Dilijan Care: helping Dilijan become safer and better

How did the idea to create such a community in Dilijan come about?

Elena E., co-founder of Dilijan Care: The community began its activities in 2022 along with a large wave of Russian-speaking immigrants, mainly from Russia, arriving in Dilijan. People saw that there were a lot of animals in the city – injured, sick, shot down – and there was a common interest in helping animals and creating an environmentally friendly environment. This became the basis for Dilijan Care.

Nurseries and shelters have been operating in large Russian cities for a long time, some of the animals have been vaccinated, sterilized and walk with clips. Therefore, naturally, when people arrived in Dilijan, they were surprised by such a large number of stray animals and tried to figure out what to do about it.

In general, Dilijan Care was created by Sasha. She worked in a pet store for several years and had experience interacting with animals. She organized clean-up days, charity events to raise funds to help animals, and was involved in the administration of a new chat.

Alexandra P., co–founder of Dilijan Care: When I arrived in Dilijan, I saw in one of the main chats that people have a need to discuss the problems of the city, and most importantly, to solve them. Without hesitation, I made a separate chat and invited everyone there. The name is quite straightforward – Dilijan care – taking care of Dilijan. I decided to immediately lay the foundation for the values: mutual respect, support, security, openness, initiative. The volunteer environment, in fact, can be very toxic, and I wanted to avoid this initially. The guys and I gathered for the first meeting and discussed the issues that worried us.

What is the main purpose of the community?

Elena: One could say that the goal is to cure all dogs and cats and other animals, to clean up everything on the streets, but this is unrealistic. Therefore, the goal is the community of responsible and active people itself.

Alexandra: Someone is more concerned about the problem of garbage in our city, someone is more concerned about the endless number of animal misfortunes. Others are people's problems and safety. There were also enthusiasts who wanted to do educational and cultural projects.

In what areas does the community operate?

Елена: It should be understood that Dilijan Care is not some kind of company with employees, it is a voluntary community. For example, someone will give someone a ride, someone will give medicines to some animal, etc. At the moment, most of the activities are related to animals: information, physical assistance in sterilization, vaccination, patronage.

Alexandra: We realized quite quickly that it is better to act proactively: instead of treating animals for infections, we can vaccinate them. In order to avoid puppies, some of which will invariably die, you can sterilize the dog.

At first, we tried to pay no less attention to environmental issues. We held clean-up days every week or two. The thought was this: a personal example is contagious. The problem of garbage is complex. It affects the culture, the infrastructure of the city, education in schools and the information of the adult population. <\p>

Requests for organizing assistance to people were always welcomed in the chat, whether it was a trip to donate blood, raising funds for firewood for a grandmother who has nothing to heat her own home with, or the issue of the safety of residents. And somehow, of course, thanks to Elena, the direction of charity Events was born in our country. What we didn't have: watching movies, culinary events, postcards from Dilijan photographers, Dilijan Care T-shirts, guitar gatherings and collaborations with local institutions, master classes. This allowed people to get positive emotions and feel that volunteering can consist not only of suffering (laughs).

Which issues are solvable and which are difficult to solve?

Elena:The main thing that we do is provide people with tools and information to solve problems. And so the problems, of course, are endless: here you solve, and there a new one appears.

Alexandra: From my point of view, Dilijan's main problems are garbage and animals. Environmental issues are difficult to solve only with the help of a handful of enthusiasts. It takes years to change the paradigm in people's minds. Of course, you can organize the collection and dumping of garbage cans all over the city. But who will clean them in a timely manner? This also applies to street cleaning. We need more cleaners, and these are city budget issues that I personally don't understand much about. I'm not going to say the most popular point of view now, but we also need fines for people littering and those who will issue these same fines.

Problems related to animals require at least long-term investments. Sterilization, which everyone loves so much, is cool and healthy, but it only works if it is maintained on an ongoing basis. The treatment of injured animals is a huge amount, which each time it is possible to collect with great difficulty. So, in the end, you come to the conclusion that patrons are needed, effective altruism is needed when we solve big problems with less money. Vaccination is one such solution. State support is needed, children need to be taught humane treatment of animals and proper interaction with them, and adults need to be informed about social programs and dispel myths related to the sterilization of their pets. According to my observations, there are many people in Armenia who are literally afraid of dogs, and this fear often comes from ignorance, rather than from some traumatic event.

To what extent are the residents of the city involved in community initiatives?

Alexandra:: Do you mean those who were born and raised here or who live here? While living in Dilijan, I also considered myself a local, because I sincerely fell in love with this wonderful city (laughs). Yes, there are definitely people who are actively involved, starting from the city administration, which helped us with garbage collection and provided an area for temporary isolation/overexposure of dogs, and ending with individuals. These are local entrepreneurs: owners of cafes, pet stores, cultural spaces. Someone will allocate a percentage of sales, someone will provide a platform, someone will sell food and medicines at a discounted price. We are grateful to everyone for their help and assistance.

If you want to help Dilijan Care, the details, as well as links to Instagram and Telegram can be found here. Join the initiatives of the community to jointly promote beneficial changes in Dilijan.