As part of our effort to be fully transparent, answer questions about our work and feature what it takes to implement successful projects, I am messing around with the concept of blogging highlights of my trip to Armenia on a daily basis–so here goes nothing.

This morning, my colleague, Gegham and I started our day at the George Apelian Dental Clinic in Yerevan.  We have worked with the clinic for the last two years.  The clinic provides free dental services for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families through the Pyrkutyun Center in the Shengavit neighborhood of Yerevan.  The clinic has a couple of needs including a $2,000 attachment to their x-ray machine that will allow for digital x-rays for their patients.  We need to put together an effort to raise these funds.

Then, we left for the one and a half hour drive to the village of Rind.  Back in November, The Paros Foundation and the Armenia Tree Project held a joint fundraiser in New York to raise support for the renovation of the Rind school’s kitchen, cafeteria and the planting of more than 500 trees and the implementation of environmental curriculum at the school.  Thanks to the generous donors, this project is fully funded and a local crew has been hired and work is already underway.  The mayor is overseeing some roof repairs and helping bring water and sewer lines to the new kitchen.  Be sure to check out the Rind School project page on the website.

The work is progressing well.  The crew was working on repairing the walls and pouring the new subfloors.  Once they dry, they will begin working on the plaster and installing the new tile floor.  We met with the school’s principal, Ashot, who is supervising the work on a daily basis.  We discussed the kitchen equipment needs, furniture and additional supplies.  We wrapped up our visit and headed back to Yerevan.

Upon our return to Yerevan, we were joined by our colleague, Sevan, and we met with the team at FAR to discuss possible cooperation on our Prosperity on the Border projects.  Both Paros and FAR are working on several fronts with the communities along the Armenia Azerbaijan border in Tavush.  We had a great discussion and hopefully this will lead to future cooperation.