Who we are

Oxford Armenia Foundation (1193788) and Books for Hope Armenia are non-profit educational charities working together to strengthen the literacy, numeracy skills and well-being of children and young adults in rural schools and communities. We have a shared vision of enhancing educational opportunities for children in rural Armenia. We achieve our objectives by developing and implementing various educational programmes for vulnerable and disadvantaged children in the most socio-economically deprived and isolated areas of Armenia.

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