Smiles for Soldiers

AEΩ Foundation’s has partnered with Smiles for Soldiers to provide free quality dental care to our soldiers on the front lines. Our brother, Hayk Saryan, who was providing aid during the Artsakh war of 2020, and Dr. Hripsime Vardanyan, a dentist and first aid responder in Armenia, teamed together to start the Smiles for Soldiers project.

Dr. Vardanyan takes 2-3 days out of her week to visit the soldiers and do pro-bono work. Hayk has been helping Dr. Vardanyan by fundraising for materials and dental tools (compressors, handpieces, sterilization machines, and more). With the help of AEΩ Foundation and its generous supporters, we aspire on continuing this project long term, with the hopes of sponsoring Dr. Vardanyan to convert to a full time position on the project. Hayk and other aspiring health care professionals have had the opportunity of working with our soldiers thanks to the connections made through Smiles for Soldiers. This provides an impeccable opportunity to provide hands-on educational experiences for individuals wanting to help their homeland through their professional skills. 

Dr. Vardanyan and Hayk Saryan met in Armenia in the Spring of 2021 while working with Armenian Hero Project. On their visits to the multiple military bases on the Armenian border, their health care intuitions got the best of them as they began to assess the conditions of the medical wings of said bases. Hayk and Dr. Vardanyan knew they could make some drastic improvements to the conditions and shortly after, in July of 2021, Smiles for Soldiers became fully operational.