VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian, employees of the Company and the Fuller Center for Housing Armenia team participated in the construction of the half-built house of Karapetyan family from Darbas community in Syunik.

 

The Karapetyans are a small family of three brothers. Brothers were orphaned, when the elder brother, Vrezh, was 14 and the youngest one was 10 years old. Two years after the tragic death of the parents the grandparents, under whose guardianship the boys were, passed away.

 

Despite the difficulties of life, Vrezh, the elder brother, could take care of the younger brothers. He has become like a parent for his brothers taking care of them despite being a child himself, and in that age he started the construction of their half-built house.

 

“The motto of our family is the saying of the ancient Roman poet Virgil “Fortune favors the brave (fortes fortuna(ad)iuvat)”. We are trying to be brave. My biggest dream is to build a home for me and my brothers where we can live like a real family. Now my dream is coming true,’’ said Vrezh, the eldest of the Karapetyan brothers, who has written those words on the wall of the half-built house for his brothers and for himself. 

 

“Life has really put a heavy burden on the shoulders of these boys. Misfortunes followed by misfortunes... But they were not discouraged, and now they build a home, they build the future. I hope that soon the family will grow, and these three young men will become the pillars of the family and a new and a strong like a rock family will be built," Fuller Center for Housing Armenia President Ashot Yeghiazaryan said.

 

Through the housing project financed by VivaCell-MTS and implemented by Fuller Center for Housing Armenia 40 houses have been built and/or renovated for 40 families this year.

 

“Our worst enemy is inside us. The name of that enemy is indifference. Our organizational and personal effort in helping the Karapetyans to build their house stems from an inner belief: we have to extend a hand to families living in borderland villages which, despite unfavorable social conditions, have made a decision to stay and build a house on their native land. Every house symbolizes the beginning of a new life. Our homeland is too small to differentiate between capital and village,” VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian commented. 

To remind, during the current year VivaCell-MTS invested AMD100 million (AMD55 million in 2014) for the realization of the project, and Fuller Center for Housing Armenia has undertaken its implementation. Through this partnership, from 2007 up to now, 53 families from different communities of the republic already have decent homes. Till the end of the year the number of the families having their houses renovated or the construction of the half-built houses completed will reach 93.

 

VivaCell-MTS… You are connected…

 

VivaCell-MTS (K-Telecom 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). For more information, visit www.mts.am

 

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Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS") is the leading telecommunications group in Russia and the CIS, offering mobile and fixed voice, broadband, pay TV as well as content and entertainment services in one of the world's fastest growing regions. Including its subsidiaries, the Group services over 100 million mobile subscribers. The Group has been awarded GSM licenses in Russia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Uzbekstan, Armenia and Belarus, a region that boasts a total population of more than 200 million. 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 more than 450 families.

 

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

 

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