Kapan, Syunik - In an official ceremony held at the First Kapan School on February 8th, the Tufenkian Foundation provided chemistry laboratory kits for 104 schools in the Syunik region. The ceremony was attended by the head of Syunik Provincial Government’s Educational Department, Mery Ghandalyan, various local schoolteachers and administrators, and Tufenkian Foundation’s Communications Director Bedo Demirdjian. The kits will be distributed to the rest of Syunik’s schools by the administration in the coming days.

You can watch the coverage of "Syunik TV" here (in Armenian).

The chemistry lab kits were originally destined for schools in Artsakh but could not be delivered due to the blockade. They were part of a larger initiative that included providing science lab kits for biology and chemistry to every school in Artsakh since nearly every school lacked such equipment. The biology lab kits, which were delivered to Stepanakert just before the onset of the blockade in 2022, could only be distributed to schools in Artsakh in the spring of 2023 due to fuel shortages. Unfortunately, the chemistry lab kits could not be brought into Artsakh before Azerbaijan’s blockade and the subsequent ethnic cleansing in September of 2023. As a result, the Foundation decided to redirect the chemistry lab kits to schools in Syunik. There are 640 students from Artsakh attending school in the Syunik province, while 39 teachers and 101 support staff have been hired to work in the schools.

Both the biology and the chemistry lab kits were specially designed to align with the science curriculum for seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade classes. The kits were developed and built by Aleksander and Tigran Yesayan, the grandson and great-grandson of famed Armenian writer Zabel Yesayan. The chemistry kits contain various chemicals, test tubes, beakers, flasks, pipettes, etc. while the biology lab kits included a microscope, specimen slides, petri dishes, etc.

Stepanakert, Artsakh -- Tufenkian Foundation staff in Stepanakert recently handed over the final shipment of biology laboratory equipment destined for schools in Artsakh’s Askeran region, completing the first phase of a campaign to outfit all schools in Artsakh with science laboratory equipment. The distribution of these kits has been delayed for months because of fuel shortages caused by Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade.

“Unfortunately, schools in Artsakh have long been under-resourced, with most having no lab equipment for students to learn about the sciences first-hand through experimentation,” stated Greg Bedian, Operations Director at the Tufenkian Foundation. “These kits will help take science out of the textbook and make it a hands-on experience where students can create a real-world association with the information being conveyed.”

The science lab program was initiated in 2021 when all 29 schools in Artsakh’s Martuni region received biology lab kits through a generous gift from Judith Saryan and Victor Zarougian. In 2022, the Foundation decided to expand the program to not only include every school in Artsakh, but to also include equipment for chemistry experiments as well. This expansion was funded through an online campaign on the reArmenia platform, with matching funds provided by Judith Saryan and her siblings in memory of their father, Sarkis Saryan, a noted chemist and scientist.

“We would like to thank all of the donors who helped make this campaign on the reArmenia platform a success, and especially the Saryan families for again providing their generous support,” continued Bedian. “We hope that this new laboratory equipment will help to spur a deeper interest in the sciences and make classwork more engaging and fun for the students.”

Designed to integrate with the 7th-grade biology curriculum, the lab kits support specific assignments throughout the school year. The kits contain a microscope, slides with specimen samples, blank slides, Petri dishes, a mortar and pestle, chemical cups, and other materials that will enable students to collect and analyze their own samples from outside the classroom. The second phase of the campaign, which will provide kits to support the chemistry curriculum for the 7th, 8th and 9th grades, is scheduled to kick off in August just prior to the school year.

The biology kits were originally to be distributed to Artsakh’s schools during the winter break. However, because of the blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, school schedules were interrupted due to a lack of natural gas to heat the schools and the intermittent availability of electricity. Fuel shortages prevented Tufenkian staff from distributing the kits, but the Ministry of Education took on the responsibility for their distribution, beginning in early April with the local schools in Stepanakert. Soon after, kits were distributed to schools in the Martakert and Shushi regions, with the Askeran schools receiving theirs in recent days.

“We would like to thank the Ministry of Education for the crucial role they played distributing the lab equipment,” stated Bedian. “Given the many hardships imposed on Artsakh’s students and their families as a result of Azerbaijan’s blockade, perhaps this upgraded classroom experience can also provide a brief respite from the many serious challenges the students continue to face every day,” concluded Bedian.

Progress report: "Science labs for every school in Artsakh!" campaign

This past Monday, members of our Yerevan staff were supposed to be in Artsakh to distribute biology laboratory kits to 77 schools across Artsakh. These schools would join the 26 schools across Martuni that received kits last year. Unfortunately, we were forced to postpone the distribution indefinitely due to the blockage of the only road connecting Armenia to Artsakh by the Aliyev regime. The kits are currently in Stepanakert, and we will distribute them as soon as possible.

The closure of the Lachin Corridor has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis, preventing the free movement of people and goods, and causing shortages of food, medicines, fuel, and other essential materials. Scores of people are stranded, either trying to return home to Artsakh or to visit Armenia to receive medical treatment, conduct business, or see loved ones.

Azerbaijan's blatant disregard for human rights is unacceptable. Artsakh's road to life must immediately be opened to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

The Tufenkian Foundation will continue to stand with our compatriots in Artsakh. 

Thanks to the overwhelming support of the online campaign, the Foundation will provide biology and chemistry laboratory equipment to every school in Artsakh.

Now that the fundraising campaign has successfully reached its goal, the chemistry lab kits will be ordered and delivered in early 2023!

We have some great news!

We have raised enough funds to outfit the rest of the schools in Artsakh with biology kits!

Our campaign will continue until we can ensure that every school in Artsakh gets both biology and chemistry kits!

Dear friends and supporters. This week, we received three very generous gifts!

The Hovsep Charitable Foundation: $10,000

Levon and Shirley Saryan: $1,000

Christian and Arlene Alexander: $1,000

Stay tuned for an important announcement in the coming days!

So far, $4,700 of your donations have been doubled! Last month, we announced that thanks to the generosity of our long-time friends and supporters, Judith Saryan and Victor Zarougian, your donation to the Artsakh Science Lab Kit campaign will be matched up to a total of $10,000!

That means you still have the opportunity to double your donation to our campaign. Be sure to give what you can! We will be adding the matching donation once we hit our $10,000 matching target!

Your donation will be doubled!

Thanks to the generosity of our longtime friends and supporters, Judith Saryan and Victor Zarougian, your donation to the Artsakh Science Lab Kit campaign will be DOUBLED!

Judith recently spoke about the importance of the project and her and Victor's decision to create a matching fund up to a total of $10,000 in our latest installment of Conversations with the Tufenkian Foundation: https://youtu.be/x8pcOuUINIM