For many years, art therapy has been embraced at the FAR Children’s Center as a way to help children overcome trauma and relieve stress, and to encourage societal integration and self-expression.
Since early 2018, the Center has partnered with UNHCR on a child protection project to help displaced, refugee and unaccompanied children from countries that include Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Iraq, to better adapt and integrate into life in Armenia through resettlement assistance, support and outreach services, and mental health counseling, as well as art therapy.
Recently, the 28 children who have been residing at the Center during Armenia’s lockdown, helped prepare packages of art supplies for 33 children who are assisted by the UNHCR initiative and who are living with their families, so that they could participate remotely in Center art-therapy sessions. Packages include construction paper, pencils and erasers, glue, scissors, watercolor paints, play dough and drawing pads.
“Because of COVID-19, these children were not able to come to the Center so we switched to online communication and mentoring,” said Project Mentor Tatevik Ghazaryan. “We have selected children from 10 different families who live in different districts of Yerevan. They will try to make different art work at home with the help of these materials meticulously selected by our Center kids for their friends.”