It’s already the second year UWC Dillijan College students from different parts of the world join Fuller Center for Housing Armenia to help build a home with and for a family in need of decent housing.
This year volunteers from Sudan, Serbia, Argentina, Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and USA joined to help build a multi apartment building which will house 12 families currently living in metal containers (domiks).
The multi apartment building is being built through a trilateral partnership between ARDA Charitable Foundation, Fuller Center for Housing Armenia and Vanadzor Municipality. Owing to this partnership already 55 families moved from metal containers into decent homes. This year the number of families assisted will be replenished by 12.
During the period of May 21-24 the 10 enthusiastic volunteers from UWC Dillijan College worked hard doing concreting of floors to ease the burden of the families who have longed for a decent home for more than 25 years.
By helping families to move to their long cherished homes sooner the volunteers got something back, sth. very important – a healthy boost of self esteem and sense of pride. It was a rich experience for all volunteers as they could give a hand up to families who needed it most and also could interact in an out of a college environment and make new friends.
Tom Roby, a teacher from America, shared: “The students took part in something really meaningful. They enjoyed the physical work,and they developed a real sense of teamwork. Even more so, meeting some of the families who had been helped and will be helped had a real impact on them. This is a project we hope we will stay involved in. It has been a great experience.”
”It’s encouraging to see how foreign people come to help us. We have been living in this metal container for more than 25 years. Now when we see how these young people dedicate their time and efforts for us to live in better conditions even the terrible memories of the past are forgotten… Words can’t express our happiness…” shared one of the future homeowners of the multi apartment building.