Who we are... and how we met each other!

Hello to everyone!

My name is Anika. At the age of twelve I moved to Germany, and since 2008 I live in Vienna.  The more often I have been visiting my homeland Armenia, the more clearly I could see a huge difference between living standards of these two countries.

Motivated by the successful years of work by Prof. Günter Peter and inspired by the project by the photographer Hayk Barseghian, I decided to finally bring my long-standing ideas into life. I got in touch with Prof. Günter Peter and shared  my ideas with him.  He immediately expressed his readiness to support my project, and introduced me to Eva, who shared the same interest. In such a way, the idea has begun to flourish more and more.

Even as a small child I wanted to help people. In kindergarten, I was standing up for the weak. I cannot stand someone being treated unfairly.

Now, after so many years, I am ready to stretch out my hand and help those in desperate living conditions. I believe that everyone deserves a chance for a better and decent life.

Why is helping others so important to me? I myself experienced the feeling of hopelessness and futility so many times. There were times in my childhood, when my brother and I had to go to bed hungry because there was nothing to eat.  There were times when there was no electricity, water and heating. All this seems far in the past, but nothing has been forgotten.

Only with your support we can make the world a bit better and alleviate the suffering of many people!

Servus and hello!

I'm Eva. I come from the beautiful city of Klagenfurt, but I have been living in Vienna already for a long time.

I like travelling and among my most impressive trips were the ones to India and Papua New Guinea. Those trips were a great opportunity not only to discover completely different cultures, but more importantly to make wonderful friends.  These trips made me realize and appreciate the life we have in Austria where both women and men have equal education opportunities, where buses and trains run on time, the health system works efficiently and water coming from the tap is wonderful for drinking … 

In summer 2015, I was in Armenia for the first time. I was very impressed by its breathtaking rugged mountains and magnificent 1700 years old churches, picturesque monasteries and cross stones. But what made my heart sink was how much despair, resignation, hopelessness was evident on people’s faces…  The lack of work prospects, poor industry and agriculture, closed borders with two of its two neighboring countries make social hardships remain immense.  There are still many people living in desolate houses or even in containers without heating, water and electricity; there is no social security, no prospects which could have encouraged people …

The sadness on their faces touched my heart. Having returned to Vienna, I’ve started to search whether there are any aid projects for Armenia in Austria - and fortunately,  I came across Prof. Günter Peter’s projects at the Austrian Children's Hospital in Gyumri . Gyumri was devastated by the earthquake of 1922 and has not recovered to this day. Since the construction of the Austrian Children’s hospital in Gyumri, Mr. Peter - a retired hospital director from Scheibbs - has generously supported the hospital with his advice, experience and financial donations.

It was him who brought me and Anika together, an Armenian girl living in Vienna who had the idea to found an association which would initiate and support social projects in her homeland.

A good start has been made, and now we are very much looking forward to your support!

Hey!

I am Syuzanna, a MA student at the Universities of Leipzig and Vienna.

I come from the second-largest city of Armenia, Gyumri, where I used to work at a local NGO. My work experience has made me aware of the social problems existing in my society, most of which are neglected by the current Armenian government and no necessary measures are taken to solve them. 

I believe that the youth is the most powerful force to bring changes in societies. Being one of them, I have always tried to contribute to the society within my capacities. In the longer term I have had the idea of doing a charity.

I am very glad that on this way I have met Anika. We share the same values and each of us is ready to help the others unconditionally, without expecting to get anything in return. An African proverb says ''If you want to go further, go together''. I do believe that with your support we can reach out a helping hand to many of needy people.

What makes me so devoted to the idea of helping others? It fulfills me with a great deal of satisfaction and kindles my own happiness.