Tackling Educational Disadvantage in Armenia

We are launching the second phase of our project ‘Tackling Educational Disadvantage in Rural Armenia’ in the summer of 2022 and we need your help!

 

Oxford Armenia Foundation’s inaugural project in the summer of 2021 brought art therapy sessions, dance and painting & drawing lessons and educational trips to over 100 disadvantaged children from Yerazgavors and Bayandur communities of the Shirak region, one of Armenia’s most economically deprived areas. Check out this short summary video of what we accomplished last summer.

 

The project was a great success and this year we are ready to expand it to other rural communities of Armenia where children have no opportunities for engaging in creative and stimulating educational activities.

 

Once again we will be partnering with Armenian Caritas who has an impeccable reputation as a charity with a long-standing commitment to delivering community-based development programmes to implement this project.

 

We can only achieve this with your help and support! Please spread the word about our initiative. Every contribution matters.

 

Project targets

We aim to arrange summer activities for children (ages 8-15) in at least four remote and economically deprived communities of Armenia, including returning to Yerazgavors and Bayandur where our beneficiaries, their parents and community leaders are waiting impatiently to resume the programmes.

 

The two-month activities this summer will include, but are not limited to:

 

We aim to double the number of beneficiaries (to 200) and reach out to as many disadvantaged children and communities as possible.

 

We aim to minimise the costs and maximise the impact, we will be engaging volunteers who have experience in working with children and youth to deliver our activities.

 

All activities will be free for beneficiaries and all costs will be covered including tuition fees, equipment, venue bookings, snacks, transport, etc.

 

The estimated total cost of the project is £7400.

 

On therapeutic effects of art therapy

We consider art therapy a powerful therapeutic tool for working through our beneficiaries’ experiences and perceptions and helping them battle war trauma, social isolation and discomfort, and other psychological issues. This, together with painting and dancing lessons, will help the beneficiaries to feel less isolated and create strong social ties with their peers. Finally, a series of educational trips will motivate our beneficiaries to study and strive for personal development.

 

While therapy through art and culture is already in practice in many parts of the world, it is certainly new territory for educational programmes in Armenia. Such opportunities are simply not available to children and teenagers living in our target areas. We want to bring a memorable and healing change into the lives of our beneficiaries and make an important contribution towards building stronger and happier communities.

 

Art therapy has had a significant positive impact on how our beneficiaries perceive themselves and the world around them. The sessions helped the children to think of themselves and their experiences in a more constructive way. You can learn more here: ‘Healing War Trauma With Art Therapy’ .

 

About Oxford Armenia Foundation (OAF)

The Oxford Armenia Foundation (OAF) is a UK based charity (1193788). We are committed to providing children, youth and their families with educational opportunities that are otherwise not accessible to them and our specific focus is on the under-developed rural communities of Armenia, where children and youth lack basic educational needs.

We believe that education can change lives and that no child should be left behind. By supporting Armenia’s children, we invest in the country’s future. To learn more about the Oxford Armenia Foundation, visit our Website.

 

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