News

Wednesday 1st September 2004
AGBU LONDON ALL SET TO BUILD NEW BORDER VILLAGE IN ARTSAKH

As part of the worldwide AGBU Centennial Project to celebrate 100 years of existence of the AGBU in 2006, AGBU London is proud to announce the commencement of the building of a new border village, close to the Norashen village built by AGBU France. The funding of the new village has been made possible largely by the generosity of the UK Armenians and AGBU London.

At a public meeting at Hayashen on 31st August 2004, to which all AGBU members and donors were invited, Mr Harout Aghajanian (AGBU Executive Chairman) and Mr Bedros Aslanyan (Hon. Treasurer) updated attendees on the Norashen Project, now ready to proceed in October 2004. They reported on their one-week visit to Armenia and Artsakh in August for the purpose of progressing the project, financing their visit entirely from personal funds so that every penny of the donations - currently £30,000+ is used for the Artsakh development.

AGBU London Executives in Armenia, Karabagh

At their meetings with the Prime Minister of Artsakh, Government officials and the AGBU Yerevan Office, Mr Aghajanian and Mr Aslanyan covered all aspects of the project to ensure successful progress, with checks and balances at agreed stages. The project has the support of the Artsakh government, the personal backing of the Prime Minister and the Repopulation  Department, in addition to supervision by AGBU Yerevan and London and a Stepanakert-based AGBU Project Manager.

The current funds will build six 2 and 3-roomed houses for families displaced by the war, now on government waiting lists and living in Armenia or the CIS. The families will be allocated "seed money" and livestock by the government to help them attain self-sufficiency in this temperate agricultural area. The new village will share medical, educational and community facilities with the Norashen village nearby.

Twenty households are considered to be an ideal village. More funds are needed and we appeal to you to make an important contribution to the future stability and security of Armenia and Artsakh by making a donation, no matter how small.

Can you help?

Please join us in making a gift of a village from the UK Armenian community to the Artsakh people a reality and send your donation to:

AGBU London, P O Box 3102, Barnet, EN4 0ZL

If you have any questions please contact the Chairman, Harout Aghajanian at harout@agbu.org.uk

New name sought for Armenian village

The work is about to start. A name for the village is needed and AGBU London invites all members of the UK community to participate in selecting the name. See WIN 2 RETURN TICKETS TO PARIS ON EUROSTAR

Please note that AGBU London does not have paid staff. All work is carried out on a voluntary basis.