Prkutyun Center for Disabled Children, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

When Zarchka at Life Around Me invited me to attend today’s event at the Prkutyun Center for Disabled Children in the Yerord Mas district of Yerevan I jumped at the chance. Since 2000 I had already worked on the issue of disabled children and adults in Yerevan, Kharberd, Ijevan and Tbilisi, but had never heard of this center.

Our mission is to favor solutions to social, educational and healthcare problems of disabled children and their families through training, consultation, awareness campaigns, provision of medical services, as well as through mediation and humanitarian aid, thus implementing their full integration into the society.

Zarchka has a far more comprehensive post over at her blog, and not least because she’s known the center for a while.

What I particularly want to mention is the meticulous care and devotion with which the pedagogies, defectologists, psychologist and the President of the NGO Arpine Abrahamyan treat these children. Another thing worth mentioning is that Since November 1, 2005 a charitable dentist’s room has been functioning in the “Prkutyun” Center of Disabled Children and rendering service to disabled children and their families who are registered at the Center, as well as to members of families - beneficiaries of poverty allowance system of Shengavit district.

Twice a year the NGO organizes charitable concerts with participation of well-known performers. Some of these children also become the participants of those concerts and the enthusiasm with which they perform their play prevails over the audience. This is another event for them as the most part of those families are deprived from such undertakings because of enduring social problems.

Today was especially good because I got to run into an old friend, Dr Harut Balasanian, Director of the Kharberd Specialized Children’s Home. Incidently, there’s some exciting news from Kharberd, but I’ll leave that for a later time. For now, I need to get some sleep after a very hectic week.

Prkutyun Center for Disabled Children, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

The Prkutyun Center for Disabled Children has a web site at http://www.prkutyun.am.