The hidden energy of Vanadzor and one of its youngest artists 3 December 2021 By Nane Vardanyan 2 min read “There is a hidden potential and immense energy in Vanadzor (the third-largest city of Armenia),” believes 19-year-old Levon Harutyunyan, a former student of Lori’s COAF SMART Center. The energy is within urban artists who play…
An Armenian student’s journey of starting university in Yerevan 3 September 2021 By Nane Vardanyan 3 min read The new academic year presumes many rural Armenian youths moving to Yerevan, Gyumri, or Vanadzor (the cities where most state universities are located) to start university in their preferred professional field. Aghunik Shambaryan, a COAF SMART student…
The female basketball coach and her 100 students 6 June 2021 By Nane Vardanyan Photos by: Knar Babayan 3 min read The COAF car gradually reaches the village school, and as soon as it stops, the kids hurry up to open the door from the outside and greet their coach. The reason for their impatience…
Raising a village you were raised in: Zorakan 2 May 2021 By Nane Vardanyan, Photos by: Knar Babayan 3 min read It takes a village to raise a child. It takes children to raise a village. Childhood memories may be varied. “I was overjoyed when my parents took me to the farm to either sow…
Air rich in oxygen, clean food, and breathtaking nature all around are some of the luxuries of Koti village of Armenia’s alpine Tavush region. Urban people would be jealous to live in such surroundings, and if so, they may have to pay for it possibly a lot.
“SMART has been the school of my dreams” – Rudik Gharibyan, the first SMART Citizen, who finished the SMART Citizenship curriculum this week, summarizes his two-year journey at the COAF SMART Center and is getting ready to go to the army today.
Arriving at the office a bit earlier, taking a cup of warm tea, and getting mentally prepared to rock the day is COAF Alumna Lusvard Arakelyan’s “first self-given task” of an ordinary workday.
The 45-day war in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) was an everyday battle of survival and a journey towards precious peace in every Armenian’s mind. Unfortunately, the price of peace is often high.
Here we are at the auditorium of Aragatsavan village School #2, which was in the process of renovation back in 2016.
“We are used to hearing the sound of shelling,” calmly says the 17-year-old Laura Yesyan who lives in the borderline Aygehovit village of the Tavush region. Since the Nagorno-Karabakh War, people are used to living with the tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Leaving school and wrapping up that important chapter in life can often be emotional. This year the graduation ceremonies were canceled for many students all over the world, including Armenia.
“You are a girl, you cannot do that,” an expression Nareh was told too many times and had to prove them wrong.
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