PRESS RELEASE
The Armenia Fund
Governmental Buiding 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Sose Amirkhanian
Tel: +(3741) 56 01 06 ext. 107
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: S.Amirkhanian@himnadram.org
Web:

27 December, 2007

SCHOOL CONSUMABLES FOR STUDENTS IN LORI

Yerevan, December 27, 2007 – On Monday, December 24, 2007 The Armenia
Fund Rural Development Program distributed packages of school
consumables to the students of the six villages included in the Rural
Development Program Lori cluster. The project was sponsored by Vicken
and Roobina Avrikian (2000 USD) through The Armenia Fund Canada
(Toronto) Affiliate.

The Lori cluster includes the villages of Apaven, Artsni, Dzoramut,
Dzunashogh, Gogavan and Paghaghbyur. The six villages have a total of
four secondary schools and 208 students. Each student received a
package of school consumables put together taking into consideration
the schooling needs of his/her age group and various extracurricular
activities the children might be interested in. The schools also
received extra packages for future use and special supplies for the
teachers.

In addition to the essentials: pens, pencils, notebooks, rulers,
erasers and sharpeners, the higher classes received bow compasses and
calculators while the younger students got coloring books and play
dough packs etc.

"Similar small projects are very important for the Rural Development
Program. Although they do not offer fundamental solutions to rural
problems they can, however, provide instant relief to pressing
issues. In one case, this may be a computer for the village library,
in the other – subscription to various newspapers to breach the
informational gap between the urban and rural communities", says Vahe
Aghabegians, The Armenia Fund Executive Director.

With no intentional planning for the timing of the project to coincide
with the New Year and Christmas Holidays, the packages were
nevertheless received with great enthusiasm as New Year gifts. "These
kinds of initiatives reassure the villagers that they are not
forgotten and positive change is on the way", adds Mr. Aghabegians.

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The Armenia Fund