It is harvest season in Armenia. The rural development team makes regular visits to villages to monitor Civilitas programs. The individual stories are representative of the dilemmas facing individual farmers and Armenia’s rural economy in general. I get excited about
It is harvest season in Armenia
We’ve made more than two dozen trips to Meghri since the start of our Bringing Water to Syunik’s Border Villages project, but this trip was different, it felt different. Never before has the road to Meghri been so colorful. Never
Success Breeds Success
Today I had an unusual visitor. One of our beneficiaries, Vardan Ghalechyan, (who has completed the payments of the milking unit we provided almost a year ago) came to our office in response to our offer to start a second
Beyond saving?
It’s been several months (of meetings and proposals) since our decision to put together a project that will assist the Bardzravan community in Syunik in securing a market for their milk and help them get on their feet. Everything seems
Armenia-Turkey Protocols Signed
First Step – Capitulation: The ill-constructed protocols signaling the beginning of formal relations between Armenia and Turkey received an uncertain and inauspicious signing in Zurich. The parties themselves and the representatives of the world powers, all were present but all
A Trip For Change
We head to Meghri at least once a month to oversee progress on our community organization project, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. To break the drive into manageable pieces, this usually means a three-day trip. The
Contradictions Obvious in Armenia-Turkey Protocols
DEMEANING SIGNING FOR DEMEANING PROTOCOLS: On Saturday, October 10, we witnessed two consequential but sadly conflicting events. One was the signing of the miscalculated and ill-constructed Armenia-Turkey protocols, despite great domestic and international concern and opposition among Armenians. The second
Consequences of Armenia-Turkey Protocols
Questions That Need Answers: The Diaspora was loud, forceful and often not even civil when it delivered its message to President Serzh Sargsyan during his five-city visit intended to explain the government’s position on the protocols and ostensibly to rally
Armenians Clash with the French Police
It was not supposed to be this way. Rapprochement or normalization between Armenia and Turkey was supposed to be a normal process, signaling a historic new beginning. Two states, signing mutually acceptable documents, respecting each other’s past and intending to
Getting This Wrong Will Be Unforgivable
We are at a crossroads in our history. We have on the table the first bilateral document that the independent sovereign Republic of Armenia intends to sign with the Republic of Turkey. This is an unprecedented process that is far-reaching