Nation Building: One Village at a Time |
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 Rural Development Program |
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Thursday, December 20, 2007 11 am: We visited the Surmalu market, which is the main marketplace were most retailers acquire the school consumables available on the Armenian market. It offers a wide variety of goods at considerably lower than market prices. |
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By 3 pm, after four freezing hours and careful consideration of all the prices ans availability of goods, we finally got what we wanted and headed back to the office to start preparing the individual packages for the students. It came out that we underestimated the amount of goods purchased and had to call another car to transport the whole lot. |
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| Back at The Armenia Fund office: Although there was no direct association intended between the current project implementation timeline and the New Year and Christmas, the holiday spirit was definitely in the air, as the whole staff abandoned all other plans for the evening and stayed behind to make all the 228 packages. | ||
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| By the time we were done, Rural Development Program implementation office resemled Armenian Santa's workshop. | ||
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Next morning we finished up putting the ready packages into boxes, preparing them for 250+km transportation. Next week the schools in all of Armenia will be officially out for holidays and we hope that the new consumables for Lori cluster villages will be a good incentive for the children to look forward to returning to school after the holidays are over. |
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We will send you another report after the distribution of the consumables. If you have any questions and comments please contact us at rdp@himnadram.org. |
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| Second Stage | |
Task:
Action: |
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| Below you can find the photo report on the distribution process | |
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Monday, December 24, 2007 8:00-8:20 am - The van is being loaded and we're almost ready to go. Each box containing the gift sets is marked with the number of packages inside as well as the age group of the students the consumables are intended for. |
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The road to Lori: the initial 180km of the journey were fine, but just as we turned from the main road and into the community access roads, we felt first hand how important are normal roads not just as physical connection to the world but as a business facilitator and potent development incentive. Hardly any entrepreneur would or could drive this road for business. |
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| Once we overcame our off road drive endurance test, we were greeted near the Artsni village school by a vibrant crowd of children and adults. | |
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| Once again, the holiday spirit was very much in the air as we started the consumables distribution process. Children were quick to take apart the packages and check out what was inside (they seemed pretty pleased with the examination). | |
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After receiving his package, little Tigran was quick to return, asking for a second package for his big sister who had cold and couldn't come to school. |
Ani (on the left) is just five years old and does not yet go to school. Luckily, we found an extra pack of play dough for her. |
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| As we arrived in the next school, we greeted the community members and presented them the project as part of The Armenia Fund small projects initiative as well as the benefactors Vicken and Roobina Avrikian. | The Rural Development Program logo/improvised Christmas tree (presents included). |
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| Each student got a present to his/her liking, as Srbuhi (on the left) likes to draw and Armen and Artak are football aficionados. After receiving the ball, they challenged the Rural Development Program staff to a (friendly) game of football. | |
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| The adrenaline was high as a major football face off raged on the small field behind the school. At 2:2 we agreed on an uneasy truce and promised to come back to settle the score. | |
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| As we finished distributing the consumables, and watched the students walking away with their gifts to their village (Apaven kids do not have a school so they need to walk 2km to the nearest school in Artsni), there was the overwhelming feeling of the many tasks and challenges ahead to make sure that these children have a sunny road ahead of them. | Tired, frozen, reasonably satisfied, a bit sad: a pit stop on the way back to Yerevan. |
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| Movies & Videos |
This is the regular train that serves the needs of the people of Armenia's Shirak region. It has not been replaced for more than forty years and still bears the (now rusty)symbols of the Soviet Empire. Convenience and comfort are two things one will not find here. |
| Rural Development News |
 The Armenia Fund Launches Khashtarak Health Clinic Restoration Project UNDP Armenia To Help Carry Development Projects for Rural Communities Read more |
| Photo Story |
| School Conumables Small Project: see the photo-story. Is quality animal husbandry and dairy production possible in Armenia? Find out. |