Hidden Road Initiative


​Meet the 2022-2023 Scholars 

College scholarships were provided to students from border villages in Armenia and Artsakh for the 2022-2023 academic year!

Lilit Manukyan

Studying Economy Regulation
​​Armenian State University of Economics​

Lilit Manukyan was born in Akhpradzor village. Lilit is going into her first year at the Armenian State University of Economics Faculty of Economy Regulation and International Economic Relations. She decided to become an economist because she wants to help her native village in creating solid economic foundations. Being the only child in the family, she tries to help her parents by working part-time in addition to studying at university. She would like to see her home village, Akhpradzor, have a more developed educational system. One of her life goals is to try to help the children of her village to learn English. Lilit has participated in several HRI camps since 2011, and is excited to be a leader during next year’s camp!

​Smbat Hovhannisyan

Studying​ Psychology
Armenian State Pedagogical Univeristy

Smbat grew up in the village of Makenis, Geghakrunik. He lives with his parents, younger brother and sister. His parents are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, and his brother help thems as much as possible. In 2022, he graduated from Makenis High School and entered the Armenian State Pedagogical University in the Faculty of Psychology. He aims to become a good psychologist and create his own psychological clinic and help many people recover from the effects of war. He has received awards from school in his study of the Armenian language, English, and Media. Besides studying at university, Smbat is also actively participating in HRI online English courses and summer camps. 

Zara Abrahamyan

Studying Hair Design and Makeup
Vardenis State College

Zara Abrahamyan was born in Akhpradzor village. Her parents are engaged in the agricultural field and she always does her best to help them. Zara is going into her first year at the Vardenis State College in the faculty of Hair Design and make-up. She wants to have her own beauty salon and work in the village. As an active volunteer in HRI camps, she is involved in many activities and seeks to continue cooperation with HRI as a leader during next year’s camps.

Naira Garaxanyan

Studying English Translation
Brusov State University

Naira was born in Shvanidzor. She was raised by her grandparents. From her grandmother, she learned the love of learning, and from her grandfather, the love for the motherland. After graduating from school in 2022, she entered Brusov State University with good grades, aiming to study in the faculty of English language and translation. In the future, in addition to translating, she plans to teach English to children from her village. She wants to help students discover their talents and passions. Her main hobbies are taking pictures, singing, writing songs, and reading comics. She has also been an active member of HRI summer camps since she was young. Naira also participated in the fundraising process for the renovation of the Shvanidzor school stadium.

Hasmik Gasparyan

Studying Medical Cosmetology
Vardenis Medical-Humanitarian College

​Hasmik was born in Akhpradzor village and currently resides with her parents, grandmother, and three younger siblings. The family faced significant challenges after the forty-four-day war in 2020, which tragically claimed the life of her elder brother. Now as the eldest child of a large family, Hasmik decided to persist against all odds and pursue a profession. Last year, she studied as a manicurist at the Lusinka Center. This year, she gained admission to Vardenis Medical-Humanitarian College to pursue a profession in Medical Cosmetology. As part of her Henry Keledjian Service Project, Hasmik and her friends opened the first-ever salon in Akhpradzor, located inside the Youth Center. Every Saturday and Sunday, she along with other girls provides free classes to youth from the local villages in various fields of cosmetology. When they are not teaching, she along with the other businesswomen of the salon strengthens their business skills and provides hair and nail services to the local women. To find out more about her project, click here

Ara-Geghetsik Abrahamyan 

Studying Graphic Design
European University of Armenia 

Ara-Geghetsik was born in the beautiful village of Akhpradzor, where he attended the local secondary school. He graduated high school in 2021 and has currently enrolled at the European University to study graphic design. Ara-Geghetsik has participated in several HRI summer camps, from his school years until his graduation. Last year, he also served as a camp leader in the village school. Ara-Geghetsik hopes to continue participating in future camps as a volunteer in his village next year. As part of his Henry Keledjian Scholar Service program, Ara Gehgetsik renovated a room in the village along with his peers, in the hopes of one day having an after-school program for the children in that room.

Arusyak Ghazaryan

Studying Elementary Pedagogy
Armenian State Pedagogical University

Arusyak Ghazaryan was born in Akhpradzor village. She lives with her parents (aand brother. Her father is the village mayor and works in agriculture. Her brother is a physical education teacher at the local school. She also wants to become a teacher in the future which is why she is studying at the Armenian State Pedagogical University in the faculty of Elementary Pedagogy and Methodology. After graduating, Arusyak wants to work at her village school. Arusyak is also one of the active and enthusiastic volunteers in HRI summer camps. 

Laura Manukyan

Studying Journalism
Yerevan State University

Laura Manukyan was born in Makenis village. She lives with her parents and her little brother. Her old brother is a conscripted soldier living in Artsakh. Her father is a teacher in the village and always encourages Laura to be educated and study a lot. Laura is currently studying journalism at Yerevan State University. As a future journalist, she interned in the Public Radio of Armenia for a few months. Now, her big dream is to study abroad, especially in Italy, and to achieve that goal, she wants to study new languages. Laura also participated in HRI English classes and summer camps, and last year she was a leader during camp, teaching students journalism. During her Henry Kelejian Service Program, she was able to gift a sound system to her village school, and conducted a seminar to inspire the children of Makenis to pursue higher education. To find out more about her project, click here.

Natush Makhsudyan

Studying Economics 
National Polytechnic University of Armenia

Natash Makhsudyan is from the village of Shvanidzor. In 2020, she was accepted to the National Polytechnic University of Armenia where she studied Food Technology. A year later, she moved to the Kapan branch and changed her major to  Economics․ Last year, she started working at the local post office of her village. She has participated in several HRI camps, first as a student, then as a leader. During her Henry Keledjian Service Program, Natush organized educational excursions for the 5th, 7th, and 9th-grade students of her local school. The project was aimed at achieving two goals: first, to expose students to the beautiful and historically significant sites in the region of Syunik; second, to introduce the students to new areas of study in higher education. To find out more about her project, click here.

Perchuhi Hayrapetyan

Studying Law
Northern University

Perchuhi Hayrapetyan grew up in the village of Shvanidzor in a military family. In 2019, she graduated from the local secondary school. Currently, she is a last-year law student at Northern University. Her goal is to become one of the best lawyers in Armenia. After completing her bachelor's degree she will pursue her master's degree while simultaneously studying at a law school or academy. She participated in HRI summer camps a few times as a student, and in 2022 as a leader. During her Henry Keledjian Service Program, she created a new library in Shvanidzor, seeking to develop educational opportunities for the students of her village. To find out more about his project, click here.

Tatul Abrahamyan

Studying Information Technologies
Armenian State Pedagogical University 

Tatul grew up in the village of Akhpradzor. His big family consists of 2 brothers and a sister and his parents are engaged in agriculture. He loves coding and is studying IT at the Armenian State Pedagogical University. Tatul was first inspired to study programming from the computer classes offered by HRI Summer Camp when he participated as a student. In 2019, he joined the camp as a volunteer and led the computer class. Tatul wishes to create more educational opportunities and provide quality education to students in Akhpradzor. Thus, he has decided to return to Akhpradzor upon graduation and wants to teach computer programming at the village school. During his Henry Keledjian Service Program, Tatul organized a seminar on college applications for 7th-12th grade students in Akhpradzor and organized a trip to Yerevan, where students got to visit different universities. Click here to find out more.

Vahe Elbakyan

Studying Finance
Armenian State University of Economics

Vahe was born and raised in Shvanidzor. He is in his final year of studying finance at the Armenian State University of Economics and wants to develop the Armenian stock market. Last year, he participated in several international forums and seminars. In his spare time, he likes to create and study the cultures of different nations. In the future, he wants to become one of the leaders in the stock market. One day he hopes to open his foundation, which will deal with significant problems in his village and will help students with scholarships. As part of his Henry Keledjian Scholar Service Program, Vahe held a two-day workshop for high school students in his village introducing the students' career opportunities offered by the Armenian State University of Economics, and held an interactive workshop on entrepreneurship. To find out more about his project, click here.​

Vrezh Baxtiaryan

Studying Jurisprudence
Yerevan Agricultural University

Vrezh Bakhtiaryan was born in 1992 in the village of Shvanidzor, Syunik region. Since his father died when he was 10 years old,  the burden of the household remained on Vrezh's shoulders, which is why he could not finish the 10th grade, but finished the eighth grade. Years later, he entered and graduated from Meghri State College from the Department of Accounting. In 2021, he entered the Law Faculty of Yerevan Agricultural University. He has been working in the RA Armed Forces as a driver since 2015. As a contract soldier, he participated in the forty-four day war․ During his service he received a few awards and recognitions. He is married and has two sons. He dreams of a united, strong, independent, invincible Armenia that his sons must build.

Serine Poghosyan

Studying Service and Tourism, MA
Yerevan State University

Serine Poghosyan was born in the village of Shvanidzor, Syunik region. She attended and graduated from the local secondary school. Last year she graduated from Yerevan State University with a bachelor's degree as a Service Specialist in Sustainable Tourism. Now she is getting a master's degree at the same university in the same field. In the future, Serine wants to work in the field of tourism, in order to show tourists all the beautiful sites of Armenia. Serine has been working at HRI as a program assistant for more than a year. As part of her Henry Keledjian Scholar Service Program, she helped start the first women-owned embroidery business in Shvanidzor, the brand Meghratel. To find out more about her project, click here.
Did you know that compared to the $14,000 per year for public school and $50,000 per year for private school tuition costs in the United States, it only costs about $1,000 for a student in Armenia to attend university?
Click here to learn how you can sponsor one of these amazing students with a $1000 scholarship!