Children Affected by War
After every war the families of fallen soldier face hardships after loosing their loved one. So was the case in the 2020 "Forty-Four Day War" between Armenia and Azerbaijan where thousands of soldiers on both sides lost their lives and were wounded.
While there are institutions established to provide stable, equal compensation for the well being of fallen, missing, and disabled soldiers and their families like the Insurance Foundation for Servicemen in Armenia, the aftermath of war is always messy and things take time and needed funds don’t always reach their beneficiaries quickly due to various reasons.
Zhanna Petrosyan, 35, from the village of Tsapatagh of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and her seven children stand next to their belongings in a centre for refugees Yerevan, Armenia
During this war children (from both sides) have seen bombs explode, people die and their life - as they knew it - violently change. While many Armenians were spontaneous in donating food, clothes, money and other goods during the war the impact of the war is beyond anyone had imagined or witnessed before.
Addressing the needs of the victims of the 2020 "Forty-Four Day War" will take years, if not decades. The Armenian government has been overwhelmed with the humanitarian dimensions of the fallen, wounded and missing soldiers and their families.
We Cannot Leave the Innocent Children that were Affected by the War & Social Injustice to Tend for Themselves. Children that Lived Through the Conflict Have not Given up on Their Dreams and Futures.
Photo of a child in a Kindergarden in Goris (southern Armenia). Pho credit Srbuhi Ohanjanyan/Save the Children
Many of the families and the children affected by the war are still living as refugees as they don’t have anywhere to return to.
Like in every war, there are always heroic personalities that go beyond the call of duty. Two such people that I met during the war are Zabelle Berberian and Nayre Boghossyan-Melkonyan who decided to help children that lost their fathers during the war by starting the “New Bird’s Nest Charitable NGO”. Their pilot program is designed to provide direct cash transfers for 1 year, and committed to delivering 100% per donated amounts directly to the beneficiaries of the program ( i.e. no program overhead costs). All cash transfers are transferred on a monthly basis to beneficiaries for a period of 1 year. Zabelle and Nayre believe that the families of the fallen do not deserve to live in poverty and deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives — the monthly cash transfers enable that choice. Their initial target is to affect the lives of 300 such children.
In fact, I discovered that solid research finds people use cash in impactful and creative ways instead of relying on aid organizations and donors thousands of miles away to choose for them.
Zabelle chose the name “New Bird’s Nest Charitable NGO” after the “Bird’s Nest Orphanage in her native Lebanon. After World War I , Maria Jacobsen - a committed Danish Missionary - gathered more than 4000 Armenian orphans from different parts of the Ottoman Empire with the support of the Near East Relief Foundation and gave them shelter in an orphanage she named Birds’ Nest in Lebanon.
Today, it seems that history is repeating itself. The founders are calling the initiative a “project” because their aim is to prove its concept and eventually make it a permanent fixture of social policy in Armenia.
I was most impressed with the work of Zabelle and Nayre and decided to support them in their journey. What most impressed me was that -unlike others- they thought rigorously; but acted quickly. I also witnessed how they prioritize the children over everything.
I’ll be writing about this project periodically through this blog. If you are planning to make a donation around any occasion, this is a worthwhile cause to donate to as it directly impacts the lives of hundreds of innocent children affected by war.
