Her journey with COAF began at the age of 10 when she attended COAF’s summer camp at the SMART Center in Lori for the first time. Today, at 18 years old, Mariam Kharatyan is participating in her eighth SMART afterschool program while working as an intern at the COAF SMART Center and hosting her own podcast, aptly titled SMARTcast.
There aren’t enough drawers in his bedroom closet to fit all the wires, circuits and machine elements he’s collected. The only table in the room serves as a repair station where he gives a second life to what at first looks like useless junk.
Fourteen-year-old Sirak Gabrielyan from Dzoragyuh village (Lori region) has been fascinated with electronics since childhood.
You probably already guessed that his favorite after-school program at the SMART Center is mechanics, but that didn’t stop him from successfully completing nine other courses with great interest.
She has brightly colored hair, and equally bright and tasteful clothes. Her character is completed by unusual earrings and a bright smile. Meet the SMART Center’s drawing instructor Christina Avagyan, the walking color palette.
Christina arrived at Lori’s SMART on a “direct flight” from Armavir. Prior to that, she taught art for COAF’s educational program in the villages of Armavir.
The sister is obsessed with Asian languages and likes to take photos of clouds, and the brother likes to cook and play virtual football (as a musician he can’t play real football because he needs to take care of his hands). Two things unite them: SMART and music.
Fifteen-year-old Lilia is a pianist, and twelve-year-old Zhora is a cellist.
She adores animals. She has managed to participate in seven programs at the SMART Center and at the age of 13 she has already decided that she will become an actress.
“Besides being an actor, I really want to give performing arts lessons to children where there is a need for it,” says Araksya Apresyan from Odzun, who manages her own small business alongside the theater group.
Sixteen-year-old Garik Ghazaryan from Debet Village is one of the SMART Center’s veterans. So far he’s managed to participate in seven programs. Prior to attending SMART, Garik was engaged in all sorts of activities, like karate, wrestling, dhol (Armenian drum), and Armenian folk dancing. Participating in the AgriTech program at SMART inspired him to delve into agriculture, specifically beekeeping.
A hurricane lady lawyer who breaks stereotypes: Anzhelika 29 July 2022 By Nane Vardanyan Photo courtesy of Anzhelika Nazaretyan 4 min read A little dragon. An angry unicorn. A little trouble. These are some ways COAF’s lawyer Anzhelika Nazaretyan will strive to find the right words to describe herself when asked who she is. Behind…
If you ask 17-year-old Asatur from the city of Tumanyan to describe his life in two words, he will do it in three: Rubik’s Cube, cinema, and video editing.
But his interests extend far beyond these hobbies. So far, he has managed to complete 6 SMART programs (Programming, English classes, Performing Arts, Finance, Digital Drawing, and Mechanics). He only regrets that he will no longer be able to participate in the Sound Design program.
Her day starts and ends with painting, and her favorite “motives” are birds. Mariam Sargsyan, a 17-year-old COAF beneficiary from Arevatsag village, has decided to become an artist.
Until recently, she managed to attend a Wikipedia club and Robotics in parallel to drawing, participating in COAF’s Aflatoun and English Access programs. As soon as the SMART Center opened its doors, she became one of the first students to attend.
– Did you place Gago somewhere comfortable? So jump on stage…
– Gago is already sitting, so you can start painting…
This is how the Drawing and Drama Therapy programs of 11-year-old Mane from Lernagog start.
Gago is a doll who has been Mane’s inseparable friend for more than ten years. Children and instructors managed to adapt to Gago’s presence.
This is how we work. This is how it works! 1 May 2022 By Nane Vardanyan Photos by: Knar Babayan 3 min read We often tell you about our work in the villages, the success stories of our students, and community development projects. But who carry out daily work and make those programs a reality…
In the evening, when the entire Barseghyan family gathers, the carpet of the living room turns into a tatami, where sister and brother try new judo tricks. The best performer is testing her strength with her father.
10-year-old Syuzanna learned about judo from TV. At the first opportunity, she and her 9-year-old brother, Ashot, registered for the COAF Judo Program.
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