HIDDEN ROAD INITIATIVE
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Hidden Road Initiative

HISTORY OF HRI


      Imagine living through a cold winter, where the snow is so heavy you are unable to leave your village for six months. There are no roads, no markets, and no doctors. All you have is your family, your home, your school and your faith. The villagers of Akhpradzor have lived through this every winter for generations. This village, isolated on the mountains of eastern Armenia, has no open roads from October to April—yet the villagers choose to stay on their land despite the circumstances: “We persevere! How can we leave our homeland, our mountain? We have to protect our country’ s borders!” says Ginevard, the principal Akhpradzor's only school.
     A trip to this small, isolated village in the summer of 2009 served as a wake-up call for Nanor Balabanian, an Armenian UCSB student. She was working to make a difference in the world, and so, using her video camera as her only instrument of change, she gathered stories and interviewed the villagers. In the meantime, as the intern at the UN Development Program of Armenia, she was encouraged to go beyond filming a documentary and take action in promoting development. Balabanian designed an educational day camp, according to the needs of the village, that taught children basic skills in first-aid, English, arts, dance and computer skill. She hoped that with this camp, the students would gain skills that could help the villagers in the absence of resources such as doctors, art teachers, and extra-curricular activities.
     Upon leaving Armenia, Balabanian felt it would be very important to fundraise enough money to fix the road that led to the main highway. However, her dream of helping fix the broken road soon appeared to be an unreasonable solution. After much research, she realized fixing the road would not be a permanent solution to the problem, since the heavy snow would destroy and damage the roads every winter.
     The goal of the Hidden Road Initiative is to establish Internet connection in the remote village, thus creating a virtual road that would be a permanent and innovative solution to a key problem of the village—isolation. Internet would aid in combating poverty, connecting the villagers to the rest of the world, empowering the new generation of students by providing access to new resources of learning through e-education, promoting democratic development, and encouraging civic engagement and government transparency.

Help Armenia move forward. 

Join our cause today!
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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Mission and Impact
    • Team Members
    • History
    • Chapters >
      • UC Berkeley
      • UC Los Angeles
      • UC San Diego
      • CSU Northridge
      • AGBU MDS
      • GCC
    • News
  • Projects
    • Artsakh Family Fund
    • Project Hope (Artsakh)
    • Virtual Learning Resources
    • Holiday Backpacks for Artsakh
    • Jrashen Kindergarten
    • School Renovations
    • Tsaghkaber Kindergarten
    • UCLA Toy Drive
    • Heaters & Stoves
    • Computer Classes
    • Sturdy Shoes
    • Winter Coats
  • Summer Camps
    • Summer 2024
    • Summer 2023
    • Summer 2022
    • Summer 2021
    • Summer 2020
    • Summer 2019
    • Summer 2018
    • Summer 2017
    • Summer 2016
    • SUMMER 2015
    • Summer 2014
    • Summer 2013
    • Summer 2011
  • English Tutoring
  • SCHOLARSHIPS
    • 2024-2025 Scholars
    • 2023-2024 Scholars
    • 2022-2023 Scholars
    • 2021-2022 Scholars
    • 2020-2021 Scholars
    • 2019-2020 Scholars
    • 2018-2019 Scholars
    • 2017-2018 Scholars
    • 2016-2017 Scholars
  • Scholar Service Program
    • 2023 - 2024
    • 2022 - 2023
    • 2021 - 2022
  • Contact Us
  • Donate