Hripsime Khachikyan is 22 years old. She lost her father when she was ten. She lives with her ill mother and sister in the city of Etchmiazin. Her mother works as a cleaning lady in the local post office. Hripsime would often accompany her mother to assist her in cleaning the post office as well as work in some private homes. They lived in a very difficult situation and had to work hard to survive. When Hripsime’s mom was in the hospital for surgery, Hripsime took over her mom’s job. It was during this time that Orran offered to help her. Orran paid a master hairdresser to teach her skills to Hripsime. Hripsime was eager to learn, the master was kind to teach her the art of hairdressing and to become her friend and big sister. Orran gave her the tools she needed.

Today Hripsime earns a decent living not by cleaning the homes of her clients but by styling their hair.

Orran works closely with ``168 Hours``. The newspaper periodically calls the public's attention to the dire situation of the families that need help. One of them is the Papazyan family. Thanks to AmCham, the family of seven children received monetary assistance for a whole year. Unfortunately, at the end of the year, their dismal situation had not improved. As Orran staff visited their home, they were appalled to find seven children living in a small two-room apartment, with no kitchen and no refrigerator. The one-year-old child had tea in her bottle since the family could not afford milk. The family was supported for one year by a benefactor of Orran. But something fundamental had to be done with the family. Hence, it was decided to hire the Papazyan father to work as a guard at Orran. Little Edgar, their seven-year-old son was old enough to take the bus to Orran. At first, he was aggressive and even refused the meals which were so different from the dry bread and the sugarless tea that he was used to. But like others, he learned to love Orran and his life has changed ever since.