Cardinal Aghajanian Hall Project

Background and Problem  Statement

Panik is a village in the Shirak Province of the Republic of Armenia. The village is located on the eastern part of the Shirak Province. According to the information, the village was founded by inhabitants emigrated from Alashkert district of Western Armenia. Here is the witnessing of the Armenian Mekhitarist Congregation Member Fr. Gabriel Nahapetian: “In 1812 a group of Armenian Catholics emigrated from the village Khastur of Alashkert district of Western Armenia headed by Levon Nahapetian and they settled in Kavtarlu village of the Shirak region.”  
In 1829 a chapel was built by Fr. Petros Nahapetian, in the place of the current church. They assigned the name of Virgin Mary to the chapel. Then, in 1846, the current church was built by Fr. Petros Nahapetian. The church is still standing and is considered as the only historical monument of the village.  
Panik village is one of the big communities of the Shirak Province. The community has a range of problems and the significant is the survey carried out by the PSM (Parish Social Ministry) on May, 2018. According to the survey, the primary problems of the community are the following: the lack of workplaces (114 persons), Aghajanian Hall (109 persons) and entertainment venues (60 persons), as well as the renovation of the culture house (70 persons). All the above-mentioned problems had led to the migration of a large number of young families. Thus, the population of the rural area moved abroad, as well as to the big cities of Armenia.  
Therefore, the Armenian Catholic parish of Panik has different initiatives for solving the general problems of the community members. One of them is to renovate a part of the Oratory building into Aghajanian Hall. The absence of the Hall causes:  
Non-rational use of time (because of the absence of the Hall in Panik community the baptism, birthday and wedding parties, as well as funeral repast are given in the houses which cause inconveniences for place as well as organizational processes (renting of tables, chairs and dishes).  
High expenses (the population of Panik use the Event Halls of Artik town, which brings additional transportation costs).

GOAL  
The goal of the project is to establish an Event Hall near the Armenian Catholic Church in Panik, in the building of Oratory to reduce the inconvenience of the community members for organizing the baptism, birthday and wedding parties, as well as funeral repast. 
 
 
 
ACTIVITIES  
The main activities of the project are:  
to renovate one part of the Oratory into Aghajanian Hall.   
to furnish the main hall, kitchen and the food warehouse.  
 
 
BENEFICIARIES 
The immediate beneficiaries of this project are the 2324 inhabitants of the community (young people, middle age, and the elderly), whereas the indirect beneficiaries are those who work abroad (500 persons), guests and the inhabitants of the neighbour communities.