Today we went on a "field trip" with the AVC Volunteers to a village called Khachbar. The purpose was to learn about the Armenia Tree Project and you can log onto their site www.armeniatree.org. The site we went to today at Khachbar is the latest site ATP has purchased, they also have another site at Oshagan in Karin village. The site at Khachbar is 4000 sq metres and they have recently purchased another 4800 sq metres from adjoining land. Basically the background is that since this project's inception in 1994 they have planted over 300,000 trees. The nurseries provide high quality trees for out planting. They plant trees at schools, hospitals, orphanages and other community sites once these places pledge ongoing care for them. The best thing about this project apart from improving social and environmental conditions is the fact that they employ villagers from the surrounding areas and train them. ATP is also involved in the dried fruit production again helping farmers.

Last night I ran into some of the street kids from Orran who somehow recognized me from my short visit there this week. Anyway we talked for a while on the street and they were so enthusiastic about cleaning the streets tomorrow. Looking forward to it and will keep you updated.