Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) operates in 11 villages in Armenia and was founded in 2003 to create a holistic model for rural development. COAF believes in addressing human and social development through programs in infrastructure, health, education, child and family services, and economic development. COAF considers schools important for transmitting innovative knowledge and empowering children as agents of change, especially in health and education which are growing industries. Challenges include lack of resources and unhealthy lifestyles, but COAF is implementing programs like health clubs, nutrition initiatives, and social-emotional learning to promote health and wellness in schools and communities.

1. SEROB KHACHATRYAN,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHILDREN OF ARMENIA FUND
Schools as Agents of
Social Change

2. WHO WE ARE
• Children of Armenia Fund was founded in Armenia in 2003
by Dr. Garo Armen, a Diasporan Armenian from the US.
• COAF operates in 11 neighboring villages located in
Armenia.
COAF funds are raised through:
• Annual fundraising gala events in the US and Armenia
• Grants from international organizations
• Support from corporations and businesses.

3. OUR VISION AND BELIEF
• COAF’s vision is to create an exemplary holistic
model for rural development, which can be
replicated in other regions and communities
of Armenia
• COAF believes in holistic development rather
than fragmented development
• COAF considers human/social development as
the key for making a difference in rural
communities

4. OUR PROGRAMS
• Infrastructure renovation
• Health
• Education
• Child and Family Services
• Economic Development

5. WHY HEALTH AND EDUCATION
ARE IMPORTANT FOR COAF
In retrospect, the 20th century will be
remembered as an era when the global
community dared to see the well being of the
human race as an achievable goal, rather than
one marked by its political conflicts or
technological inventions.
Arnold Toynbee,
British Historian

6. OUR APPROACH
1. Schools as transmitters of innovative knowledge.
2. Children as resources for change.
3. Moving people. ED-MED as the most growing
industry in 21st century. ( Dan Pink, 2012).
“… to move people a large distance and for the long
term, we have to create the conditions where
they can move themselves.” Larry Ferlazzo, Social
Studies Teacher, Sacramento, USA

7. CHALLENGES
• Lack of water and poor sanitary-hygienic
conditions.
• Unhealthy lifestyles.
• Absence of doctors at schools.
• Academic focus of National school curriculum.
• Lack of school-family cooperation.

9. OUR STEPS
•Creating healthy
environment.
•Local capacity
building. Training of
local Health
educators.
•Encouraging local
initiatives. Small
grants for
implementing
Health promoting
projects in the
schools.

10. OUR STEPS
• Breathing.
Implementing Goldie
Hawn’s “Mind Up”
project.
• After school health
clubs conducted by
local teachers.
• Students participating
in research of health
issues.

11. OUR STEPS
• Summer schools on
health promotion.
• Sport activities. After
school clubs, inter-
village tournaments.
• Implementing nutrition
programs

12. OUR STEPS
• Trainings on
adolescent
health, nutrition, d
ental hygiene, etc
• Peer-to-peer
education.
• Supporting
awareness
programs on
health.

13. OUR STEPS
• Implementing social-
emotional learning
programs.
• Children’s annual check-
up’s
• Joining the European
Network of Health
Promoting Schools in
2012, adopting whole-
school approach.

14. Thank you.
www.coafkids.org