Robert Dietrich

What a process this has been in pulling this together, but I have good news to share with you all.  The Gevorgyans’ Peace Corps Partnership Program grant has been approved. 

I can’t tell you how excited everyone is here – we’re almost there!  Now we just have to get the money in the door.  I’m hoping that will be the easy part.  Please take a moment to visit the Peace Corps donation page, dedicated to this project.  There you will be guided through the process of contributing to this worthy cause.

We made a few changes to fit the requirements of the Partnership Program, including a revised budget to reflect the Gevorgyans’ “community contribution.”  Please review these changes in the revisions to the previous post that covers those details, or email me and I’ll send you a copy of the application, budget and timeline.

And more than giving the Gevorgyans the chance they need to develop a small business that will provide them with a self-sustaining revenue stream, you’ll also be funding a pilot small-scale business assistance project that might provide the framework for a very sustainable and prospective opportunity that other poor families might be able to duplicate and apply in a variety of similar manners.  In essence, after the business is built and instituted, we’re going to market this agri-product as “organic & locally-produced.”  I’ll give you the four main goals this project seeks to attain:

(1) Provide the investment capital necessary to start an organic chicken farm to a hard-working, extremely deserving Armenian family.  This Armenian family has a strong work ethic, and the experience in raising chickens and harvesting eggs to make this business work.

(2) Provide the local consumer market with high-quality, organic eggs.  Currently, almost all of the eggs consumed within the local market are factory-farmed eggs, driven in from a large-scale operation just outside the capital city.  There are no benefits to the local population in consuming these eggs, as the chickens from this operation are given many synthetic chemical inducers to accelerate egg production, anti-biotics and other drugs, which lower the nutritional value of the eggs and diffuse non-natural substances and additives into the diet of the local population.  Also, the wholesale profits from the purchase of these eggs leave the local community and go back to the capital, where the large-scale factory farm is based.

(3) Improve the local economy through the development of a small-scale business assistance project that keeps local financial capital circulating within the local economy.

(4) Enhance the viability, and competitiveness, of the local business community through the introduction of a new genre of products that fall under the general category of “locally-produced & organic,” through the realization of this business model, providing a blueprint for how local business can fulfill a niche market demand for higher-quality products that allow them to be competitive against larger businesses operating out of the capital city.

If anyone out there is interested in seeing the full PCPP Application in the interests of providing funding, please don’t hesitate to email me at robert.w.dietrich@gmail.com. 

Please visit this link and help us get started!!! This is a great project that will help an amazing family get on their feet.  This isn’t going to happen without YOU getting involved.  Every little bit helps – if we all chip in a little: $20, $40, $50 or even $100 or more, we’ll be able to pull this together.  I’ve put out a lot of requests for help to people just like you, in the hopes that we can communally band together and do something for a group of people that need help.  Please, be a catalyst for a positive change in the lives of the Gevorgyan family.

With thanks and respect,

Robert Dietrich
Enterprise Development Advisor
Republic of Armenia

I wanted to feature one of our amazing local artists here in Armenia.  Her name is Gohar and she’s going to be one of the featured artists in our newly opening Armenian Artists Direct store in the base of the Harsnaqar Hotel Complex.  I’ve pictured some of her stuff here to give you an idea of what we’ll be selling.  She does an amazing job balancing production-value with aesthetic-value, in my opinion.  She really lets go in her personal work; I really should put up some of her pastels and oils sometime.  She has real talent.  Anyway, a little background on Gohar:  she’s 23 and recently graduated from an arts school in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.  She’s been painting since she was six, and aspires to open up an arts school of her own for this marz (state).  She likes to take traditional Armenian designs, iconic places and events and incorporate them into her work.  I’ve found another store in Yerevan that might also place an order with her.  I’m hoping that she’ll experience some real success here, and I’ll do what I can to help.  The next time I feature an artist here, I’ll cover another artists from Vanadzor who does some of the most amazing abstract work I’ve seen in awhile.  The arts are alive and well in Armenia.