YEREVAN—For Togh, a village in Artsakh’s Hadrut Region, 2011 continues to be an extraordinary year, thanks to the implementation of vital development projects by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. In May the fund completed its reconstruction of the community school’s gymnasium and arts center, and in June it launched the critically needed project of rebuilding Togh’s potable-water system.
The latter initiative is co-financed by the fund’s French affiliate and the government of Artsakh.
Within the framework of the project, the fund will build an internal network, with a total length of ten kilometers, and a 150-cubic-meter reservoir. In addition, the village’s water-purification facility and pipeline will be refurbished. As a result, the close to 200 households of Togh will have around-the-clock access to drinking water, a significant improvement in the community’s quality of life and chances of further economic development.
“For the past several years, a key factor in the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s work across rural Armenia and Artsakh has been its comprehensive approach to development,” said Ara Vardanyan, executive director of the fund. “Our infrastructure- and community-development projects are designed to complement one another, with the ultimate objective of stimulating local economic and cultural growth.”
“Water is central to the life of the village,” said Togh mayor Alexander Shaboryan. After thanking the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund for transforming the community school into a beautiful and fully-appointed campus, complete with an arts center which now serves youths from neighboring villages as well, Shaboryan was happy to announce that currently the Togh kindergarten is being rebuilt, with financing from the government of Artsakh.
“If only our roads and community center were also upgraded, new life would be breathed into the village,” the mayor continued. “Our residents stuck it out, even during the most difficult years of the war. They didn’t leave because they believed that one day their community would be reborn.”
Togh has a population of about 750. Grape-growing and grain-cultivation are the main occupations of the villagers. Other residents are employed by local stone workshops or are engaged in the production of flour and pasta.
Through the efforts of Armenian Fund Western US, the Togh Village Secondary School and the Togh Arts School were completely reconstructed in a project that began in 2008.
