The Armenia Tree Project (ATP) was
founded in 1993 to advance Armenia's economic and
social development by mobilizing resources
outside the country to fund reforestation. These
forests provide food, fuel, wood, environmental
benefits, and opportunities for economic growth.
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Wherever
a tree grows
There hope grows
Whoever plants
Believes in tomorrow.
Diana
Der-Hovanessian |
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...The train
conductor knew I was Armenian, but he was kind
and wouldn't let on. My wife stowed me on the
second berth, under lots of blankets. At one
stop, Azeri soldiers stormed into the train. They
asked my wife if she was Armenian. She pointed to
her tiny nose and demanded: "Have you ever
seen an Armenian nose like this?". The she
pointed to me and said I was her husband,
extremely ill and, of course, Russian.
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At a Yerevan
school, A.T.P. Director Regina Eddy waters her
tree at the October planting of an orchard
donated by Assembly Trustees. The student at left
will act as caretaker for the tree
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This story belongs
to 63-year old Yenok Agabekian, a refugee from
Azerbaijan who resettled in Noyakert Village in
Armenia. Surely all his new neighbors have their
own stories to tell, of flight from danger. Now
that Yenok and his family are safely installed in
Armenia, there is a new challenge: survival.
Survival in a make-shift settlement on barren
land where Yenok is one of the lucky ones because
he has a one-room house - with a roof.
What Yenok and most of
his neighbors do not have, however, is a
job. Or steady income. So when Armenia
Tree Project staff visited Noyakert last
summer about a possibility of a
tree-planning project, one stop on an
assessment tour of 6 refugee villages,
Yenok and his neighbors jumped at the
chance.
This time they were in luck, as Noyakert
was chosen as the first site for ATP's
model project. The goals of the project
were simple but mighty - food, income,
and greater economic self-sufficiency for
villagers. The partnership went like
this. For each participating family, ATP
would provide free tools, young trees,
and training, luxuries otherwise beyond
their reach. |
Making
a new life: Noyakert refugees Yenok
Agabekian and his wife take a rest from
digging |
In return, each family had to
have 500 square meters of empty land (which the
ROA had provided them), attend 5 one-hour
training sessions, and correctly prepare each
tree plot for planting.
The results? Exhilarating.
Excerpt from
Armenia Tree Project Report, Spring 1995
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