Events

Socially insecure families living in various regions of Armenia see the results that VivaCell-MTS and Fuller Center for Housing Armenia cooperation yields. During the study visit in summer the family of Serobians was also included in the program in line with the defined criteria.

The half-ruined area, where Valya, a young woman, has, without a husband, raised her children, probably used to be a proper house years ago. The walls and the roof of the old house, left without caring hands of a man, however, have dilapidated day by day. The kitchen has been turned into a storage room, and the bedroom was furnished with weather-driven conditions to avoid the leakage of the roof.

The young mother, together with her children, has been through many hardships. Her husband left for work to another country to and never came back leaving the burden of the family on Valya’s shoulders. Kind people gave the family a temporary house, which became their only home for many years. For a woman, who works most part of the day, the shelter of the garden threatening to collapse every moment, and the walls of the room, covered in mold, have been major issues ahead of winter periods for years.

“When my husband left for Russia to work, there was a hope that he would come back and will be able to solve the housing problem. Soon, however, not only the hope of having a home faded, but also the hope that he would return. I realized that I should raise my children alone and I should do it with dignity. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I worked, the goal of having a home remained unachievable,” said Valya.

The young woman, without a home and a helping hand, worked in several places to earn a living for her four children, and to solve their education problem. With the support of partner organizations, VivaCell-MTS and the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia, the family celebrated housewarming in Nor Geghi village. The first guests were the representatives of the organizations, giving start of a new life to the family of a strong woman who nurtured the hope and optimism in the heart.

“I had double feeling when I first heard the story of this family: I was upset to learn of the hardships this family has been through, yet I was happy to see these people have not been broken by those hardships. A green shoot finding its way through asphalted surface always seems magic. But that has its explanation: the determination to live makes us strong. The responsibility to raise children all alone never made the mother of this family any weaker. I want to believe new apartment will mark a new start for this family,” says VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

“It’s not always that we can meet a person who stayed so strong and optimistic struggling against the problems of life. The kind of the family mother, Valya, is an embodiment of a strong person with many bright dreams towards the future,” said Fuller Center for Housing Armenia President Ashot Yeghiazaryan.

VivaCell-MTS (MTS Armenia CJSC) is Armenia’s leading telecommunications operator, having the widest 2G/3.75G/4G network reach and spreading a wide range of Voice and Data services all across Armenia. Having the best of the Armenian people interest at heart since its launch on 1st July 2005 and in a short period of time VivaCell-MTS has managed to build a nationwide network and a considerable customer base. VivaCell-MTS drives innovation and aims at always being at the forefront of any development serving the Armenian mobile communications market. The company follows the guidance provided by ISO 26000 (International Standard of Social Responsibility) and ISO/IEC 27001:2013 (Information Security Management System). For more information, visit www.mts.am

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Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS") is the leading telecommunications group in Russia and the CIS. Including its subsidiaries, the Group services over 100 million mobile subscribers in Russia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus. Since June 2000, MTS' Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol MBT). Additional information about the MTS Group can be found at www.mtsgsm.com

Fuller Center for Housing Armenia is a non-governmental, charitable organization that supports community development in the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh by assisting in building and renovating simple, decent and affordable homes, as well as advocating the right to a decent shelter as a matter of conscience and action. FCHA provides long-term, interest-free loans to low-income families. The monthly repayments flow into a Revolving Fund, which is used to help more families, thereby providing a financial foundation for sustainable community development. Since 2008 the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia has assisted over 650 families.

For more information, please visit www.fcharmenia.org or email us at fcarmenia@fcharmenia.org