Hochants School

The background
The strategically important area of Kashatagh needs development. The villagers of this area endure the most basic rural living conditions. To add to this, the school house in Hochants village was in a state of dilapidation and its cement floors were causing health problems for the students. Parents in Hochants came together to ask the Tufenkian Foundation to renovate their school.

The project
Continuing her own dedication to rebuilding the Kashatagh region, Ms. Virginia Davies of New York has funded this renovation. The school has been completely transformed: cement floors were replaced with hardboards, classrooms were repainted, hallway floors were tiled, dilapidated doors and windows were replaced.  The Karabagh government has provided new furniture for all the classrooms and the Tufenkian Foundation has donated a computer and books to the library. Ms. Davies also provided generously for school supplies (pens and paper, educational materials and art supplies) for the school in Hochants as well as for Mirig village in Northern Kashatagh.

Inspired by this transformation, the students of Hochants School, along with the new school director, have planted a garden of trees and flowers in the schoolyard and placed the remnants of an old khachkar found in their village within it. The school in Hochants was recently named after Alvart Vartanian, a female freedom fighter who died near the village during the Karabagh liberation war.

The Tufenkian foundation also has plans to renovate a 17th century Armenian church located near Hochants village to further the cultural development of the area.

Hochants school - before renovation	Entrance of school after renovation
Classroom before renovation	Classroom after renovation
Students planting trees in the schoolyard	TF donates computers to school