National, International, Armenia, and Community News and Opinion

The Armenian Reporter | February 7, 2009 9
Community
atp Organizes ‘Tree City Armenia’ Competition in Six Rural Villages
WATERTOWN, Mass. – Armenia
Tree Project (atp) initiated a
“Tree City Armenia” competition
to encourage the care of decorative
and fruit trees planted in six villages
in the Kotayk, Armavir, and
Aragatsotn regions. The competition
was proposed by atp Executive
Committee member Moorad
Mooradian and modeled after the
Tree City usa program of the Arbor
Day Foundation.
After assessing the needs and
conditions in Artashar, Irind,
Karmrashen, Nor Artamet, Tsakhunk,
and Zoravan, atp began
partnering with families in the villages
by planting decorative and
fruit trees at dozens of community
sites. The program was designed to
encourage the villages to grow and
nurture the atp trees, in competition
with one another to achieve
the best results.
Several fruit trees were distributed
to each family in 2007 and
two more trees were given to each
family in 2008. The participating
villages achieved remarkable survival
rates of 96-98 percent, which
serves as an example for other villages
and communities to follow in
the future.
After visiting the planting sites
to monitor the results, the winners
Artworks invited for
Toronto exhibit on genocide
TORONTO –Artwork for Remains
to be Seen, an exhibit on
genocide, may be submitted until
February 27, the International
Institute for Genocide and Human
Rights Studies (iighrs) has
announced. Visual artists living
in North America and working in
installation, new media, painting,
photography, sculpture, video, and
works on paper are invited to send
submissions. All work accepted
for exhibition must be an original
work of the artist and must address
the issue of genocide, the
guidelines state. This topic may
be engaged, explored, and interpreted
from any or all angles that
analyze the universal questions
relating to human rights and their
gross violation.
of the “Tree City Armenia” competition
were announced during a
ceremony at the atp office in Yerevan
on December 11, 2008.
atp Community Tree Planting
program manager Anahit Gharibyan
opened the program with a
heartfelt welcoming speech, during
which she emphasized the important
role of the participating communities
in developing Armenia
and building a better future for
the next generations. “Since these
communities achieved such unexpectedly
high results, we decided to
rejuvenate the orchards by providing
more new fruit trees,” stated
Gharibyan. “It was difficult for atp
to decide which village would take
first prize because all of the communities
took exceptional care of
the trees.”
atp Yerevan Director Mher
Sadoyan congratulated the community
leaders from the winning
villages and pledged to continue
working with them in 2009. “We
would like to continue our collaboration
by aiding those communities
with the fewest resources, especially
by greening public sites,”
said Sadoyan.
The first prize went to the head of
Artashar Village in Armavir, which
achieved a seedling survival rate of
Submitted artworks will be reviewed
and curated by Rhonda
Corvese, a Toronto-based independent
curator whose projects often
evolve in response to situations
where she strives to challenge the
role of the curator, the artist, and
the audience in the presentation
and engagement of contemporary
art. Her recent projects include cocurating
ScotiaBank Nuit Blanche
2007 and curating Iris Haussler’s
The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach.
Notifications will be sent by
April 6 for the two-week exhibition,
which opens May 28 at Lennox
Contemporary in downtown
Toronto.
connect:
www.genocidestudies.org
soar-la receives
contributions in
memory of Robert Paul
98 percent. “Artashar has a population
of 1,800 and unfortunately
the standard of living is not very
high,” explained Mayor Manvel
Ohanian. “Growing trees seemed
impossible, so we are thankful to
atp for establishing a community
tree planting program here. All of
our residents did their best to take
care of the trees, so I am very proud
to receive this wonderful prize. It
belongs to every family and every
single resident who grew beautiful
trees on barren land. Personally for
me this moment is very exciting
and inspiring.”
All six contestants received Certificates
of Excellence for their
work in re-greening their communities
while also advancing socioeconomic
growth in their regions.
All of the village sites are now ready
for sponsorship by atp donors,
since they have become models for
further investment.
Since 2004, atp’s ctp program
has been collaborating with 15 villages
and 5,572 families have received
apricot, wild apple, peach,
and pear trees. In 2008, residents
at 115 sites in Armenia with trees
planted by atp benefited from
a harvest of more than 500,000
pounds of fresh fruit. Already
19,458 trees have been planted by
1,620 families as part of atp’s “Tree
City Armenia” program.
Since 1994, Armenia Tree Project
has planted and restored more
than 2,500,000 trees and created
hundreds of jobs for impoverished
Armenians in tree-regeneration
programs. The organization’s three
ATP worked with
villages in the
Kotayk, Armavir,
and Aragatsotn
regions to plant
thousands of
apricot, wild
apple, peach, and
pear trees as
part of its “Tree
City Armenia”
competition
tiered initiatives are tree planting,
community development to reduce
poverty and promote self-sufficiency,
and environmental education to
protect Armenia’s precious natural
resources. For additional information,
visit the web site www.armeniatree.org.
Edward D. Jamie, Jr. Funeral Chapel, LLC
208-17 Northern Blvd. Bayside, NY 11361
Tel. 718-224-2390
Website: www.jamiejrfuneral.com.
Serving the Armenian Community Since 1969
Edward D. Jamie, Jr.-NY&NJ Licensed Funeral Director
LOS ANGELES – Robert Paul
died on December 7, 2008. His
family asked that donations in his
memory be made to SOAR-LA, the
Los Angeles chapter of the Society
for Orphaned Armenian Relief.
“Mr. Paul’s friend’s and family’s
contributions towards his memorial
totaled more than $4,700 and
will be used towards the purchase
of needed humanitarian supplies to
directly benefit Armenia’s orphans
who live in one of Armenia’s 14
orphanages,” said Peter Abajian,
president of soar-la, “On behalf
of the Board of Directors I would
like to extend my appreciation to
the Paul family for their belief in
our mission.”
Mr. Paul was born in 1927 in Menado
in the Dutch East Indies. He
led a very interesting life. He was
held in a Japanese prison camp for
four years during the Second World
War, when the Japanese invaded the
Dutch East Indies. After the war, his
family moved to the Netherlands,
where he finished school and joined
the Dutch military. He moved to the
United States in 1962 and in 1964
married his wife Kathleen.
Mr. Paul visited Armenia 13
times and had a terrific passion for
assisting families and children in
Armenia.
Robert Paul is survived by his wife,
Kathleen, sister, Yvonne, four children,
and numerous grandchildren.
soar-la is the Los Angeles chapter
of soar us, a national nonprofit
organization based in Philadelphia.
Established in 2006, soar and
its affiliates work to raise needed
funds and humanitarian supplies
to support Armenia’s orphanages
and the more than 1,200 children
they serve.
connect:
soar-us.org