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After over 75 years NEF returned to Armenia in April and June 2004 to a country where 48 percent of Armenians live below the poverty line and many families are not able to adequately care for their children. Although Armenia had been the "Silicon Valley" of the Soviet Union, when the Soviet system collapsed and Armenia became independent, markets dried up. Adding further economic burdens, the country is blockaded on two sides by Azerbaijan and Turkey, and in 1988 suffered a devastating earthquake from which it has not fully recovered.
NEF worked with professionals in children's social service and development assistance as well as major figures in religion, government and art, to help so-called "street kids" improve their lives and the lives of their families. Partnering with Canada-based Street Kids International, the aim was to tap into their evident assets--"street smarts," ambition, responsibility, entrepreneurial skills; and communicate the dangers surrounding issues like drugs, sex and AIDS. We are currently exploring new community development opportunities in Armenia--the people NEF was founded to help in urgent response to the Armenia genocide and deportations over 90 years ago.
It was September 1915 when the forced flight of Armenians from Turkey into adjacent countries first came to the attention of the United States. An emergency committee of representatives of American Near East organizations responded, raising $100,000 of immediate assistance, forwarding the funds to Constantinople. By November 1915 the committee had launched a national publicity campaign and with expanding operations, was formally incorporated as Near East Relief in 1919 by a special act of Congress. We continued to work with Armenian survivors of the 1915 Genocide until our expulsion from the country by the Soviets in 1927.
From its inception until 1930, Near East Relief administered $117,000,000 and is credited with saving a million lives and making possible productive futures for 132,000 Armenian orphan children. Very early in the relief effort, attention focused on helping these rescued orphans to become self-supporting and contributing members of the communities that had absorbed then.
Both in Near East Relief orphanages providing shelter and child welfare services, and in foster care homes under Near East Relief auspices, attention shifted to teaching agricultural and industrial skills, primarily at demonstration centers. A generation of poultry raisers, dairymen, mechanics, shipbuilders, cabinet makers, masons, shoemakers, tailors and nurses grew up and moved out into their new worlds in Syria, Greece, the Caucasus and Persia. NEF continued to maintain orphanages in Armenia until expelled by the Soviets in 1927.
Latest Reports From the Field:
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Reports From the Field ; Armenia - Sunday, March 04, 2007
NEF Overwhelmed by Heartfelt Gift from Rescued Armenian Orphan Donor
When Papken Injarabian celebrated his 100th birthday in Paris, surrounded by his family, they gave him a crisp $100 bill to commemorate his centennial. However, Mr. Injarabian chose not to spend the money--he had another idea. A year later, now 101, he gave his daughter, Mrs. Elisabeth Eaker, an important mission. When she accompanied her academic husband's student tour of New York financial institutions, she must present his birthday gift to NEF (Near East Foundation) at our international he ... (more) |
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Reports From the Field ; Armenia - Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Introducing NEF Supporter & Collector Supreme Stefan Karadian
Faithfully once a day, sometimes, twice, Stefan Karadian searches the Internet for Near East Relief, Near East Foundation...ready to scoop up memorabilia immediately or bid for auction. He just acquired two more stamped envelopes from the Near East Foundation Syrian orphanage in Jerusalem, sent to Topeka, Indiana; and a cloth sack with the Near East Relief logo on one side, and on the other, the illustration of a girl sitting at a table with the line, "Feed One More." According to his research ... (more) |
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Reports From the Field ; Armenia - Tuesday, November 23, 2004
NEF Honored With Highest Award Conferred By Armenian National Committee of America
Over 600 people, including a long list of dignitaries, stood and applauded when the Near East Foundation received the 2004 Freedom Award at the annual banquet organized by the Armenian National Committee of America, Western Region (ANCA-WR)--"for your organization's longstanding history of aiding the Armenian people and others in their darkest hours," according to ANCA-WR Chairman Raffi Haig Hamparian.
The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most influential Armenian Am ... (more) |
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Reports From the Field ; Armenia - Monday, June 28, 2004
NEF's New Developments in Armenia
45 professionals working with Armenian children and youth participated in the Near East Foundation's June workshop held in the capital city of Yerevan, in partnership with Street Kids International. Attendance surpassed all expectations and, in fact, grew from the first day to the next as word spread of significant work underway. Presentations and materials were in Russian with feedback and translation in Armenian for this cohesive and highly-educated group's evaluation over the summer months. ... (more) |
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Reports From the Field ; Armenia - Tuesday, June 01, 2004
After 75 Years -- Emotional Return to Armenia for Near East Foundation; Chair Reports on Trip & New 'Street Kids' Initiative
Linda K. Jacobs, Ph.D., chair of the Near East Foundation, has just returned from a whirlwind three days in Armenia, packed with meetings with major figures in children's social service and development assistance as well as in religion, government and art. Her mission was to explore a collaboration with Armenian agencies to help so-called "street kids" improve their lives and the lives of their families.
"We had been considering a return," Dr. Jacobs said, adding, "and with so much encourag ... (more) |
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