About project

“Every tiny sprout grows a fruifull tree. Each fortress grows out of the laying of its first stone. Each journey begins with a first step. Each of us is that little sprout, that stone of a fortress, that step in a journey. “.

Our community “Sprout” (Il Germoglio) is based in the Swiss city of Lugano to carry out projects in Armenia aimed at improving people’s lives.

The idea of our community is simple: each of us should do what depends on it. Do not look for the guilty, do not blame anyone, do not discuss what others should do, but simply by changing yourself and changing the world around you.

We started our work in Armenia in late 2015

• The struggle for hunger was the starting point of our work. In Armenia, 20.9% of children under 5 years of age suffer from physical underdevelopment due to constant malnutrition. Physical underdevelopment is caused by chronic malnutrition and manifested in the lower height of children compared to their peers. We created the Food Bank in the country. During these years we distributed 105 tons of food and hygiene products in Yerevan, Nubarashen and its surroundings, Gyumri, Tavush and across all regions in Armenia.We organize collection of products in Yerevan several times a year. This turned into a real event and people participate in the collection with great pleasure: there are those who bring a kg of rice, and there are people who bring 1,000 kg of buckwheat. Apart from the fact that the collection helps many families and children not going to bed with an empty stomach for some months, it is also a project with social responsibility. The effects of malnutrition in children can be irreversible. It can affect their mental and physical development, academic success, health and productivity throughout their subsequent lives. Without ensuring the availability of food and raising awareness, we can not count on having a healthy, strong and active population. Underdevelopment is reflected not only at the life level of families, but also on the economic development of the whole country.
• We helped 33 families in Gyumri get out of containers and bought 33 apartments for them. We destroyed all the containers and cleaned the territory. This year we are planning to help another 20 families.
• In the borderline villages of Shamshadin, 35 families were helped to sow and harvest 240,000 m2 of organic wheat. We continue to help families in the border areas to develop an environmentally friendly economy.
• In addition to wheat, we helped 50 families in the borderline villages of Shamshadin to establish a small poultry business and provided chicks to each family.
• We helped many children living in orphanages to get reunited with their families. Children who return to their families are much happier. In addition, we contribute to the budget of Armenia, since up to 3 500 000 million drams per year are allocated from the public budget for each child.
• Together with my friends we helped several Syrian families flee Aleppo during the bombings, covered their transfer to Armenia and supported them in the first months to get settled in a new place.
• We constantly work on the Padrino project. We connect families who, due to tough life circumstances can not reach the minimal living standards and are unable to support themselves and their children, with families from Switzerland, America, Russia, Armenia and other countries. One family funds its counterpart in Armenia without intermediaries, sending them an average of 100-200 US dollars a month.
• Road of Life Tavush – the largest project of 2017. This is a safe road from Ijevan to Berd. We’ve worked hard on the project and continue to work it out as of today. Strategically, the Road of Life Tavush is a crucial road for Armenia.
• “Roof over your head” – in the borderline villages of Shamshadin we continue to help people build roofs. This was firstly initiated by a wonderful woman from the United States, who dedicated all the money she won in the Avrora Prize to a family from the borderline village Shamshadin to build a roof for them. This act was life changing of the family. Then together with friends from all over the world we kept built more and more roofs in the borderline villages.
• In Shamshadin, our community continues to support families and helps them start their small farming business.
• We support talented children living in poor conditions throughout Armenia. Friends from Russia, France and the US take responsibility for a talented child and provide direct support to them.
• A broad number of small causes throughout Armenia: Baxi held for the parents of the deceased soldier; the son of another soldier is receiving 400usd/month for medical treatment. These are our some examples of the hundreds of modelst steps of Solidarity our community is carryiing out all over Armenia.
• We closed 2017distributing 1,000 New Year gifts to children from borderline villages and 1,000 happy smiles remain in our hearts!
• Our belief is that with precisely such small steps greatest results can be achieved.