Nara Melkonyan: Biography
Nara Melkonyan was born in Yerevan in the family of a civil engineer-architect and a gynecologist-obstetrician. She went to one of the English secondary schools in Yerevan and graduated in 1983. Nara enrolled the same year in the Yerevan State University in the department of Oriental Studies, getting a bachelor’s degree in Persian language and literature. She got her master’s degree in Political Science and International Affairs in 1996 becoming one of the second graduates of that department at the American University of Armenia, an affiliate of the University of California. Nara started working towards getting her Ph.D. afterward passing all the minimum examinations. The work at Project AGAPE prevented her from completing her thesis and getting a Ph.D. Her work experience started in 1984, when she worked at a publishing house in Yerevan, then in the House of Political Enlightenment of the Armenian SSR. Later she taught Persian language and literature in one of the colleges in Yerevan. She was the Director of Admissions at the American University of Armenia prior to working at Project AGAPE and has been the Country Director of Project AGAPE in Armenia since July 4 of 1997.
A Message from Nara:
It was like yesterday when project AGAPE started its humanitarian activities helping the people of Armenia after the devasting earthquake, destructing war, and collapse of the economy following the fall of Soviet totalitarian regime. It was like yesterday 13 years ago…Throughout the history of civilization, there weren’t many nations who went through so many sufferings in the same period of time as did Armenians, who were the first to adopt Christianity as the state religion in 301.
It is incredible that love does not recognize borders and does not care about distance. We want to THANK YOU for your support and dedication to Project AGAPE. With our most profound appreciation for your commitment and love, we extend to all of you our warmest greeting, asking the Giver of all gifts to grant you the gifts of good health, renewed dedication, and increasing happiness in service to His glory and his kingdom and to your church and people in His great commission of salvation.