In June 2009, ABC established the "Robert Burns Youth Centre" at the Zatik Orphanage in Yerevan Armenia.  The project encompassed both the physical establishment of the Centre and the implementation of educational and career development programs at the Centre. 

Why the "Robert Burns Youth Centre"?  Robert Burns (1759-1796) is usually described as one of the world's greatest poets. But this description does not serve him well. He was much more than that. This is a man, who was born in extreme poverty in one of the tiny village in Scotland. But this boy, in his relatively short life, became Scotland's most favourite writer, its symbol and inspired millions of people around the world. His memory is celebrated all around the world. Most celebrations take the form of fundraising events and usually the money goes to various charities.

Zatik orphanage was established in 1993.  It currently serves as a home to 76 children between the ages of 7 and 18.  There are 56 children between the ages of 14-18, who will be the target group of the Robert Burns Youth Centre project. However, in addition to the 76 children between the ages of 7 and 18 living at Zatik, the orphanage currently also serves as a home to over 30 boys and girls over the age of 18, who have not been able to establish themselves independently upon reaching adulthood.  This is evidence of a clear need for enhancing the orphans' capacity to provide for themselves, be it through the pursuit of higher education or development of a competitive skill-set for today's economy, or both.

The problems associated with entering independent adulthood are especially acute for orphans in Armenia.  In the traditional Armenian family, young people stay in their parents' homes until they marry, and in many cases, continue to live in their parents' home even after marriage.  Orphanages simply cannot provide the equivalent permanent social security that is taken for granted in the standard Armenian family. Furthermore, orphanages have neither the mandate nor the resources to support children over the age of 18 indefinitely.  Thus it is especially important that the target of an academic and career development program be orphans - a socially isolated population lacking an extensive familial and social network, resulting in very slim chances at upward social mobility if left to their own devices.  

Hence, through the course of extensive meetings with the director and staff of the orphanage and visits to the orphanage, we have determined that the orphanage has clear needs in the areas of English language education, utilization of information technology, and higher education and career guidance. Addressing these needs will be of inarguable consequence for the children of Zatik orphanage, as command of the English language and superior computer literacy are among the most highly demanded skill-sets in Armenia's labour market. 

Zatik contained an entirely unutilized space that we have identified as the location of the future Robert Burns Youth Centre.  The 100 square meter room was perpetually locked, that used to function as a storage room for old computers and broken desks.  However, the room was equipped with heating, electricity, and an Internet line.  With a fresh coat of paint, furniture, renovated floor, a library and computers, the room had transformed into a state-of-the-art facility for organized lessons, independent study, group activities, and other educational and informational forums and events.

We have asked and received partial financing from the Burns Committee to fund this project that aims to open doors for one of the most vulnerable social layers of Armenian society: orphans. We are very much grateful to the Burns Committee for their assistance. Nonetheless, the funding was enough only for the procurement of furniture and the construction materials. We were lucky to have the CEO of the leading construction and engineering company in Armenia, Arpa-Sevan OJSC, because Arpa-Sevan donated their human resource for building the facility.

We have been holding English classes with the help of volunteers since the establishment. ABC members are filling the library with the book donations. Global Bridge Educational Centre is donating teaching materials for the Centre. At the moment, we are working on securing funding for the maintenance of the Centre and for the implementation of educational programmes.