By Kohar Mardirossian Pelter | Project Leaders
SOAR Dental Giving Campaign 06/20/2016
By Kohar Mardirossian Pelter and George Yacoubian, Jr.
Under the grip of extreme poverty, poor health and destitution, live many elderly, children and families in Gyumri , the second largest city in Armenia. Struggling to find food, water , and medicine, dental health is nonexistent for them.
Melsida, Nadejda, Goharik and Asia, are a few of the elderly, who get basic nutrition and clothing at a day care center for elderly in Gyumri. Some with no surviving families, others trying to support their children and grandchildren who are incapacitated, orphaned or have been abandoned by their parents who have left them behind while seeking employment in foreign countries.
Geghetsik is a 62 years old, lives in the so called "Kazatchi post" residential area in Gyumri that is considered one of the poorest living areas of the city. Her family consists of 6 people - Geghetsik, her husband, 2 daughters, one of them is a single mom with 2 kids. They all live in a century old building dating back to the early 1900s. The building has never had any type of renovations, is in complete disrepair, with no fuel for heating . During the harsh cold icy winters they burn anything they can find to get warm. The building has no toilet or sewer system and the family resorts to use an outside pit. The father works as a guard and receives only 30,000 AMD about $62 monthly with a very small stipend for the kids from the government.
Geghetsik's neighbor is Mariam and her 7 year old son Artyom who is in poor health. Artyom's father has left to Russia in search of employment and they have not heard back from him for a long time. Unemployed, Mariam lives off of the land and through the leftovers and assistance of the neighbors. Their shack has no gas, no electricity, water or sewer. For heat, they use anything which can be burnt. The only means of living is gathering empty bottles from a garbage dump or cemetery and selling them.
Such stories are more common and form the norm of the population in Gyumri. They suffer all types of health ailments and severe conditions of dental health.
On behalf of the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR), we wish to express our utmost gratitude to generous donors like you. With the assistance of contributors such as yourself, SOAR was able to open a dental suit for the Our Lady of Armenia (OLA) Center in Gyumri in March of 2016. Your support has made it possible for the orphans of the Gyumri community to receive regular dental screenings and treatments by visiting dentists and other dental health professionals. That’s right - your support resulted in constructing the only dental care facility in the city of Gyumri.
Although the construction of the dental suit is complete, our efforts are not finished. We are still in need of funds for purchasing supplies and providing the clinic with basic dental care necessities. In addition, we need to be able to fund the annual maintenance of the clinic, as well as continue to fund the dental health professionals that work at the clinic.
With cavities being the most prevalent chronic disease among children in Armenia, we encourage you to help the needy orphans as they are in dire need of dental care. Your tax
deductible donation will aid in providing all of the basic necessities for managing a dental clinic that will benefit the orphans.
Please consider the orphaned children and elderly in their time of need, as basic necessities such as regularly visiting a dentist would not be possible were it not for generosity of continued supporters like you.
Donations are accepted through the GlobalGiving Dental Care Campaign for Orphans (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/dental-care-clinics-for-orphans-in-armenia), and no amount is too small.
Again, please accept our most heartfelt gratitude for joining our efforts to make a difference in the orphaned children’s lives. With your continued support, together, we can provide these children with the happiest and most beautiful smiles. Imagine the possibilities of what your continued support can bring to the needy orphaned children of Armenia that desire nothing but to live happy lives.
We encourage you to share this message with you family and friends to help raise awareness for our cause. To join our efforts in supporting the Dental Care Campaign, whether monetary or active volunteer support, please contact us at info@soar-ur.org.
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