For Immediate Release
June 11, 2009

ARMENIA FUND BRINGS DRINKING AND IRRIGATION WATER TO AKNAGHBYUR VILLAGE IN ARMENIA

NEW YORK, New York — Armenia Fund is pleased to announce the successful completion of a vital infrastructure development project in Tavush region of Armenia– the reconstruction of drinking water system in Aknaghbyur. The project, worth $222,000, includes a thorough renovation of Aknaghbyur’s drinking water spring, pipelines and the internal network. Armenia Fund aims to provide residents with a reliable supply of drinking water since the existing drinking water system, built in the 1970s, is in a state of disrepair and has long failed to deliver a regular supply of water.

Akhnaghbyur: opening ceremony

One of Armenia’s oldest rural communities, Aknaghbyur today has a population of 551. The village was established in 451 in honor of Vardan Mamikonian, and its landmark oak tree, believed to have been planted by the general himself, remains a beloved symbol and a source of pride.

“Solving Aknaghbyur’s water problem is a critically important step toward helping ease the daily struggle of the villagers,’ said Ara Vardanian, the executive director of Armenia Fund in Yerevan.

Earlier this year, Armenia Fund completed critically needed natural gas pipeline and an irrigation water system renovations in Aknaghbyur, vastly improving local farming and the residents’ quality of life. The successful completion of the two parallel projects reinforces the Fund’s strategy of comprehensive rural development that aims at providing effective solutions to the whole spectrum of issues facing the beneficiary border communities in Armenia and Karabakh.

The gasification project has provided a timely solution to the issue of heating the homes of the villagers, while the revived irrigation network has substantially increased the area of land that can be used for cultivation. This will serve as an additional incentive for the development of agriculture, which is the primary source of income for the people of Aknaghbyur and the key to the economic revival of the entire community.

“When we found out that the Fund was going to do the gasification of the village and the restoration of the irrigation network, many of the members of the community came out and offered their help,” says Karen Dolmazian, the head of Aknaghbyur community administration. “Today, the whole community is participating in the development effort. People feel good that they are having their input in making their home village a better place to live and raise a family.”

ABOUT ARMENIA FUND USA: Founded in 1992, Armenia Fund USA was one of the first of Armenia Fund’s 18 international affiliates and serves Armenians in the United States, east of the Mississippi. As a non-profit, non-governmental, nonsectarian organization, the Fund represents all Armenians. The Fund has adopted a policy to go “Beyond Bricks and Mortar” to provide sustainability for projects it sponsors.

To learn more about Armenia Fund USA, please visit our website at
www.ArmeniaFundUSA.org or call us at 212-689-5307.

Armenia Fund USA
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 301
New York, NY 10038