Volunteers from UWC Dilijan College Help Build a Home with Fuller Center

DIAN, Armenia—The United World College (UWC) Dilijan volunteer team—with members from Lebanon, Italy, the United States, South Africa, Portugal, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Syria, Brazil, Malaysia, and Zimbabwe—joined the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia (FCHA) in the Dian village of the Aragatsotn region to help the Hamazaspyan family build a decent home.

The Hamazaspyan family house is being built through the generous financial support of Mrs. Arlene Hajinlian from New York and other generous donors. The family will be able to move into their new home in 2016.

The volunteers worked hard for three days doing graveling and concreting work. They’ve proven that philanthropy knows no nationality, and have become advocates of the family’s right to live with dignity.

The only breadwinner of Hamazaspyan family, Sargis, is 25. He lives with his mother and two sisters in a deteriorated two-room house without basic conditions—no kitchen, no bathroom, concrete floors, and a wooden ceiling. In 2002, doctors found a dangerous formation on Sargis’s left cheek. He was operated on several times, but doctors lost hope that they could save his life. Fortunately, after six months Sargis began to recover. But some time later his face became deformed, making it difficult for him to see. Doctors said it was an infection and that they could do nothing.

A few years ago, his father started the construction of their new house, but liver cancer didn’t allow him finish it; he passed away in 2015.

“Our house is deteriorated and it can be destroyed at any moment,” said Anahid, the matriarch of the family. “I could never have imagined that there would be people who would help us build our home. I am unable to express my gratitude…and now these young people from different countries have come to help with the construction of our house; they are not our relatives or friends but work so hard as if they build their own house.”

“To see the work from our hands truly creating something, and something with meaning, was the most rewarding thing I could have hoped for,” said one UWC Dilijan student from the United States. “Sargis and his family made us feel so comfortable that the project does not truly deserve the term ‘work.’ Our team is hoping to return to the family at our next opportunity to continue the relationship we have begun.”

About UWC Dilijan College

UWC Dilijan College is a member of the United World College movement, begun in 1962 by Kurt Hahn. On 15 campuses spread across the globe, students from more than 140 countries live and work together during a 2-year program, during which they study the International Baccalaureate Diploma. The United World College movement does not stop at giving students an internationally acclaimed education; the movement aims to create inspired and motivated global citizens who are eager to make a positive impact on the world in the field of study they choose to follow. By living with peers from other parts of the world, students cultivate a deep sense of cultural understanding and acceptance, and by engaging in projects with local on-governmental organizations students gain a personal knowledge of the society and culture which surrounds them.

About the Fuller Center

The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia is a non-governmental, charitable organization that supports community development in the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh by assisting in building and renovating simple, decent, and affordable homes, as well as advocating for the right to a decent shelter as a matter of conscience and action. FCHA provides long-term, interest-free loans to low-income families. The monthly repayments flow into a Revolving Fund, which is used to help more families, thereby providing a financial foundation for sustainable community development. Since 2008 the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia has assisted more than 450 families.

For more information, visit www.fcharmenia.org.