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Sponsor A Child
To read the story of a featured child, click on their name. If you wish to sponsor a child, click on the button marked sponsor.
Child Sponsorship Program in Armenia, Karabagh & Georgia
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Child Education Program in the Middle East
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Sona M.
I was born in Dilijan town, Armenia, on January 23, 1997. I am attending secondary school #2 and I am in the 6th grade. My favorite subject at school is Singing. I have dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. My father Paikar abandoned our family and doesn’t support us. My mother Liana left for Russia for earnings. She sometimes helps us with small sums of money from there. I live with my grandmother, grandfather and my uncle. My grandmother Susanna is my guardian. My uncle is imprisoned now. My grandfather is handicapped. Our income is not enough to support us. I attend Evangelical church and Sunday school. I live at my grandmother’s 3-roomed apartment. It is furnished with old furniture. The windows of the apartment overlook the cemetery.
(AR9-069)
Andranik Y.
I was born in Noyemberian town, Armenia, on October 30, 1998. I am attending secondary school #2 and I am in the 3rd grade. My favorite subject at school is Handicraft. I have green eyes and brown hair. My father Rafik left for earning for Russia. He is a laborer there. He helps us very seldom. My mother Anoush is unemployed. She is my grandmother. I have a 18 year-old stepbrother and 2 sisters (20 and 15 years old). My stepbrother has brain problems. We have no regular income and we don’t receive Government allowance. We live in a room provided by my grandfather. It serves both as a bedroom and as a dining room. The toilet is outdoors. The room is badly furnished.
(AR16-062)
Mhkitar K.
I was born in Noyemberian town, Armenia, on December 17, 2001. I don’t attend school yet. I have brown eyes and brown hair. My father Sashik is a guard. He is my guardian. My mother Anita is unemployed. I have 2 brothers (15 and 9 years old) and 3 sisters (16, 3 and 0.5 years old). We receive Government allowance but our income is not enough to support us. We live in a 2-storey house, which is destroyed after the bombing. Two rooms only are fit for use. Our house is gasified. The rooms are partially furnished. We have no bathroom. The water source is outdoors. My grandfather lives in a room in the same house with us but he doesn’t communicate with us.
(AR16-058)
Areg A.
I was born in Noyemberian town, Armenia, on June 10, 2002. I don’t attend school yet. I have black eyes and brown hair. My father Sos is unemployed. He is my guardian. My mother Ruzan is unemployed, too. My both parents are deaf and dumb. I have a 3-year-old brother. We receive Government allowance but it is not enough to support us. We live in a 3-room tumbledown house. It has been damaged after the earthquake. The rooms are partially furnished. The house is gasified. We have a small house adjoining lot. The toilet is outdoors.
(AR16-061)
Garnik M.
I was born in Tchambarak village, Armenia, on October 25, 1998. I live in Dilijan town now. I am attending secondary school #2 and I am in the 4th grade. My favorite subject at school is Drawing. I have light brown eyes and dark brown hair. My father Nver is unemployed. He is my guardian. My mother Angela is unemployed, too. We have no regular source of income and we even don’t receive Government allowance because we have problems with documentation. I attend Evangelical church and Sunday school. We have no house of our own and we have to live in a 1-room apartment, which belongs to our relative who is away now. The only room in the apartment serves both as a bedroom and as a living room. The apartment is not gasified. The furnishing is old.
(AR9-074)
Tatoul M.
I was born in Dilijan town, Armenia, on October 3, 1999. I am attending secondary school #4 and I am in the 4th grade. My favorite subject at school is Math. I have brown eyes and brown hair. My father Artak died of heart attack in 2003. My mother Naira is unemployed. She is my guardian. I have a 9-year-old sister. We receive Government allowance but it is not enough to support us. I attend Evangelical church and Sunday school. We live in a 4-room house but we occupy two rooms only as the rest doesn’t belong to us. The house is gasified. We have a small house adjoining lot. The furnishing is very old and modest. My sister and I have to share one bed.
(AR9-071)
Sarine A.
I am in 4th grade. I am nine years old. My favourite subject is English. I'm a bright student. I like to play on the computer. Our family consists of four members.My father Koko fixes cars ; his income is very limited because he is not workng most of the days of the week due to the country's economic crisis. My mother Vartoug is a housewife . I have a sister Hera in grade 12. Since my father is the only one who supports us financially, he is not able to cover the full tuition of his two children . In the future, I want to be a teacher. I have brown colored eyes.
(CHS-17837)
Harout K.
I'm a 3 year old boy in nursery. I have an older brother Hagop, 5 years old. My father repairs air conditions but doesn't have a permanent job due to the job crisis in the country. My mother doesn't work. She is at home taking care of us.We live in a small rented apartment. We suffer financially. We cannot afford paying the school tuition. We don't have a car and so we cannot go on trips.
(Trad-New)
Lory K.
I'm a 5 years old girl in KG 2. I have a sister Palig, 7 years old in grade 2. My father is a dyer with a low salary. My mother wants to work to support the family but she cannot find a job. So she is at home taking care of her family. We have difficulty in paying school tuition. We live in a small, uncomfortable, humid, rented apartment. We don't have a car, so we are always in our neighborhood.
(Trad-17915)
Razmig M.
I am a student in grade four. I am 10 years old. My family consists of six members: Father, mother, me, two sisters (ages 7 & 16), and a brother (age 15). All of my siblings are in the same school with me. My father works for the municipality as a policeman (night shifts). My mother takes care of the family at home. We live in a small apartment near the school, which we are trying to buy by installments. My father's humble income is hardly enough for the basic needs of the whole family and the installments. I am a lively and happy child . I like playing football a lot.
(SHT-17426)
Child Sponsorship Program in Armenia
Directly after the devastating earthquake of 1988 in Armenia, the AMAA began conducting relief operations providing basic health & nutrition support to orphans and impoverished children in Armenia. In 1991, the AMAA began a sponsorship program in order to help these children and their families on a regular basis. AMAA is dedicated to safe-guarding the future of the children of Armenia by ensuring their survival. The program began with just 37 sponsored children. Over the years, as unemployment and inflation have impoverished more and more families, the number of sponsored children has swollen to 2,819 (as of May 2006). Unfortunately, children are the first and the defenseless victims of this crisis., The sponsored children and their families are supplied with necessary provisions and cash through scheduled year-round home visits by AMAA's local relief workers. The AMAA provides basic food-stuffs, clothing, personal hygiene and health items and school supplies. The AMAA also provides special-event programs for children during Christmas/New Year and Easter holidays.
FAQ: Armenia
What Will It Cost Me if I decide to sponsor?
Sponsoring a child in Armenia costs U.S. $250.00 per child per year.
Can I Pay In Installments?
Yes. You may pay quarterly (U.S. $60.00 per quarter) or monthly (U.S. $21.00 per month).
Is My Payment Tax-Deductible?
Yes. Your payments are fully tax-deductible.
Can I Choose The Child I Wish To Sponsor?
You may state your preferences (age, sex, etc.), and we will take them into consideration when assigning children to sponsors.
Do I Get Information About My Sponsored Child?
Yes. You will receive a recent photograph of the child, and information about the circumstances of the child and his or her family.
Can I Sponsor The Same Child Year After Year?
Yes. You may continue to sponsor the same child as long as you wish and as long as the child remains in the program. Children are dropped from the program when they reach the age of 16 or 17 or graduate from a secondary school.
Can I Write To My Sponsored Child?
Will I Get Letters From My Sponsored Child?
Every sponsored child grows up and eventually is dropped from the program, to be replaced by another child from the waiting list. When your sponsored child leaves the program, another child will automatically be assigned to you and your sponsorship will continue without interruption.
The names and addresses of indigent families with children are obtained from government offices, individuals, and other relief organizations. AMAA representatives then visit and interview each family to ascertain the pertinent facts. The only criteria applied in the selection process are the degree of poverty and the presence of one or more children under the age of 17.
Can Two Or More Children In A Family Be Sponsored?
No. Only one child per family may be included in the sponsorship program. In this way the benefits of the program can reach more families.
How Long Does A Child Remain In The Program?
How Much of A Sponsor's Payment Reaches The Child's Family?
100% of a sponsor's payment in the form of goods and cash reaches the sponsored child's family.
Child Education Program in the Middle East
Established during the 1960's by the AMAA, the Child Education Program in the Middle East aims at making it possible for underprivileged, poor Armenian children to acquire a meaningful primary and secondary education in a Christian environment. A sponsor's entire contribution is applied to the tuition of a sponsored child selected strictly on the basis of need. In the Middle East, an acceptable education, as a rule, is available only in private schools, which, of necessity, charge tuition. Because our organization considers it unacceptable for an Armenian child to be denied a proper education because of poverty, this program was set up to provide educational opportunities for underprivileged children who might otherwise be deprived of a basic education.
This is the only Education sponsorship program in the Middle East to identify underprivileged Armenian children at risk of missing out on an education, to find sponsors for such children and to guarantee an education for sponsored children.
Why Don't The Children Attend Public Schools?
In most of the Middle East, public schools are substandard and often geared to Islamic values. The only academically acceptable schools are private ones, and such schools are sup-ported primarily by tuition fees.
How Does the Program operate?
How Many Schools Are In This program?
How Many Children?
There are 12 schools in this program: eight in Lebanon (one of them a boarding school) and four in Syria. Currently there are about 845 sponsored children in these schools. Since the program's inception in 1946, more than 36,000 children have been helped.
How Are Sponsored Children selected?
Selection of the children for this program is made by the administrators of the schools. Children are selected strictly on the basis of need. Currently, about 90% of the sponsored children are Armenian Apostolic.
How Long Does A Child Remain in The Program?
As long as a child has a sponsor, that child remains in the program until he or she completes secondary school.
How Much of a Sponsor's payment is Applied to the Child's Tuition?
A sponsor's entire contribution is applied to the tuition of a sponsored child.
What will it cost me to sponsor a child in the Middle East?
The cost of sponsoring a child in this program is U.S. $240.00 per child, per academic year.
Is my payment tax-deductible?
Yes. All sponsorship payments are fully tax-deductible.
Can I choose the child I wish to sponsor?
Not exactly. You may state your preference (age, sex, etc.) and we shall take that into consideration when assigning available children to sponsors.
Do I get information about my sponsored child?
Yes. You will receive a recent photograph and a letter.
Can I sponsor the same child year after year?
Yes. You may continue to sponsor the same child as long as you wish, and as long as the child remains in the program.
Can I write to my sponsored child?
Yes. Your letters should be sent to the AMAA office; they will be forwarded to the Middle East and delivered to your sponsored child at the child's school.
Will I get letters from my sponsored child?
Each sponsored child is urged to write to his or her sponsor once a year. Letters are collected by a teacher, and sent to AMAA's office in the United States for delivery to the sponsors.
Can I send gifts to my sponsored child?
No. We discourage such gifts in the interest of perceived fairness by the children, because some would receive gifts and others would not. Since contact with the children is through the schools, such disparities would become immediately apparent.
What happens when my sponsored child leaves the program?
Every sponsored child grows up and eventually leaves the program, to be replaced by another child needing a sponsor. When your sponsored child leaves the program, another child will be assigned to you, and your sponsorship will continue without interruption.
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© 2007 AMAA (Armenian Missionary Association of America, Inc.)
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