Written by Andre Choquet; Edited by Leanna Parekh
Nudged by Faith.
My faith was what inspired me to become a sponsor. As a Christian, I decided that I wanted to give a certain percentage of my income to charity. I liked the idea that alleviating poverty was the best way to bring stability to an unjust world.
Inspired by Heritage.
My wife is Canadian-Armenian and has some family in Armenia. It’s the reason why we chose to sponsor an Armenian child. We decided to visit Armenia to show our children their heritage.
Andre, his wife, two boys with his sponsored child’s family.
Connected by Community.
Talin is a very poor village in central Armenia. It has suffered a lot from the collapse of the Russian Empire - buildings are neglected and grass is growing high everywhere.
World Vision is helping bring the community together by renovating a central park and organizing classes for children. The local World Vision chapter works with the community to decide how the funds are spent.
United by Recreation.
The most memorable part of our visit was seeing our children Alexandre and Mathieu bond with our sponsored child, Valiko, as they played soccer together.
We also got to see a World Vision-sponsored robotics class, which was very impressive. “In a country with historically high rates of unemployment—especially in rural areas—young computer programmers are learning basic concepts, nurturing their software development skills and mastering basic computer skills.”
“The basic skills of creativity, presentation and programming skills they learn here are a key for their future success,” says Zarine, World Vision Armenia’s area development specialist.
Reassured by Hope.
Throughout our trip, the World Vision staff was very professional, courteous and loving.
My wife and I would really like to do more to raise awareness in Toronto and Montreal about the needs of poorer areas in Armenia like Talin. We believe the country and its people have a lot of potential.
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