VivaCell-MTS supports renovation of three flats in Gegharkunik

The devastating earthquake of 1988 had a impacted tremendously not only on those directly affected by the earthquake, but also on the generation born after the disaster. After the earthquake the metal containers became a shelter for all those families in need of housing in the disaster area and in different regions of Armenia.

The housing program financed by VivaCell-MTS and implemented by Fuller Center for Housing Armenia is aimed at improving the housing conditions of our fellow citizens who are in difficulty. As a result of the five-year partnership the housing problem has been solved for 135 families.

The heads of the partnering organizations paid a regular visit to Gegharkunik region. In 2016, in  the frames of the housing project, three families have been supported in this region. Two families have renovated their houses and one family has finished the construction of the half-built house.

The Stepanyans from Varser village of Gegharkunik region had been living at Valter's, the family father's parents’ home, 12 people in a small house, before moving to live in a metal container.

“We lived in a metal container for 17 years, as my parents’ house was too small. We moved to a metal container; we had no choice. My three children have been raised in this metal container and haven't had a normal childhood. Last spring, with the support of VivaCell-MTS, we restarted the construction of our half-built house, which we had started many years ago but could not complete,'' said Valter, the father of the family.
 
“Oftentimes, when speaking by figures, people focus on indices, whereas there is a question more important and more sensitive than numbers. We need to remember that there is human life behind this math. Meanwhile, seventeen years are a whole period of juvenility. The children in this family have spent theirs in this wagon. Their careless and bright dreams have ceded giving way to the early realization of the heaviness of their parents’ burden. Gone years will never return, but the life ahead will change for this family. I want to believe that the comfortable conditions will make this family leave the memories of hardships in the past,” said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

“The existence of metal containers in our communities shows unfortunately that we still have a lot of work to do, and that many of our compatriots are deprived of basic necessities vital for living. The housing need is really high in Armenia, and we are glad that as a result of the corporate social responsibility of our partner, it becomes possible to solve, at least, some part  of  the housing problem,” said Fuller Center for Housing Armenia President Ashot Yeghiazaryan.

For the implementation of the housing project, VivaCell-MTS invested about AMD 105 million in 2016 and more than AMD 333 million in five years.