Ekho is an association founded in July 2008 to help disabled children in the village of Darbnik, about ten kilometres from Yerevan.

Angela has lived there for 20 years. Her son Serguei, who is 18 years old and has a motor disability, gave her the idea and courage to create this association. This is because there was no help service for disabled children in this district. The closest hospitals and boarding schools are in Yerevan, and the families did not have the means to travel there easily.

Angela, Mariam in Yerevan and a friend in Darbnik introduced themselves to the families and started to help them by distributing clothes and food. Then, they organised afternoon teas, evenings at the theatre, etc. They achieved all this work by appealing to Armenian businessmen’s generosity.

          Christening of the children supported by Ekho 

Today, 180 children (most of them with motor or mental disabilities) are registered on their list; new applications reach them everyday.

Their action did not stop at this level. Ekho alone organised the set up of a special school in Darbnik. There, about thirty disabled children are welcomed and accommodated from Monday to Friday. The vocation of this centre is to lavish needed care on the children and to prepare them for their autonomous lives. In this sense, different classes and activities are offered to the children: language classes, computer classes, cooking, sewing, singing, sport, etc.

To supervise the children, the association plans to get a team of ten people in the end (three doctors and seven teachers). Regarding the maintenance of the premises and the preparation of meals, Ekho will call on the parents that are already volunteers. Angela explained to us that this is their contribution to the running of the centre because they cannot afford to pay for the subscription. Regarding the supplies, Ekho plans to look after a vegetable and fruit garden, and to buy two cows for their milk and derivatives.

In order to achieve this project, the women from Ekho secured the use of premises from the authorities of the district. We went to visit these premises with them. They consist of the first floor of a former student residential building. Destitute families are also accommodated there.

When we arrived, we were brought back to reality by seeing this old building in a pitiful state. Inside was not much better as all the rooms need to be renovated. This is a lot of work ahead, but it does not seem to discourage these ladies. They showed us which areas would be the future bedrooms, communal room, kitchen, bathrooms, etc. On the ground floor, they showed us the planned locations for the gym and the ramp.
  

 

At the same time, we met the parents that had come to share their hopes and expectations regarding the opening of the centre for their children.
 

 


With little money and not much experience, Angela, Serguei and Mariam embarked on a complex and ambitious project. By dint of perseverance, they removed the obstacles one after the other. The most difficult part is still to be done; the renovation of the building needs big investments. Ekho already has sponsors, some of them being construction companies ready to help them. Angela and Mariam are still looking for financing in order to begin the work. They also need support from people that could give them advice to see their project through.

          Gabrielle with the Ekho team

Contacts

E-mail : ekho_so@mail.ru
Telephone :
• Office: +374 77 26 45 94
• Mariam: +374 77 26 45 94 (speaks English fluently)

Gabrielle
(Translation: Yolene Dabreteau)