The school was been rebuilt through the joint efforts of the Tufenkian Foundation and the Hayrenaser organization.
Tufenkian Foundation Executive Director Raffi Doudaklian, Stepan Sargsyan of the Hayrenaser organization, Deputy Head of Kashatagh regional administration Artush Mkhitaryan, and other guests attended the opening.
Prior to the reconstruction, the school was in a dire state and was unsafe for children to attend. One part of the building was in complete ruins. As a result of a four-month-long reconstruction, a new roof has been built, new windows and doors have been installed, bathrooms have been added, and several general improvements have been made.
The historically Armenian village of Hak, which was subjected to ethnic cleansing by Azerbaijani Armed Forces at the beginning of the 20th century, was liberated by Armenians during the early 1990s. However, like most villages in Kashatagh, the village found itself in dire need of resettlement, reconstruction, and development after the war.
A scene from the ribbon-cutting ceremony (Photo: Tufenkian Foundation)
Today, Hak is one of the fastest-growing village communities in the liberated borderlands of Artsakh. Out of a total population of 110, 50 are children. Because of the poor state of the school prior to reconstruction, some of the village’s school-age children had to go to the secondary school of a nearby village. With the number of children increasing, rebuilding the local school had long become a top priority for the community.
As a result of the reconstruction and improvement efforts, the school has been transformed from war-torn ruins into a well-built, safe, and bright learning space for the children of Hak. Fifteen children currently attend the school. However, due to the reconstruction, up to 50 children can study at the school from now on, including from neighboring villages.
The interior of the village school prior to reconstruction (Photo: Tufenkian Foundation)
Tufenkian Foundation Executive Director Raffi Doudaklian congratulated the people of Hak for what he called a victory for the village. “Very soon, the school will have almost 50 children, and it is these children who will bring the school and the entire village alive by filling these halls with their laughter and smiles, with a joyful and life-asserting noise…. And it is these children who, by growing up in this historic village, will breathe life into our liberated lands and reaffirm them as an inseparable part of our homeland,” Doudaklian said.
In addition to being the sole educational institution in the village, the school is also an important community center, where various cultural and social events can take place. The school is also a key employer for the community: Nine full-time teachers and five administrative employees work there.
“We are very happy that this school is now a reality, and that together with the Tufenkian Foundation we were able to bring this project to life in such a short time. We are looking forward to the day when these classrooms are too small for all the children studying here so we can come back and happily expand the school,” Stepan Sargsyan, a co-founder of the Hayrenaser Organization, said
Artush Mkhitaryan, deputy head of Kashatagh regional administration, also expressed his gratitude to the Tufenkian Foundation and the Hayrenaser Organization. “We feel stronger when we see the support of Diaspora Armenians, of all Armenians, in joining our efforts to rebuild this country,” Mkhitaryan said.
Out of a total population of 110, 50 are children (Photo: Tufenkian Foundation)
The reconstruction of the Hak school is a part of the Tufenkian Foundation’s efforts to resettle and develop the liberated borderlands of Artsakh. In the framework of this initiative, the foundation has completed more than 40 construction works in the strategic Kashatagh region: Homes, schools, and clinics have been built or renovated.
Supporting the schools of Kashatagh has been a priority for the foundation throughout recent years. In addition to the school in Hak, the foundation built and later expanded the school of Arajamugh village in collaboration with the Artsakh Fund of the Eastern U.S.; renovated the school of Hochants village; established an elementary school in Getap; and renovated the school of Aghavnatun village. Moreover, the foundation has provided musical instruments to the music school of Berdzor and built or expanded school libraries in all villages of Kashatagh.
The Tufenkian Foundation has collaborated with and received support from various individuals and organizations for the realization of these efforts, including the Armenian Educational Foundation and the Artsakh Fund of the Eastern U.S. (Arajamugh school), Ms. Virginia Davies (Hochants school), Armenian Community Council of Great Britain (Getap school), OneArmenia and the Armenian Centre Trust UK (Aghavnatun school).
