COAF and Anahit Beauty Salon Complete Trainings for Hairdressers from Armavir

Yerevan, Republic of Armenia, May 8, 2007 — Today, the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) held an award reception in its Yerevan office to mark the completion of trainings for hairdressers initiated by COAF and implemented in partnership with Anahit Beauty Salon. The major goal of the pilot project was to train a group of young people from four villages constituting the Model Cluster, as part of Comprehensive Rural Development Program in the District of Armavir.

The three months of intensive trainings held at two salons of Anahit Beauty based in Yerevan have left the trainees with notable achievements and good results. During this period, the participants from Argina, Lernagog, Myasnikyan and Shenik communities acquired up-to-date techniques and modern approaches to hair styling and design.  As one leading expert from Anahit Beauty Salon cited, “These young ladies are now fully equipped with necessary skills to be able to meet the challenges of customer service in their native villages”.

In the words of Aneta Mkrtchyan, a trainee representing Shenik, it was an exciting experience for them to be trained in one of capital city’s most prestigious salons. “We knew so little, when we came here, and now the world is open for us and we have plenty of opportunities to be useful to our village population. We are confident and strong, and are looking forward to starting our own hairdressing salons”.

The certificates of course completion and small incentives were awarded jointly by Dr. Arpie Balian, COAF Armenia Country Director, and Ms. Suzy Grigorian, General Manager, Anahit Beauty Salon. Ms. Grigorian noted that “such initiatives are always welcome, especially when they are implemented with the objective of revitalizing rural areas and strengthening the capacity of rural people”. Also present at the event were the mayors of cluster villages, who expressed their gratitude to all the parties involved. They also hoped that the project would result in income generating activities in each of the mentioned communities and economic growth throughout the whole cluster.

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