The “Wings” program will from now on also give “wings” to the Artsakh residents who took refuge in Gyumri

On August 25, the “Wings-Gyumri” three-month rehabilitation program initiated by the development agency “We are our mountains” was launched in the Friendship Park of Gyumri, intended for children aged 4-18 and their parents who were forcibly displaced from Artsakh.

The project aims to restore the physical, psychological and mental resources of Artsakh children and adolescents through art therapies, sports and informal education, as well as to contribute to their adaptation and integration into the new settlement.

In the coming 3 months, the ”We are Our Mountains” development agency will ”give wings” to more than 40 children from Artsakh and their parents. The project is open to approximately 4000 children who have found refuge in Shirak, along with their families.

Sona Hovhannisyan, the project coordinator, says that the idea of the project was born in September 2023 when the children, having gone through a 10-month long blockade, the horrors of war and forced displacement, arrived in Armenia in a challenging mental and physical state.

”It was imperative to take action to help the children overcome the difficult state. We launched the project in November 2023 in Dilijan, ”giving wings” to 150 children and their parents. It is quite symbolic that the project is launched today in Gyumri’s Friendship Park which is being reconstructed at the initiative of Ruben Vardanyan, the co-founder of our agency. Although Ruben is illegally detained in Baku, his charitable mission continues, bringing hope and light to hundreds of people. We plan to extend the project to Syunik in the near future. Our goal is make «The Wings» available to the entire population of Artsakh in Armenia” says Sona Hovhannisyan.

The program also offers psychological support for families with the help of individual and group therapies, as well as social integration and acquaintance with the new place of residence through cognitive excursions.

At the opening of the “Wings-Gyumri” project, the participants discovered the yard games of Gyumri and Artsakh, communicated with each other in their dialects, got acquainted with the historical and cultural monuments of Gyumri, coloring the map of the city and listening to the stories of Gyumri children.

“Wings” rehabilitation program is implemented with the support of “Satar Artsakhan Union” and “DAR” charitable organization.

“We are our mountains” development agency was founded by Ruben Vardanyan and his colleagues. The organization helps compatriots forcibly displaced from Artsakh in 2023 to recover and become stronger in Armenia.