Next Step Alumni Fund - Aid to Armenia

On April 26th 2015 the 100 Villages project was launched by the non-profit Aid to Armenia, founded by alum Jamie Kolar, as a way to commemorate the centennial year of the Armenian Genocide. Jamie aims to visit 100 villages within Armenia, to maximize the number of Armenians who will receive free education and the proper resources necessary for first aid care. The trainings covers topics such as burns, breaks, and fractures, helping adults and children when choking, learning how to perform CPR on adults, children, and infants, as well as how to care for someone during more complicated traumatic events. Aid to Armenia also provides villagers that attend the training class with first aid kits, containing antiseptic, bandages, band-aid’s, splinting materials and first aid reference guide printed in Armenia. The funding for half of the first aid kits comes from Birthright Armenia’s Next Step Alumni Fund, which is a fund available to alumni who want to go beyond their volunteer experience and bring their ideas to reality. To date Aid to Armenia has completed trainings in 20 villages. At each village one first aid kit was given per family that attended.

Villages trained so far:
1. Arteni
2. Aragatsavan
3. Zarinja
4. Dzithanqov
5. Dalarik
6. Lernagog
7. Hatsik
8. Sardarapat
9. Vosketas
10. Garnahovit
11. Argina
12. Karakert
13. Ashnak
14. Katnaghbyur
15. Amasia
16. Ashotsk
17. Baghramian
18. Miasnikian
19. Koghb
20. Dovegh

Total participants trained in First Aid so far (including high school students that sometimes join the training): 412

Total first aid kits distributed: 388

Recently, Aid to Armenia started a blog on their website and they will be adding 3-4 villages each week. It will include information about the village, the training, and multiple photos. 

Click here to go the website and then click on a village, which will take you to a blog about that specific village.

Click here to watch a video about the work done by Aid to Armenia.

Jamie is a third generation Armenian born in southern California.  She is a firefighter/paramedic for Los Angeles County Fire department and a clinical instructor at the UCLA David Geffen Medical School Paramedic Program.  After volunteering through Birthright Armenia with Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC) in June of 2013 she started Aid to Armenia to continue and expand the volunteer work that she had started with the emergency medical services in Armenia.