Karakert Celebrates Community Day

Schoolchildren, Parents, and Teachers Join Hands to Make Their Environment Greener and a Healthier Place to Live

Karakert, April 7, 2006 — Today, the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) and the Armenia Tree Project (ATP), together with the local residents, celebrated Community Day in Karakert. The event marked the conclusion of the site development and landscaping of the school and kindergartens through the planting of trees and bushes. The day also marked the symbolic transfer of ownership of these fully renovated and refurnished educational institutions to the community.

Well within its overarching goal of Greening Armenia, ATP donated 200 trees and 150 shrubs for planting on the School and Kindergartens #1 and 2 grounds. Additionally, as part of its poverty reduction program, ATP donated 400 apricot trees to 200 underprivileged families in the village. This partnered project with ATP is a part of COAF’s larger Model Village project in Karakert. In September 2005, COAF had successfully completed the reconstruction of the local School #2 and Kindergartens #1 and 2, fully refurnishing them with high-quality school furniture and equipment.

The Karakert Community Day also created the aura characteristic of healthy communities. The villagers were content and proud to volunteer for the improvement of their village. Dressed in working clothes and carrying their gardening tools and buckets, young and old arrived on the designated sites to participate ¾ to touch the soil, to turn the ground, to plant a shrub, or to water a just-planted tree. In the words of Marina Bareyan, a parent from Karakert, “Such events make us more and more hopeful as we witness the signs of our total revival. I am so happy for our children, so happy that they will grow in a safer environment and have a better quality of life.”

COAF and ATP staff and guests were pleased to witness the enthusiasm of the villagers in planting the trees and shrubs on the grounds of the school and kindergartens. The school children were ecstatic taking the first steps toward greening their environment and pledged to nurture their adopted shrubs and trees so they would grow and continue to provide a clean and green environment for generations to come.

Armenia Tree Project was founded in 1994 to advance Armenia’s development by planting trees. Trees—sustainably managed—deliver a steady bounty of tangible benefits like flowers, fruits, shade, and medicine. They protect precious topsoil against erosion and landslides, clean the air, and safeguard supplies of fresh water. Trees also support an array of animal and plant life.

Children of Armenia Fund was founded in 2000 with the aim to reduce poverty through the revitalization of rural Armenia and the realization of projects that are instrumental for the revival of communities. With the introduction of its novel approach to clustering in February 2006, COAF is currently implementing the Model Cluster working in six villages in the Baghramyan region of the Armavir District.

CONTACTS: Sunny Uberoi, (212) 994-8206; or e-mail info@coafkids.org