The first of September was a day of triple celebration for the growing community of Arajamugh, a border village in Southern Artsakh, as the villagers celebrated the start of the new school year, the 10-year anniversary of the village school and the reopening of the school after its expansion.
The school, named after prominent Armenian writer Zabel Yessayan, is one of the fastest-growing village schools in Artsakh. Built a decade ago through the joint efforts of the Tufenkian Foundation and the Armenian Educational Foundation, the school last year welcomed 16 new students, a record number for these rural territories. This, despite the hardships that Artsakhtsis endured during and after the Four-Day War.
The expansion of the school is a testament to how much the community of Arajamugh has grown since its establishment by the Foundation 13 years ago. At the end of the last academic year, the village had so many school-aged children that the local school no longer had enough capacity to house them.
Led by Artsakh Fund-Eastern USA, construction works started this summer: 4 new classrooms were built and general renovation works were carried out to improve both the exterior and interior conditions of the school. Due to the added capacity, 85 children (10 are first-year students) will attend school in Arajamugh this year, with the number expected to rise yearly.
During the event, the Second Annual Human Rights Essay Contest in Artsakh, based on the Legacy of Zabel Yessayan, was launched (more details below).
For the people of Arajamugh, the school is not just a place for the children to learn. It is also a community center and a major employer (25 teachers from Arajamugh and from the neighboring villages currently work in the school), and we are happy to have been able to contribute to growth of the village with this small step.
The establishment and expansion of the Arajamugh village is one of our largest and most important initiatives aimed at the resettlement and development of Artsakh’s liberated borderlands. Since 2004 when the village was founded, we have built houses and supplementary facilities, including a school, a community center and a mayor’s office, as well as provided the villagers with water, power lines, sewage disposal, livestock barns, and gravel roads. Since 2016, the Artsakh Fund – Eastern USA has assumed primary responsibility for further expansion and development of the village. Since then, the Fund has built six additional houses and carried out the school expansion. Future plans include building a clinic and additional houses.
