Despite itself, Armenia can be a surprising place. It tempts those expats who live here into a sense of ambivalence, because, as a watched pot never boils, we wait with anticipation for things to develop as we expect or hope them to, and sink into cynicism when they don’t. However, its the progress that occurs organically and not by will of outsiders with plans, which sends the cynic in to shock.

I experienced this sense of awe once again when I visited the Centaur Hippotherapy Center in the village of Ushi off of the Ashtarak Highway. The path that led me to this place was a little too complicated to explain in this blog, but it is certain testimony to my belief that people who live with a sense of being open to their own conscience are spiritually rewarded.

Centaur is a humble facility that practices Hippotherapy, horse-assisted therapy. They treat children who suffer from congenital conditions such as Cerebal Palsy, Autism, and Down Syndrome. Hippotherapy is an internationally recognized form of effective therapy for patients with such conditions. It helps condition their bodies for normal locomotion and elimination pathological reflexes.

To return to my original point, one reason that I have fallen in love with this place is that its mere existence is the result of the love and sheer effort that has been put into it by its founder, Hasmik, and her staff. With no financial support, they bootstrapped the entire project from scratch. What they’ve achieved has been through the funds they’ve been able to scrape together and the sporadic support of sympathetic acquaintances.

When they moved into to their current donated space they spent many months grading the land that would become their horse range by hand, using buckets and shovels, because they didn’t have the funds to hire the necessary equipment. They still personally shuttle children back and forth from their homes with their one car, because many of their patients don’t have the money to pay for the transportation.

This isn’t the only project in Armenia that exhibits this homegrown characteristic, there are many (my wife works for one). However, the discovery of such dedication truly inspires us to continue enabling them to pursue their efforts.