Gizildash College

The Orphanage at Gizildash College, in Azerbaijan

Gizildash is a small town to the south-west of Baku, known for its limestone quarries. (Gizildaş is the Azeri for "Golden Stone".) The town contains a college for students up to the age of 18, and also provides accommodation shared between 80 orphans aged 16-20, and refugee families from the Armenian war.

The range of vocations offered at Gizildash College

The main aim of the college is to provide vocational training to its students, so that when they graduate they are able to find work either in Gizildash itself, or elsewhere in Azerbaijan.

The vocations which the college aspires to offer are beautifully depicted on a billboard in the college grounds, showing people engaged as woodworkers, hairdressers, and in a variety of other skilled occupations.

While orphaned men leaving the college are guaranteed a year of stability through compulsory national service in the Azerbaijan armed forces, such support is not available to female orphans when they graduate, and so some stay on living in the orphange until a secure opportunity arises to leave.

Renovation of toilet and shower rooms

Our first projects at Gizildash aimed to improve the sanitary facilities of the orphanage, which were amongst some of the worst that we have witnessed in Azerbaijan.

Thanks to donations from BOS Şelf, BP Sunbury, and the Irish Society, and building work by Rovshan Oguz, all of the toilets and shower rooms in the building have now been refurbished, a kitchen/living area has been provided for orphaned girls and boys, and uPVC windows installed to replace crumbling old wooden frames that did not have any glass in them.

Finally, the roof of the orphanage has been weatherproofed, to keep out the rain that was previously percolating through the ceilings of the 5th floor living areas, causing plaster and cement to peel away.

The new facilities are now in use, and have made a marked difference to the lives of the residents. The windows in the shower and toilets enable any heat in the rooms to be retained, which is of huge importance in the cold Azeri winter.


Before refurbishment	Newly refurbished toilets and shower rooms

Electrical wiring

During the renovation work at Gizildash, the builders and craftsmen involved highlighted the parlous state of the electrical wiring throughout the orphanage. Soot marks above junction boxes provided ample evidence of what happens when the wiring was overloaded, and when we asked the residents what they would most like us to tackle next, re-wiring was their number one response - and ideally before winter set in!

The re-wiring project was a substantial one, made possible by donations from the Wee Helping Hand Club, CCIC, and from Rovshan Oguz, who also performed the work itself. The benefits realised are obvious - safe and modern wiring and junction boxes, and efficient modern lighting, as amply illustrated in the pictures below.

Electrical wiring at Gizildash orphanage - before and after

Current projects at the Gizildash orphanage

We have been joined by a number of other groups in our work at Gizildash. The Azerbaijan English Teachers Assosciation, AzETA, with support from the British Council in Azerbaijan, has started to provide English language lessons at the college. The British Council has also provided books and other educational material, in support of the project.

Painters being trained by PCH, at Gizildash Orphanage

PCH, the painting and scaffolding contractor used by BOS Şelf, are performing decorating works in the orphanage. Moreover, in direct support of Gizildash College's objectives as a vocational training centre, they are also providing training in painting and decorating for six of the teenagers that live there.

The painting team at Gizildash

Further vocational help has finally arrived in a project to replace the windows at the orphange, many of which are boarded up. The carpentry department of the college is now building wooden frames for the orphanage windows, thanks to David Blatchford, and glass for the windows has already been supplied by BOS Şelf.

CSA is also running an agriculture project at the orphange, supporting a gardening project for teenagers. Sterling has donated 60 fruit trees to be planted at the orphanage, and we have also received a donation to buy several spades, a rake, and a wheelbarrow.

BP's HSE group planted 30 pine trees in the area, as part of their initiative to turn Azerbaijan green, and AA Services have installed fencing around the gardening area to prevent grazing cows and chickens from entering the fruit and vegetable patches.

The first harvest of produce from this project has now taken place, with Mr Arnoud Govaert of AA Services having the pleasure of cutting the first lettuce. Hopefully, this will be the start of a good first year's crop at Gizildash!

If you can provide some time to assist the teenagers in this project, do let us know.