Text : reArmenia Photo : reArmenia archive
We make investments all the time throughout life, invest our time, money, talents in different things. In Western societies, it is a common practice to invest not only in one’s life, but also in one’s community and country.
In Armenia, however, after the Soviet Union collapse and the first Artsakh war, people forgot how to care about each other and focused on their own needs. This attitude may seem logical, since people were facing some serious challenges in the 1990s. But also that attitude made those challenges even worse, because everyone was left to their problems alone, desperate and bitter.
The second Artsakh war made Armenians learn this lesson in the hardest way possible. Many realized they needed others to work together to produce significant change
And that’s when reArmenia came to life.
Many groups gathered after the 2020 war with well-intentioned projects and plans, but there was no way to make them systemized, trackable, and transparent to be effective. To make this happen, the reArmenia platform was created. It aims to bring together as many projects as possible, categorize them, provide a due diligence check, and ensure regular reporting to keep the highest level of transparency.
“After the war, we have come to realize that our biggest problem as a nation is lack of effective collaboration. And after many discussions we found the reason for that, which is distrust. Basically, Armenians don’t trust each other and that prevents our collaboration and development. Which is why we decided we needed a platform that will make sure no one can cheat, where everything will be totally transparent so that we can forget our doubts and start working as a community” says Gevorg Poghosyan, CEO of reArmenia.
The team behind the platform tries to make it as effective as possible both for project creators and users considering them all part of the reArmenia community that literally owns this platform.
Now there are many projects on the platform, some of them fundraise, others seek collaboration. The latter kind of projects may need professional support, volunteering, and consulting. It could be urban planning in the town of Stepanavan, or a tourism and hospitality project for border villages. The idea is to solve problems by all means necessary, and to do so efficiently and effectively.
“We see donations to projects as a way of collaboration and, I should say, the easiest way. It takes a minute to send money and then you only need to check your email to follow the reports and updates that we send. But if you can make time and input your efforts, knowledge, and connections, that’s what will make us a giving and caring society, and eventually it’s our final goal. We want Armenians to set an example of effective collaboration and problem solving in the world,” Gevorg Poghosyan comments.
One of the ongoing projects is the Moonq TechnoSchool of Artsakh that sets the highest standards of collaboration and mutual support. Haghorti is a village with approximately 60 households and two modest grocery stores. It is located on top of a hill in the Martuni region. It takes over an hour to get there from the capital Stepanakert, and not every car can endure that journey. A few tech-enthusiasts started teaching children of the village basic IT skills. The first impressive result was Start Systems, a start-up created by teenagers of Haghorti.
“Many young people leave the village to be able to find a job, but now we can see that all we need is a computer and internet access. We get support from different people and now we believe that we can actually change our future and live our best lives,” says 17-year-old Shushan Martirosyan, one of Start Systems’ founders.
This inspiring result made the project creators think of having a building, technoschool and collaboration space, and reaching out to other experts to share their knowledge with kids
That is when they approached reArmenia with a fundraiser. A fair amount has been raised already, but its creators did not want to spend money to buy or rent a building, preferring to use funds for buying equipment and hiring tutors. Realizing the importance of this project, the head of Haghorti provided his office to the TechnoSchool. The government of Artsakh also joined the effort, matching the first $29,000 raised. Now there is enough money for renovations in the former village administration office and villagers have offered to help with construction.
“We never thought so many people would join this project. Each of them brings their experience and knowledge and it gets better and more effective each day. We feel so much support and care that we actually believe things will change in Artsakh. All we need is to believe in ourselves and work hard for our wellbeing and security. I believe that good education and networking can give our youth the confidence they need to be strong,” says Ashot Avanesyan, the creator of Moonq TechnoSchool project.
Now, the biggest part of the amount is collected, but it won’t stop there. Because once we learn to trust and support each other, solve problems and get stronger, nothing will stop us.
