Zatik Orphanage, in Yerevan, Armenia, was established in 1993. At that time, due to the fall of the Soviet Union, the subsequent war and unemployment, and a devastating earthquake, there were large numbers of children living on the streets of the city. The orphanage was founded to rescue these children, and to provide care and education. Today the orphanage houses over 125 children aged six and upward. They attend local schools, and receive dedicated care from the 80 paid and voluntary staff.   Many of the children have special educational needs, and several tutors are employed at Zatik to help them. Some of the children aiming to go to university also need extra tuition as in many cases, there have been interruptions in their schooling. These tutors receive no government funding. Since the orphanage was founded, the government has provided anything between 10% and 70% of the funding  -  never 100%. Basic items like clothes and shoes are only funded once a year; anything more comes from donations. Once the children are eighteen, there is no funding for them at all.

At the Zatik Orphanage in Yerevan, Armenia when children in the orphanage reach 18 years, they are forced out. In Armenia there are few social services and unemployment is very high. The prospects for young women of this age are not good in this society. The boys go to the military and the girls go to the Rainbow House. The Rainbow House is a place where the girls can stay in until they become financially self-reliant.
Rainbow House is a place where a few women have a place to live, gain employable skills, get higher education and look for jobs. Fifteen girls aged between eighteen and twenty-two live in Rainbow House, and most of them are studying at Yerevan’s universities. One activity of Rainbow House is to cooperate with the children of Zatik Orphanage to make greeting cards. The children do needle work. When a child completes a card that meets the standards, the card is inventoried. When the card sells, the child receives a little money to spend as desired. These residents of Rainbow House complete the cards; hand label them "Made in Armenia," in both English and Armenian; and wrap them in cellophane. The cards are sold to those who wish to help the residents of Rainbow House and Zatik by encouraging their creativity and industriousness.
Most of the proceeds from the cards go to Zatik and Rainbow House.  A year's cost of running the Rainbow House is Dh30,000. The money from the cards and donations received will go to things such as clothes, bedding and basic essentials that the girls need. The house is always a hive of activity – girls coming and going from university, carrying out their household duties, making greetings cards, and above all caring for each other under the eye of the house mother. They are serious about their education and their futures, working extra hard to make up for the gaps in their education caused by childhood upheavals.  Please buy some cards today to help brighten the future of these determined, hard working girls.