SOS Children in Armenia
A landlocked republic with Turkey to the west and Georgia to the north, Armenia has seen great changes since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Once dubbed the Soviet 'silicon valley', Armenia's economy collapsed when its old markets disappeared. Poverty is widespread with more than 60 per cent of the population living below the poverty line. Families with children under-five comprise almost 60 per cent of the poor. Chronic malnutrition among children under-five rose from 12 per cent in 1998 to 14 per cent in 2000.
Following the devastating earthquake in Armenia in 1988, the charity constructed an SOS Children's community for children who had lost their parents in the town of Kotajak, just outside the area that had been destroyed and about 15 km from Yerevan. The first children were able to move into their new homes together with their SOS mothers in 1990. As there were no pre-school facilities in the area, a provisional SOS kindergarten was set up in one of the family houses. This was replaced by a purpose-built kindergarten in 1995. The same year, an SOS youth centre was set up in Yerevan for the young people who had grown up in the village. Here they are looked after until they can live on their own. The village has twelve family houses, the walls of which have been decorated with colourful paintings by the children with the themes of 1700 Years of Christianity in Armenia and 50 Years of SOS Children.
Local Contacts
SOS Children in Armenia
SOS Children's Villages Armenian Charity Foundation,
5a Tpagrichneri str., apt. 3
375010 Erevan / Armenia
tel +374/1 52 09 96
e-mail soskotayk@dolphin.am
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