The CYSCA Armenia School Aid Project (ASAP) successfully completed renovation of School #3 in Berd, Armenia, a remote town four hours northeast of Yerevan bordering Azerbaijan. This project was made possible by the initiative of CYSCA supporter, Edward Shooshanian, who raised $35,000 from 100 of his personal outreach of friends and business associates to help rebuild this school of 500 students and 50 teachers. School #3 was in a deplorable state, with no central heating system, no water (only one outhouse!), leaking roof, no windows facing Azerbaijan due to missiles that landed in the school yard during the war.

Thanks to the funds raised by Shooshanian and free labor donated by the mayor of the town, school #3 now has 13 flush toilets, drinking water, a functioning canteen, new windows, central heating system, freshly painted walls and ceilings, refaced desks and chairs, new light fixtures and a computer room with 10 computers.

Once a thriving community of 12,000, Berd now has a population of 8,000 consisting mainly of the elderly and young children, others having left to seek gainful employment elsewhere. Berd is on the road to Tblisi, Georgia, via Azerbaijan, but due to closed borders with Azerbaijan, no one goes there anymore! Unemployment is approximately 80%, and industry that was once flourishing, is making a painfully slow recovery.

Having completed this project, Shooshanian once more appealed for help from his friends, this time for the Berd Kindergarten #2 and the 
 Berd College. He raised a second round of funding to complete renovation of the kitchen in the Kindergarten, text books and a library for the college, drinking water for the college (first time they have had water in 17 years!), renovation of 8 bathrooms in the Kindergarten currently in process, and pending repair of the roof of the college.

The above projects were managed by Jack Medzorian, coordinated and monitored locally by the U. S. Peace Corps volunteers stationed in Berd. Thanks to Ed Shooshanian and his friends for bringing joy and happiness to the community of Berd through this wonderful CYSCA project.