Not many people in Armenia know about the Bay Area Friends of Armenia (BAFA, www.bafa.org), an organization established by Armenian-American orthopedist François Antounian, despite the fact that the organization has undertaken many projects. Unlike other organizations, BAFA does not publicize its actions. In the last fifteen years, it has spent $728,000 operating four soup kitchens that have saved the lives of more than 900 families. But that only represents a fraction of BAFA's achievements. Most of their work and funding has gone to healthcare, in particular, to establishing the field of arthroscopic surgery in Armenia.

"It would be hard to imagine the level of Armenian orthopedics without the support of BAFA. From the earthquake of 1988 to this day, the organization has supported Armenia by training doctors and providing the newest medical equipment to Armenian hospitals," said Hayk Avagyan, head of Saint Nerses Medical Center's Department of Orthopedics and Sports Injuries. Thanks to BAFA's support over the last fifteen years, orthopedics has progressed significantly in Armenia. In 1990 BAFA organized two visits to Armenia by foreign doctors who performed numerous surgeries. In 1998 after the earthquake, BAFA sent twenty children with orthopedic pathologies to the best US clinics for treatment. During 1993-1998, four Armenian doctors (two orthopedists and two surgeons) received additional training in the US. With BAFA's support and financing, two new orthopedic departments were opened in the Erebuni and Saint Nerses Medical Centers and, with the help of the newest technologies and practices, over 7,000 operations have been performed.

Another element of BAFA's charity effort is its support of older people and children with vision disabilities. This program is implemented among soup-kitchen patrons and school children.

After an eye test, those who need glasses receive them for free. In one Yerevan clinic over 170 family members were tested, and 100 of them received glasses. The next vision test is planned for patrons and workers at the Erebuni district soup kitchen.

BAFA chief executive John Halebyan noted that unfortunately in Armenia people have a bias against wearing glasses. This view is prevalent among older villagers who forbid their daughters, in particular, to wear them.

Along with its healthcare program, in 1990, after studying the social conditions in Armenia's towns, BAFA decided to found four soup kitchens, the biggest of which is in Nor Hachn.

"There are five people in our family. We have three kids. My husband is an Artsakh war veteran. He is disabled. He cannot work today. I am also sick and do not work. My older girl has a spine disease from the humidity and malnutrition. My younger daughter's fingers become swollen when it's cold and she cannot even hold a pen. My children grew up on food from the soup-kitchen. My family has survived for fourteen years because of the soup-kitchen," said Karine Margaryan from Nor Hachn. Her family eats at the soup kitchen several times a day.

The Margaryans are not the only family in Nor Hachn who receive their meals at the BAFA canteen. Some of the patrons are uncomfortable about accepting charity, but they have no other option. "We've been coming here for two years; we have to survive. We are ashamed. There are no jobs. We have to come. My sons are grown up; they are ashamed to come, but my daughter is little and doesn't understand much. During the day I go to the soup-kitchen and take my sons' portions home. The food is high quality and satisfies our needs for the day. On Saturday and Sunday I work as a cleaner in a barbershop in Nor Hachn, because on those days the canteen is not working and we need to get by somehow," said Lena Poghosyan, mother of three.

The majority of the soup-kitchen patrons are pensioners and the elderly. Seventy-five- year-old Elya Mikayelyan has been eating there for ten years. "I am very grateful. My pension is always paid late and without the soup-kitchen I wouldn't know what to do. I don't have any relatives," she said.

Some, like Artavazd Harutyunyan, started going to the soup-kitchen following a drastic drop in their family's living conditions. He said, "I've been coming to the soup-kitchen for two years now. My son went to work in Krasnodar. There are no jobs here in Nor Hachn and he has to take care of his children. My family's in a terrible situation. I save my pension so I can pay for gas. Without the soup-kitchen, we would die of hunger."

Today, the Nor Hachn soup-kitchen provides limited services. Not everyone who needs food can get it there. The director of the soup-kitchen, Babken Hakobyan, lives in Nor Hachn and knows its patrons personally. He says there is a demand for more than 350 meals a day. "These are people who are in dire need of our services. The soup-kitchen works five days a week. Every day 280-300 people come here."

The patrons have monthly incomes of $25-$30. In Soviet times Nor Hachn had 11,000 inhabitants and was one of the most expensive cities in Armenia. Today, the town's population is two or three times less than that. The factories that are left work at only 10-20% of their capacity. In addition to free meals, the Nor Hachn soup-kitchen provides jobs for six people.

BAFA operates soup-kitchens in Yerevan and Ashtarak as well. Rafik Martirosyan, director of the soup-kitchen program, told us that it was originally planned to last for about two years. "The program was continued because every year the number of elderly who live alone and poor families increases. The majority of them have already sold their apartments and are now on the streets. We found out that in Nor Hachn there are at least 150-200 people who are extremely poor and are in dire need of free meals," he said.

In addition to food, the children of poor families also need education, which is especially hard to provide in the disaster zone. BAFA's next area of charity effort is education.

After the earthquake, the children of the village of Norashen in the Aragatzotn Marz were schooled in wooden huts, in two shifts. In winter, classes were conducted around the heater, and as the children remember, when the heater would stop working, the classes would end. "It was cold; we used the heater to heat the classroom, but it would catch fire. The windows were broken. On cold days we wouldn't go to school because the cold wind would blow through the classroom," said sixth-grader Armine Karapetyan. "Later, we were transferred into a new, comfortable school, which was renovated by John Halebyan."

Zhora Hambaryan, a third grader, is especially proud of the school's gym. "In the old school there was nothing, no gym, nothing, but in the new one we have a sports hall and a hall for parties. It's very nice. There is even TV, everything."

With BAFA's help, the Rafik Harutyunyan Middle School in Norashen is now the best in the region. The school's last director Rafik Harutyunyan (after whom the school was named) remembered, "The earthquake was a horrible disaster. We immediately resumed classes in tent conditions and the kids were able to finish the programs for 1988-1989. During those years BAFA's support was significant. They paid 10% of the cost of renovating the school, which the community could not collect. We asked many other organizations, but nobody helped us. With BAFA's help, since 2000, we've had new school. BAFA also provided us with equipment and furniture. We are also grateful to them for connecting the school to the Internet."

Arthur Karapetyan, the Norashen village mayor, characterizes BAFA's help as priceless and extremely necessary. He is sure that without BAFA, children would be going to school in wooden huts to this day. "It's vital for our village to have a school like this. Most of the people here are poor. 70% of the men have left to work elsewhere. The school provides free school supplies to children from poor families. BAFA's support has really changed the life of the village children," he said.

During the course of its charity mission, BAFA became the best friend of many Armenian schools. The start of each relationship is an interesting story in itself. "In February of 1999, I became the director of the school. I saw that the school was in miserable shape, "said Anahit Bakshyan, director of Yerevan's School #27. "I have relatives in San Francisco and they told me that there was a charity organization that could help us. I sent them pictures and received a positive answer. In the last six years whenever I was in a tough situation, I've always asked them for help and they've never turned me down." With BAFA's help, a new program, "Bridge of Hope," has been set up in the school, providing education for 27 disabled children. The goal of the program is to change the attitude towards the disabled children among their non-disabled peers. With the money provided by BAFA, the school has hired a bus and driver to transport the disabled kids to school and back. Classrooms have been specially equipped for them and they can get around the school without any help. This program is the first of its kind in Armenia. "This is an organization that truly loves Armenia," said Bakshyan. I could not dream of a better friend."