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Studying historical archives sometimes reveals true gems, allowing us to vividly picture how our ancestors lived and created a century ago. The April 26, 1925 (Sunday) issue of the “Machkal” (The Ploughman) newspaper has preserved two remarkable reports about the daily life, community activities, and the school of the village of Rind.
The author of the articles is Suren Saringyulyan, who enthusiastically describes the village’s restoration and development efforts.
Village Restoration and the Work of the “Mutual Aid Committee”
In the 1920s, Mutual Aid Committees (known as Pokhogkom) operated in the villages, aiming to support the poor and solve community issues. The first article talks about the active work of the Rind Mutual Aid Committee:
“THE RIND VILLAGE MUTUAL AID COMMITTEE IS WORKING”
“The committee’s fund is quite rich: currently, it has 100 poods of barley and 50 poods of wheat. The barley was entirely distributed to 36 poor families in the village and the families of Red Army soldiers for seeds. With the committee’s funds, an office was built for the village council, and the ruined springs were repaired by hiring workers from the village.
The village committee owns a 10-dessiatin plot of land about a verst away from the village, all irrigated, which is leased to the villagers at one pood of wheat per dessiatin, the rent for which will be collected in the autumn. It also has a land plot in the village equivalent to 6 poods of sowing space, reserved for a vegetable garden.”
(Saringyulyan)
(Note for the modern reader: A pood is an old Russian unit of weight equal to about 16 kg; a dessiatin is a unit of land area equal to about 1.09 hectares; and a verst is a unit of length equal to about 1.06 km.)
From this short report, it becomes clear how the community got back on its feet through its own efforts, helping one another, repairing the village’s vital springs, and building the village council building.
Tree Planting in the Courtyard of the New School
The second material is much more touching and bright. It describes the tree planting and gardening work in the courtyard of the newly opened school. The trees planted by the students in 1925 were later to become an inseparable part of the memories of the village elders.
“TREE PLANTING IN THE COURTYARD OF THE RIND SCHOOL”
“In the courtyard of the new school, the students, under the guidance of their teachers, planted 50 various fruit trees and 70 non-fruit trees. Besides this, every student has a flowerbed for themselves and has sown various types of vegetables with their own hands.
Every morning, sitting near their trees and beds, the students wait for their turn for water to water their trees and beds. The villagers are also very happy about these trees that their children have planted. They provide new saplings themselves or bring and plant them with their own hands, telling the children to take good care of them and water them on time.”
(Suren Saringyulyan, March 28, 1925, Rind)
These lines, written a century ago, are read with special warmth today. They testify that even in the most difficult times, the people of Rind realized the importance of education, creative work, and connecting the younger generation to their native land and water.