Fermanian Blazes New Path

George Fermanian blazed a new trail when he led 28 participants to Yerevan, Armenia in effort to establish an affordable housing project. The group included students, alum and faculty from Point Loma Nazarene University, Baylor University and USC. In just 14 days, participants launched an organic agriculture program and raised two model homes primarily out of polystyrene blocks, better known as Styrofoam.

Fermanian, a PLNU adjunct professor and former San Diego real estate developer with an expertise in affordable housing, helped facilitate and lead the project with his colleague Robert Gailey, director of PLNU's Armenian Center for International Development. Fermanian, who himself is Armenian, has been researching the polystyrene material for some time. He drew up two floor plans for the project and funded the cost of the materials. The blocks and materials were shipped free of charge by the Armenian Gospel Mission.

The polystyrene blocks used on the construction of the homes are easy to use and as strong as concrete. The energy efficient homes have the durability to last 40 to 50 years, but Gailey questions the costs. The blocks used by the PLNU team were made by Keeva, a company based in Tijuana. In order to create a sustanible solution for affordable housing in developing nations, PLNU's partners will have to negotiate with other companies to produce the blocks at a lower price.

Armenia Relief and Development Association (ARDA) owns the land where the homes were constructed. The project was named Lazarian World Homes after Director of the Armenia Relief and Development Association Steve Lazarian. A Trade and Technology Center is planned to train Armenians on how to build these homes in hopes of starting new businesses that will create jobs and address housing needs in the country. These new developments will eventually lead to an increase in the standard of living for the people of Armenia.

Gailey was pleased with the first phase of the completed project. Although a majority of the participants came from PLNU, Gailey felt the accomplishments in Armenia would not have been complete without the contributions from students and faculty from USC and Baylor. The next phase of the project is to build a sustainable home-construction business in Armenia. If it proves successful, within the next two years they anticipate taking the project to Mexico. Gailey also has students approaching him in hopes of taking the project to Brazil and Papua New Guinea and several underdeveloped countries of the world.

Habitat for Humanity plans to use the PLNU model and build more than 20 homes in Armenia, while the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is interested in using the blocks to build storage sheds for farmers in the area. -E.M.