Garo Armen first revisited his homeland Armenia in September 2001,
during which he witnessed the scene of Armenia's poverty brought
about by the devastating earthquake of 1988 and the collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991. Dr. Armen was especially struck by the
poverty of rural Armenia. The villages of Armenia had no health care,
basic sanitation, jobs or even proper education for children. He was
determined to change the lives of the children living in rural Armenia.
Upon his return, Dr. Armen found the Children of Armenia Fund
(COAF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the
impoverished conditions affecting significant numbers of Armenia's
children by revitalizing Armenia's villages and implementing
projects that provide immediate and sustainable benefits to children
and youth.

Karakert, a town of 5,000, was the first village COAF chose to
implement its programs. In addition to renovating schools,
kindergartens, health clinics and cultural centers, COAF programs in
Karakert included economic development, health care, education,
social services, municipal services, government and civic education,
transportation and communication services. The Karakert project,
also known as the Model Village project, was the first such program
ever to be undertaken in Armenia. It has since been recognized by
international aid agencies, such as the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), the World Bank (WB) and the US Agency for
International Development (USAID), as an exemplary template of
sustainable development.

The Model Village project was a success – and just the beginning of
COAF's work in rural Armenia. In 2005, COAF began its Model
Cluster project. "Because of the urgency of our mission and also
because of the successful outcomes achieved in our first village
Karakert, we started our programs in a cluster of five more villages
approximately nine months ago," said Dr. Armen in his speech during
the Diaspora Conference.

The Model Cluster aims to address the needs of the individual
villages as well as support the cluster's overall long-term growth.
COAF's integrated approach creates structures and systems for
improved public services, fosters sustained economic growth and
increases productivity. The Model Cluster villages face similar
opportunities and challenges and have the potential to complement
one another by filling in gaps and balancing out weaknesses. The
concept of clustering works by creating networks of organizations
and associations with common objectives, such as women's
association, farmers' association and youth clubs. Furthermore,
interenterprise cooperation allows cross-learning and specialization
in core competencies.

Although COAF's programs are currently concentrated in rural
Armenia, the innovative Model Village/Model Cluster approach of
addressing rural poverty can be implemented in any impoverished
region of the world. As Dr. Armen states, "Our hope is that this
model, this approach can be replicated elsewhere in the world for the
eradication of rural poverty. For this we would commit to share our
template with others who are willing to undertake such programs with
a serious intent – in Armenia and in other parts of the world."

Dr. Armen adds, "Given the graveness of the realities of rural life, I
would like to think of all this not just as my personal responsibility or
COAF's or the Foreign Ministry's or the government's, foreign
governments' or global agencies' or a few Diasporan groups' or not
just the responsibility of the family who donated $1 million for this
cause. Rather, this is our collective responsibility. To succeed we
need to work as a team and work quickly in our efforts to reverse the
sad reality of rural life, particularly as it affects our wonderful children
and the children of the world."