Up & Up

Ever wondered how to level UP the life of young people and to UP-lift our communities?
The easiest way is to provide educational opportunities to the youth who wants to obtain new skills, profession and simultaneously improve their community.

During the past year YES has piloted its Up&Up project and provided vocational training opportunities to six young people who wanted to change their lives and provide more services in their communities.
Mariam is one of them. She is only 19 and comes from socially challenging family living in Kharberd, Armenia. Every summer Mariam together with her sister and mother was working in the fields picking up the fruits and collecting the seasonal harvest, which is physically extremely hard work. Her biggest dream was to learn backing and be able to support her family working in her most favourite field.
Mariam has applied to YES and after the detailed assessment of the family needs and the possibilities for Mariam, YES has funded a-four-months training course in backing, after which Mariam also has received the main essential backing tools to start backing at home.
Now she is making her first small steps in backing and also tries to create custom-made cakes for various occasions to be able to financially support her family.
The entire cost of the training course and purchasing the necessary tools was equal to $600.

Alyona, who is the another Up&Up beneficiary brought her very own make-up style in the beauty salon in Stepanakert, where never before the women had a chance to get this type of light, gentle yet very impressive make-up. That is today… but around two years ago Alyona was feeling completely lost and devastated after losing everything she and her husband had built in Drakhtik village of Hadrut region – their home, career, and what is more heartbreaking having lost her brother-in-low in war and left without any bit of information about her father, who is missing since October 2020… Alyona’s family of six has gone through so many challenges and troubles in their lives that it was impossible to imagine that one day Alyona will be able to pull herself together and support her family with her creative mind.
Through the Up&Up project YES was able to fund Alyona’s training course in make-up for four months, following which she has received the essential make-up sets and tools to begin working. Alyona was one of the best students in her class and was immediately hired by a local beauty salon in Stepanakert. What is more important – being able to create her own make-up style helped Alyona to destruct herself from daily routine, thoughts and memories of the past, as well as support her family financially.
The entire cost of the training course and the purchase of make-up sets was equal to $700.

Up&Up is a development project designed by the YES and intends to level UP the life of young women and men in Armenia and Artsakh who have either lost their jobs or are not able to continue working in their profession due to health issues or circumstances. Our potential beneficiaries are going through very hard financial situations and facing the need to learn new skills to be able to find jobs, since many of them do not have enough skills and knowledge to adjust to new realities.

By implementing Up&Up project YES is planning to impact both – the life of young people and the overall communities, by giving a chance to youth to improve the financial status of their families and positively influence their communities by offering more services.

YES is partnering with professionals in different spheres, who are ready and eager to share their skills and knowledge with the beginners.

Please join in our mission of giving a chance for better life to youth in Armenia by donating on our website. Every donation – small or big – brings immense changes in the lives of people and improves the communities.