Armenian Volunteer Corps

Reflections: Four months and counting….

2012-01-30T07:45:00.000-08:00

by
Nieri Avanessian
(USA)

For nearly four months, I’ve been working at two different civil society organizations - PINK Armenia and Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (IDHR). While the two NGOs have quite different issue areas and approaches, the thing they have in common, which has made my experience in Armenia so far full of surprisingly wonderful moments, is that the local Armenians who run and work for these two organizations are hopeful. It’s incredibly easy in this country to find people who just don’t believe that anything will ever change for the better. In the diaspora we mostly hear that Armenia’s government is corrupt and the money is all going into the pockets of people who are already rich and not to the people who need it. We don’t hear very often about the organizations run by ‘real’ people, or about ground-up civic initiatives whose participants are ordinary Armenian citizens who know that they are in fact capable of making a difference, however small, in the reality of their state.

At both PINK and at IDHR, I’ve met amazing people who believe in Armenia. Working with them, I’ve helped and taken part in environmentalist movements, passed out informative leaflets on AIDS, published articles on international movements to stop gender violence and on breakthrough research on an HIV vaccine, participated in a youth seminar camp on gender, activism, tolerance and equality, and most of all I’ve learned a little bit about what Armenia is really like.

I came here with no expectations, and tried not to have any prior beliefs about what it would be like. I think I did a pretty good job. I absorbed the culture with as much of an open mind as I could; I ignored the staring men and women to whom it was obvious that I am diasporan and focused on the ones who wanted to teach me and who wanted to learn from me. I’ve met women who don’t wear high heels or makeup every day. Men who wear pink shirts. Men with long hair and women with short hair. People who are proud to serve in the army to protect their homeland. I’ll be fair, I’ve met many people who DO fit every bad stereotype you’ve ever heard of, but they aren’t the ones whose actions will be driving positive change for the future of Armenia. I want Armenians in the diaspora to stop holding onto stereotypes about Armenia which they believe are absolute. Extremism is almost always wrong. While I’m here, after I leave, perhaps forever, that’s what I’ll teach, preach and believe.

It took less than a month for me to want to stay longer than the 9 months I initially planned. I’ve been here for 4 months, and I’m still not sure what it now means to me to be Armenian or what the country actually represents. Maybe it won’t ever be clear, but for better or worse it’s gotten under my skin, it’s gotten personal.

Мой опыт волонтера в Армении.

2012-01-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

Арсен Петросян (2011) Arsen Petrosyan
Россия - Russia

Этой осенью я начал участвовать в волонтерской стажировке в Армении. Для этого было несколько причин: во-первых, я хотел пожить в Армении и узнать ее поближе, но не в качестве туриста как я приезжал до этого, а принимая активное участие в жизни страны - это работая бок о бок с жителями страны. Во-вторых, у меня выдалось летом свободное время, и я решил, что стажировка - это уникальная возможность получить новый опыт и попробовать себя в новой сфере.

Считаю, что мне повезло с местом стажировки, где довелось поучаствовать в организации конференции по интернет технологиям и конкурсе стартапов. Эта работа занимала у меня много времени, но дала мне возможность близко познакомиться с этой отраслью в Армении. Так же параллельно мне удалось заняться переводами документации с английского на русский и поучаствовать в организации интересных мероприятий от художественных выставок до социальной работы.

До стажировки у меня было ощущение, что волонтер - это человек, работающий бесплатно, и занимающийся, в основном, социальной работой. Во время стажировки, в области близкой к моей профессиональной, мне пришлось решать интересные задачи, познакомиться с интересными профессионалами со всего мира. Я пришел к убеждению, что работая волонтером, ты намного больше получаешь, чем отдаешь. Приезжайте в Армению и наслаждайтесь!

Haciendo “Patria” todos los días

2011-10-11T00:23:00.000-07:00

by
Jorge Matias Yamgotchian
Argentina

Cuando decidí realizar este viaje, no sabia realmente con que cosas me iba a encontrar. Solo sabía que iba a vivir dos meses en mi madre patria, aunque creo que no era muy conciente de lo que eso significaba. Al llegar al aeropuerto pensaba que esos dos meses, iban a significar en realidad un largo tiempo. Hoy me doy cuenta de lo equivocado que estaba. El tiempo en Armenia pasa muy rápido. Supongo que será porque uno tiene la mente tan puesta en absorber todas aquellas cosas que nuestra patria tiene para darnos, que no se dá cuenta del paso del tiempo.

Antes de llegar a Armenia, mi contacto con mi madre patria había sido solamente por medio de interminables charlas con mi abuela, de madrugada, y por medio de libros. No tuve la suerte de estudiar en un colegio armenio, por lo tanto desconocía casi totalmente el idioma. Hoy pienso que haber ido a Armenia fue un salto enorme, casi como un “curso acelerado” de armenidad.

Recuerdo con mucha alegría mis primeros días en Yerevan, cuando intentaba dormir por las noches, sin éxito. ¡Es que no paraban de llegar voluntarios de todo el mundo! ¡Y a cualquier hora del día (o de la noche)!

Luego vinieron mi viaje y mis trabajos en Gyumri. Mi primer trabajo fue en el museo de arqueología. Para mi sorpresa, ninguno de ellos hablaba inglés (y mucho menos español) y yo no hablaba armenio. Recuerdo que mis dos respuestas a todas las preguntas que me hacían mis compañeros de trabajo eran “¿inch?” e “¿inch e nshanagum?”. Pero luego, muy rápidamente, pude tener conversaciones muy interesantes con todos ellos. Mi trabajo allí consistió en ayudar a los arqueólogos en las excavaciones. Hemos trabajado primeramente en el pueblo de Azatan, encontrando una gran cantidad de vasijas y huesos. Luego trabajamos en Anipemza, un pueblo rural que se encuentra en la frontera con Turquía, a muy pocos kilómetros de nuestra tan ansiada ciudad de Ani. Allí trabajamos en las ruinas de la iglesia de Yereruik. Una iglesia del siglo seis y en un estado muy pobre de preservación, aunque es una de las iglesias más antiguas de Armenia. Realmente disfrute mucho del paisaje y del trabajo. Agradezco a toda la gente que trabajo en el museo conmigo, por haberme tenido la paciencia de tener que explicar dos o tres veces lo mismo, debido a mi desconocimiento del armenio, y también por enseñarme muchas cosas sobre historia y realidades de Armenia. Este hecho me permitió ver de cerca ciertas cuestiones, que pueden derribar ciertos mitos sobre el estilo de vida de los armenios.

Mi segundo trabajo fue en YIC, un centro en el cual se realizan diversas actividades para jóvenes. Mi trabajo consistió en realizar clases de conversación en español. Realmente para mí fue un desafío porque yo nunca había organizado este tipo de clases, pero me gustaba mucho la idea de poder dar mi tiempo para aquellos jóvenes armenios que deseaban poder hablar con una persona hispanohablante para practicar su conocimiento de la lengua española, ya que esta situación no es muy frecuente en Gyumri. Agradezco también a todos los directivos de este centro, así como a los estudiantes. Desde el primer momento me abrieron las puertas haciéndome sentir como uno más de ellos, a tal punto que me sentía como si los conociera desde hace un largo tiempo.

Estando en Armenia pude vivir momentos alegres y algunos no tan alegres, pero siempre teniendo la certeza de que cada día iba a representar un hecho único e irrepetible. Todos aquellos momentos vividos me han dejado enseñanzas sobre las virtudes y defectos de nuestro pueblo, pero siempre viendo a estos defectos como problemas que debemos solucionar entre todos, recordando que aunque se trata de un pueblo con muchísimos años de antigüedad es, al mismo tiempo, una muy joven república.

Quiero agradecer al staff de Birthright Armenia y al staff de AVC por haberme dado la oportunidad de vivir en Armenia no como un turista, sino como si hubiese sido una persona nacida en Armenia, como si el ano 1915 no hubiese ocurrido. Pero más quiero agradecer a estas dos organizaciones por estar contribuyendo al desarrollo de nuestra patria, haciendo “patria” todos los días.

Processo de criação!

2011-10-03T03:54:00.000-07:00

by Mariana Kehyayan
Brazil

Antes de chegar na Armênia não tinha, praticamente, nenhuma noção do que iria encontrar por lá. Lembro da minha primeira reunião com o Tim, na qual foram-se expostas as atividades que teria que realizar, mas não me falaram o quão gratificante esta experiência seria em minha vida. Sou estilista de formação, mas nunca havia trabalhado neste ramo da moda.

Homeland Handicrafts promove a ajuda o artesanato nacional armênio, para a diáspora e dentro do país. Há vários tipo de objetos, souveniers, com diferentes matérias primas …
Com Homeland Handicrafts fui para Berd, uma cidade no topo da montanha, com um cenário incrível (localiza-se ao norte do país), para acompanhar de perto e conhecer as artesãs que confeccionam o Bear Berd (o urso).

Processo de criação:
Primeiro aprendi quais regiões produziam determinados produtos (por matéria prima) e separamos as amostras no escritório por sessões. A visualização é sempre importante para criação.
O crochê sempre foi um artigo de muita aceitação dentro do Homeland Handicrafts, por isso, o fluxo de criação desta matéria prima era sempre alto, e, somado a isso, eu deveria criar coleções para as regiões que precisassem (varia de acordo com a intensidade de pedido/produção). Para isso, pesquisei sobre os símbolos armênios, cores, formas, algo típico que remetesse à cultura local. Mas, sempre com um toque de modernidade. Tentei criar artigos direcionados para todos: homens, mulheres, meninos e meninas

Uma das linhas que eu criei foi ‘’Os Animais’. A idéia surgiu a partir do ‘’Esh’’ (burro), um animal ‘’símbolo’’ pois eles estão sempre presentes nas estradas do país. Depois, vieram: a ovelha (e os longínquos rebanhos que atravessam as estradas a toda hora), o pastor de ovelhas, as vacas … e, eles se apresentam em diferentes versões: imãs de geladeiras, chaveiros, objetos de decoração, uma vez que são objetos práticos e lindos como souvenir.

Além disso, outra coleção em que trabalhei foi a idéia do urso de crochê (de Berd). Quando cheguei, o conceito já existia, mas inovei e incrementei a linha com o porta moedas de tecido com a cabeça do urso, marcador de página (versão masculina e feminina), bolsinhas de tecido, necessaire. Mesclei os tecidos com estampas atuais com um toque ‘’rústico’’ do crochê do urso.
Somado a isso, criei o dado do ‘ ‘Ayp Pen Kin’’, ou seja, o alfabeto armênio em forma de chaveiro e imã de geladeira. Uma vez que o nosso alfabeto é muito importante para nós e as cores nacionais, também.

Mas, o que me deixa super orgulhosa é saber que o que desenvolvi para Homeland Handicrafts está tendo cada vez mais êxito e vem surgindo novos produtos dentro das linhas que criei!
Obrigada pela oportunidade e um sucesso infinito para Homeland Handicrafts.

Para quem quer acessar o site desta ONG, é só clicar do link a seguir: http://homelandhandicrafts.org/

The Breakfast Club of 58

2011-08-29T04:19:00.000-07:00

By Michelle Metchikian
USA

(Warning: if you weren’t a Gyumri volunteer during summer 2011, I don’t expect you to get 87% of this blog)

So I had written out the majority of my blog and despite how hard I tried, I kept mentioning Tom. Then after Hovaness convinced him our Marshootka is going to blow up on the way back from Dilijan coupled with his very feminine screeches in reaction to an airborne shopping bag and to killing and skinning a lamb, I was motivated to erase everything I had written, re-title my blog “Tom Artaki” and elaborately focus in on a few of his numerous golden moments that I have been so blessed to witness. However, I don’t feel like making him feel more special than he is so I am not (ok ok or maybe I’m just being lazy). But in all seriousness, if you ever need to create a really awesome documentary, give him a call! …so here is my not as interesting as it could have been blog that I had already written.

During orientation, Sharistan Melkonian told Lorig, Armine, Stepan and I that the Yerevan group always envies the Gyumri group because they are always much closer to each other. At the time, this didn’t mean anything to the 4 of us who were just eager to arrive to our new homes for the summer and meet those who we knew we would soon call family.

Walking down the unpaved streets of 58, watching workers drilling random patches to fill with cement, taking in the fumes of burning trash, hearing dozens of honks every 10 seconds, I look up at the “most beautiful clouds in the world” –Tom Artaki. When I stop to drink from a boobleboo and fall in love with the taste of Gyumri’s water all over again, I can’t help but wonder whether the H2O comes from the mountains or Akhuryan Reservoir; thank you Alex for that very enlightening educational! After we had that talk, I became even more thankful that most of the vegetables I was fed by Dadik as well as the eggs I consumed for breakfast came from my garden that was mainly hydrated via condensation of clouds. This was the garden where I spent the best 4th of July I ever have in the 21 years of my existence; ironically, it was the first time I celebrated outside of Ah-MUR-ika. Thank you Tom for being so patriotic, the idea, but most of all, for bringing frozen meat. While I am on the subject of your patriotism, I must mention that I’m conflicted if I’m going to miss or not miss your countless debates with Lorig that we all became accustomed to and that even I, the one who hates politics, learned to chime in on on occasion.

Those of us who arrived to Gyumri in the middle of June were awoken much earlier than needed before excursions by Hovan our Hoviv, who made us strictly adhere to Sevan Kabakian’s policy on promptness. After a couple of excursions and lots of cussing and grouchiness by most of us, he cut back on some of the wakeup calls. However, he never stopped being persistent on waking me up much earlier than need be. Perhaps because I was the only one who spoke so sweetly to him as I was prematurely awoken from my deep slumbers or maybe because he couldn’t wait to hear my voice so his day could start off right. Either way, who knew our conversations over buckets of weeds would lead to what we have become today. James Hunter, I hope you enjoy being a gardener now that camp is done. You definitely helped me keep my sanity through those super long days and I got to learn that you have a good head on your shoulders. Keep doing what you do. By the way, there is a toy store called Tom’s Toys on Honolulu Blvd that has really good puzzles. Tiv 6.

After Tamar and Stepan left, Tamar’s laugh echoed in all our heads and Stepan’s Ganons are still used. Even though it was sad that they left, we were blessed with 5 new volunteers (+ Nanor around the same time who finally came back from camp) all at once. I automatically loved the new Tamar’s hippie side coupled with her science nerdy side; it reminded me of myself. Stop stressing over med school girl! I will wear your headband, think of you and always send you positive vibes from up above. Up until they’re arrival, I was the furthest from the rest of the volunteers. All of a sudden, I had 2 others living in my building. I got to learn 2 delicious cake recipes; Nanor you taught me not to put anything in Ma’s recipe and Sarina you taught me that vegan things can even taste delicious.

I will definitely be replaying our Russian top hits, Kilikia, and the Uzbek song when I get to Ah-MUR-ika and reminisce the millions of times we heard those songs and got excited to hear it like it was the first time. Learning the words to Kilikia is on my “to do” list. Just a thought: we should make a “We are the World” version of it from our home studios across the globe and definitely have Lorig star in it. I never told you this Tamara, but I love the way you dance to these songs and can still vividly see you dancing in the bus during our Karabakh trip. I hope you and Aleksan had a wonderful time in Georgia and Greece. Aleksan, I can’t wait for you to post the videos you made at your house (only for our viewing purposes of course). I wish I could write what I want to right now, but I must keep it PG, so I will give you a clue- it’s 3 words.

So I have been doing my best to cut back on writing about Tom, but I feel the need to dedicate an entire paragraph to his smile. Can you blame me? I I I I mean he even smiles in his sleep. It’s such a powerful smile and the glare in his eyes is one of such interest that when he speaks to locals, he passes off as knowing the language. However, whenever he gets asked a question and doesn’t know what is going on, he responds with an “ayo, ayo,” which always cracks me up. Then Jorge came around and you could ask whatever it is that you want to him in Armenian or English and he will give the same response. Thank goodness we had multilingual Lorig and our 2 other South Americans, Mariana and Philipe to communicate with him in Spanish. Mariana, we never did our beauty day together, but I’m glad you fell in love with Gyumri. Armine, I will miss our rejuvenating sessions…don’t fret, more opportunities will arise!

When I look out the smooth like a baby abagee from my window seat as I head back to Ah-MUR-ika, definitely filled with tears for I will be leaving behind my Hovo, I know I will be shat shat shat shat shat shynorhagal **Philipe accent** for all our memories together. You all have such amazing characters and you all contributed to my journey in a positive way. Realistically, not all of us will see each other again, but our pictures, especially by Allegra, our main paparazzi, our strong independent woman, will help us relive and cherish this chapter of growth in our lives that we all got to share. Hopefully, most of us can make it back for Alina’s wedding and can watch another Gyumri sunset while eating seemeechka. Don’t worry Armine, problem chyga **again, Philipe accent**, for those of us who do bump into each other along our journeys of life, even if it is on another continent, the chemistry will not change for we all fell in love with our commonalities and it will always draw us together.

2011-08-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

Armenien intensiv

Sarina Tchobanian

Germany

Lange drückte ich mich davor, doch nun versuche ich auch mal unter die Blogger zu gehen.

Was bisher geschah:
- Wunsch endlich Armenien kennenzulernen
- Erkenntnis, dass Urlaub allein nicht ausreichend ist um ein Land wirklich kennenzulernen
- Recherche
- Bewerbung bei den Armenian Volunteer Corps, AVC (eine NGO, die Freiwilligenplätze in Armenien vermittelt)
- Bewerbung bei Birthright Armenia (eine NGO, die Gastfamilien vermittelt, Flugkosten übernimmt, wöchentlich Ausflüge, Foren, und andere Veranstaltungen organisiert, sowie den Volontären 2x die Woche Armenischunterricht bietet)
- Alles funktionierte: Zielort - und Arbeit: Gyumri (zweitgrößte Stadt Armeniens), YIC (Youth Initiative Centre, eine NGO, die u.a auch einen German Club führt), Dauer: 8 Wochen

Ankunft am 18.7. in Yerevan:
Berlin – Moskau. Moskau-Yerevan. Der Flug ab Moskau war außergewöhnlich bis fürchterlich: Um mich herum duzende weinende Babys, telefonierende Passagiere, die auch während des Abflugs noch fleißig weitertelefonierten und bei der Landung nochmals ihr Telefon zückten um den Anghörigen die Ankunft zu bestätigen. Ob überhaupt irgendwelche Handys außer meinem während des Flugs ausgeschaltet waren, mag ich zu bezweifeln! Also eigentlich ging davon aus, gar nicht erst anzukommen, sondern irgendwo über der Türkei abstürzen. Doch ich lebe noch! Wow!

Im Yerevaner Flughafen war dann langes Warten angesagt: Warten in der Geldwechselschlange, der Visaschlange, der Passkontrollschlange, bis mich dann endlich nach 2 Stunden der Fahrer Vahram empfing und zu meiner Übergangs-Gastfamilie fuhr.

Die Gastmutter war etwas ruppig und unherzlich. Klappte mir schnell die Couch im Wohnzimmer auf, schritt fix zur Bürokratie und schrieb meinen Namen und Dauer meines Aufenthaltes auf und war dann plötzlich in einem anderen Raum während ich allein und verschüchtert mein „Bett“ bezog. Wenige Minuten später kam James aus den USA, ein anderer Volontär, der auch mit meiner Organisation hier ist. Wir waren beide überrascht voneinander, da wir keine weiteren Gäste erwarteten. Hmm…

Am nächsten Abend folgte ebenso unerwartet Jorge aus Argentinien, dann nachts um 3h Alex aus den USA und weitere 24h später Tamar aus den USA. Alle wurden ähnlich unerherzlich aufgenommen, schliefen alle im gleichen kleinen Wohnzimmer auf der kleinen Couch, Klappbetten, etc, und waren ebenso wie ich geschockt: Soll das eine Gastfamilie sein? Wird meine Gastfamilie in Gyumri auch so chaotisch sein und werde ich dort auch ein viel zu kleines Zimmer mit 4 Personen teilen müssen für die nächsten 8 Wochen?

Mit der Zeit stellte sich heraus, dass es sich dabei nur um ein Zwischenlager handelt, und diese Gastfamilie auch alle anderen Freiwilligen für die ersten Tage aufnahm und nicht gerade für ihre Herzlichkeit berühmt ist.

Die ersten Tage arbeiteten wir ein bisschen im Birthright Armenia / AVC Büro und spazierten durch das schöne und relative grüne Yerevan. Da ich aufgrund des sehr intensiven Sommersemesters in Berlin nicht wirklich Zeit hatte, große Erwartungen aufzubauen oder mir Infos über Land und Leute anzulesen, konnten auch keine Erwartungen enttäuscht werden. Yerevan ist meines Erachtens eine sehr lebendige, moderne und auch gemütliche Stadt, mit vielen Cafés, Bars, Backgammon spielenden Herren, kurzen Röcken, extravaganten Highheels und überfüllten und chaotisch fahrenden Mashrutkas (die hiesigen öffentlichen Minibusse).

Die Tage in Yerevan waren sehr toll. Überhaupt ist bisher alles einfach nur toll. Die anderen Volontäre sind super nett und sehr aufgeschlossen gegenüber den Neuen. Ebenfalls ist auch das Team der NGOs sehr herzlich und zeigt großes Interesse an uns. Bisher gab es keinen Moment, indem ich mich irgendwie allein, verloren oder fehl am Platz fühlte!

Gyumri
Als wir in der zweiten Woche in Gyumri ankamen, ging es ebenso großartig weiter:

Die Gastfamilie war so, wie man sich eine Gastfamilie wünscht und das Gegenteil der Yerevaner „Zwischenlagerleitung“: Sie umarmtem mich, stellten sich vor, zeigten mir die Wohnung, unterhielten sich mit mir, boten mir Nahrung an, zeigten mir mein EIGENES Zimmer mit einem richtigen Bett…

Seit einer Woche arbeite ich nun in YIC. Das ist eine NGO, die diverse internationale Clubs hat, und verschieden Veranstaltung für die Gyumrier Jugend organisiert. Auch hier ist das Team so unglaublich nett! Meine Arbeit besteht derzeit hauptsächlich aus Unterrichtsvorbereitung und Unterrichten. Zweimal die Woche gebe ich mit einem anderen Volontär – der zufällig auch aus Berlin ist – Deutsch-Unterricht in der deutschen Schule. Vielmehr handelt es sich um eine Deutsch Ferien-AG. Unsere Klientel sind ca. 5-7 14-jährige Mädchen. In den nächsten Monaten steht ein Theaterprojekt an, das Stück werden die Mädels selbst schreiben und umsetzen.

Im August steht im YIC der „German Month“ an, in dem wir beiden Berliner ein paar kleine Veranstaltungen zu deutscher Küche, Filme, Feste etc. machen werden.

Ah noch ein großartiger Fakt: meine Arbeitszeiten sind 11-17h! Himmlisch!, wie eigentlich alles derzeit positiv ist. Der einzige nervige Negativpunkt sind meine deutschen Hausarbeiten, die ich sicher noch lange vor mir herschieben werde, weil sich dazu hier partout keine ruhige Minute bietet. Doch wat solls, das Streberdasein kann auch mal pausieren!!!

Mit diesen Worten widme ich mich nun meinem leckeren Eis am Stil, dass bei ca 35°C ein wahrer Genuss ist.

Finding Myself Through Volunteering

2011-07-22T04:37:00.001-07:00

Ani Ishkhanian

USA

Working in Armenia for AVC was a very personal transition for me. I had the pleasure of volunteering in Yerevan for three months and I don’t regret a single moment (as cliché as that sounds, one cannot escape from using it because it is the ultimate truth). I was placed at Ghoghanj Children’s Center and was looking forward to my time there, even though I kept reminding myself to not have any expectations. I went in on my first day with a blank mental canvas. I was sitting in the office and was waiting for my supervisor, until a little girl tip toed inside the room and began to speak Russian, thinking I will reciprocate. That’s when this little girl, Olya, entered my Yerevan life and I got my rough introduction to this little wonder of a place called Ghoghanj.

Volunteering at this center was the most interesting month-to-month transition I have ever encountered. My first month was the most challenging and stressful. I had all the common worries anybody might have. You hope to make a difference in people’s lives, you hope to be good at what you’re doing, you hope to not bore the children, you hope the kids like you, and then some. It was like being thrown into the wolves with no preparation whatsoever, and I cannot think of a better way to learn. An experience like this makes one incredibly resilient.

Next thing I knew it was my second month living in Yerevan and working at Ghoghanj. A new challenge proposed itself everyday along with old challenges, which was great because it gave me a chance to retry methods and learn from my mistakes. Again, that resilience. At this point I also started working at another site, a contemporary art NGO called Utopiana. Both of these jobsites were completely different worlds. Everyday I would go from a calm, work at your own pace environment (Utopiana) to absolute chaos (Ghoghanj), I loved the polar opposite worlds. It gave me a chance to experience firsthand different businesses and how locals would deal with specific issues.

As my third and final month trickled in I began to get much more comfortable with my abilities. I realized that I would not see the people I became close with at work everyday, all the mixed emotions naturally led me to self reflect. The amount I learned working at these places could not be summed up with an article. The entire experience has been awakening, inspirational, emotional, stressful, and incredible. AVC gave me an opportunity to figure myself out while being completely selfless. That in and of itself is an incredible gift. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and I’m so happy and proud that I was able to do it.

Volunteering Changed my Life

2011-07-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

Greg Bilazarian
USA

AVC changed my life. This is my first and last blog post as an AVC volunteer so I’ve spent some time trying to channel my inner Hovhannes Tumanyan. But I think this time four words explain it, AVC changed my life.

Life is funny and unpredictable and expectations are often realistic. So after a four-year career as a television reporter in the United States, I quit to find salvation…in a developing country with a serious migration problem. Everyone told me to bring an open mind and no goals; I said OK and then wrote down all my goals.

AVC placed me with the Civilitas Foundation in their new online media project. It sounded like a perfect fit to everyone except me. I forgot to tell you I quit media because I hated it, passionately.

Day 1 at Civilitas was challenging, so was day 10, same with whatever day today is. But that’s why I love it. Civilitas is the best foundation in Armenia. Brief background, it was founded by Armenia’s former Foreign Minister, Vartan Oskanian. Salpi Ghazarian is the most dynamic leader I have ever worked for (I’m not kissing up and she’s too busy to read this anyway). Civilitas works in many sectors including microfinance, diasporan relations and now media. But here’s why it’s great…

It’s full of young, intelligent, multi-lingual professionals from Armenia. And if you have an entrepreneurial idea, you can implement it. So I’m helping develop an online media outlet while training reporters because a good story is a good story in any language. Most of the reporters are very inexperienced and we still need more infrastructure; but I have no doubt we will succeed.

Quick story about startups and challenges; I developed a Google Docs system to help organize the newsroom’s script writing. Change is not always easy and the first day we tried it things did not go smoothly. So we had a meeting and since my Armenian is not exactly great, I had a translator. In the beginning everyone was calm, so she translated. By the end, people were screaming, I occasionally heard my name, and then she stopped translating. Life lesson - when your translator stops translating, they’re talking about you – in a bad way. But most good stories have good endings right? We’re still using the script-writing program (with fewer struggles). One of the people most opposed to it told me the other day how much she now enjoys the program. Change is difficult but worthwhile.

You will read many posts about how impossible the job market is here. And many more posts detailing diasporan (btw, diasporan is not a real word according to Microsoft Word) struggles to find work. All those stories are probably true. But so is mine. Armenia is a country with its challenges, but you can help conquer them.

I came here speaking no Armenian. On the first day I was asked, “What is your favorite Armenian food?” I had no answer because I did not know the names of any of the foods. The vast majority of my friends in the United States are not Armenian.

And yet I came with huge expectations and a willingness to work. I have put in multiple 60-hour weeks (because Civilitas lets me and I want to) and have missed a few excursions to work on the weekends. Hard work pays off everywhere.

This is my first and last blog post as an AVC volunteer because I recently agreed to become a full time employee at the Civilitas Foundation. My title is producer; it might as well be “dream job”. Oh yea, I don’t hate media anymore. AVC changed my life.

Notes from Gyumri

2011-06-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

Aleksan Giragosian
USA

July 16, 2011: It's funny being in Armenia again because it doesn't seem as foreign as it used to. Perhaps it's because the streets and fashion look more western. Perhaps it's because it's my fourth time in this country. Or perhaps where I live (Glendale) is becoming more and more like Armenia. Although many of the superficial things I noticed in 2007 have changed, many cultural things linger for better or worse. For better is the sense of community I see among locals living in the same building or in the same neighborhood. For better is the hospitality shown to foreigners or family. For worse is the treatment of women, children, and the environment. For worse is the collective pessimism that remains a stumbling block on the path to a free, independent, and prosperous Armenia.

And then there are the bard trees; apparently I'm allergic to them. I haven't stopped sneezing, coughing, or blowing my nose since I got here. The incessant second-hand smoke and the dusty streets may also be playing a role. I don't mean to come off as a whiner, but I was literally ill for the entire duration of my trip in 2007, and I'm afraid of a similar repetition in 2011.

Actually, being here makes me wonder if I can actually live here. I tell my friends and family that I want to move to Armenia, but I seem to forget sometimes that I am an American. What I mean to say is that a move to Armenia would entail more than a change in location. It would entail sacrifices on almost every level (economic, political, cultural). I say "sacrifices" because, at the moment, I do not see any gains that can made through relocating to Armenia. The only thing that keeps me from abandoning the idea altogether is the psychological conditioning, one might even say brainwashing, I underwent in Armenia school and at home that has instilled in me a longing for my fatherland.

However, I remain hopeful that alongside those "sacrifices," I will discover gains. Big Gains.

Aleksan Giragosian is volunteering with the Armenian Young Lawyers Association in Gyumri.

"I didn’t expect to find an exact fit"

2011-04-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

Dawn Huckelbridge
USA

I came to Armenia with few expectations. I knew I was eager to immerse myself in the culture and learn as much as I could, especially since I had not previously had a great deal of connection with my heritage. I knew I wanted to try my hand at learning the language, that I hoped to work with community based organizations, and that I wanted to conduct some of my own applied research to try and better understand the political and social environment. Beyond that, I didn’t really know what to expect and what, if anything, I could effectively offer.

After two weeks in the country, this experience has met and far exceeded any expectations I had. My professional and academic background is in gender and policy, particularly women’s empowerment and political leadership. I didn’t expect to find an exact fit for my interests and skills in terms of my work placements, but AVC managed to do just that. I’m currently splitting my time between the International Center for Human Development and the Women’s Resource Center Armenia.

Coincidentally, the week that I started work at ICHD, they were drafting a proposal for a project to promote women’s leadership within the national political parties. I immediately jumped into the project, using some of the research I had done prior to my arrival and also resources from my Master’s thesis. I was able to provide the written rationale for the project, which was submitted this week, and if it receives funding I’ll be able 9to take part in its implementation. The Women’s Resource Center has been equally gratifying. During my first week, the Center was holding a press conference to discuss their work to amend sexual violence legislation in Armenia. I asked if I could help with international press outreach, and was able to connect the organization with Trust Law, a division of the Reuters Foundation providing pro bono legal assistance and press for women’s rights initiatives. Trust Law is now writing a feature story on the Women’s Resource Center and their work and wants to offer legal resources. Additionally, I’m able to use some of my skills in strategic planning and development to work with the Center on monitoring and evaluation, planning, fundraising and outreach.

These projects have fit perfectly within my own professional niche and have afforded me the opportunity to build my technical skills and experience and also to actively take part in the work being done here. On top of this, I’ve continued my independent research on gender and political systems in Armenia, which has been fascinating and really enjoyable - everywhere I go I meet interesting people who can contribute and are eager to speak with me over coffee. I hope to continue this research when I return home to the States, and to do what I can to continue my relationship and work with the organizations and activist movements here.

Serving Armenia's Competitiveness

2011-04-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

Sylvain (Vicken) Muradian
France

Volunteering at the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia (NCFA) with the tourism development team has been a great chance for me. I have had the opportunity to contribute on a wide variety of issues including:

- The preparation of a business plan for the project to turn one little known geological wonder into Armenia’s first show cave

- The benchmarking of Visitor Information Centers in the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Caucasus regions

- The collaboration with a consulting company to improve the Armenia Southern Tourism Corridor development framework

- The feedback of NCFA to the government on the new tourism law under discussion

- The analysis of the impact on tourism of the potential launch of a large scale mining project

Volunteering at NCFA has allowed me to get some understanding of Armenia’s tourism sector challenges, of the dynamics of business development in Armenia, and of how ministries, NGOs and businesses interact in this context. The team considered me as a real resource, taking me to meetings and asking for my advice. They also involved me in their after-work activities, and I have become very good friends with some of them. It was a real pain to leave after 3 months of good work with them. I really felt I was part of the team.

Volunteering - the Other Side

2011-04-07T05:04:00.000-07:00

Nathalie Demirdjian
(Florida, USA)

I knew I wanted to come to Armenia to “participate” as it is called around here, but I had no idea where my job placement site would be. I was ready to help wherever I could, but I think I had a slightly unusual request - to volunteer as a legal intern. I imagined this was unusual because people might wonder what kind of impact a legal volunteer could have, especially when I am just starting to learn the rich language. What was I thinking? Well let me tell you, I was ecstatic. I had tasks to do even before I arrived. In AVC’s great hands, I knew that everything would be fine no matter what. I already felt that this country is so welcoming, safe, and helpful, there was nothing to be scared of or worried about.

So what could I possibly do here? Well the people at the Armenian Volunteer Corps are truly wonderful because I have been perfectly placed at my jobsite, Knyazyan & Partners Law Office. The managing partner, Sarkis Knyazyan is a great boss. He’s very progressive and forward thinking. He takes the time to explain his work to me and makes me feel important. AVC has access to a vast network, so that anyone can tackle any kind of project they dream up - REALLY. And I have a zillion opportunities to do all the typical volunteer activities too, like painting a school, planting trees, and teaching English, but this opportunity is helping me realize my personal dreams too, as I get to contribute to and help advance intellectual property law field in Armenia. Truly, I really feel like I’m making a big impact!

For example I’ve done some web site designing to host the first intellectual property rights moot court competition in Armenia- (this is most similar to a Jessup Moot Court Competition), which will benefit the universities, lawyers, the Armenian government and public at large. It will bring in international best practices and educate the next intellectual property lawyers, government officials, teachers, and students through mock trials, seminars, and extensive research. This competition will help Armenia counter piracy and counterfeiting, foster a more friendly business sector, and lawmakers that are aware of international standards. These are the practical goals of this international moot court. And when I’m not web-designing for that I’m doing legal research for a new website that will be an easy to use and highly resourceful IP legal site for anyone that needs it. These tasks are fairly new to me, yet I because I am open to learning and experiencing new things I am having fun and accomplishing significant things! (=

I truly feel that I am giving back and learning so much at the same time about myself, the country, and the legal field. There are endless opportunities to contribute, to explore, to learn, to have fun and to experience the culture - It is astounding how much I can do here. I hope that from my short blog post you know that whether you are an artistic person, medical, business, or legal, there – are plenty ways that you can give and receive here!

The photograph is of the Knyazyan Team (including Nathalie second from left) at the offices of Knyazyan & Partners.

On Volunteering

2011-03-22T22:17:00.001-07:00

Marie Hagopian
USA

With volunteering, there is no cookie-cutter solution as to exactly how to go about doing things. You just have to put both feet forward and jump in with everything you have inside of you. I will probably never get to have this kind of experience ever again, but instead of looking at that as a sad thing, I look at it in a completely opposite way. It's more of a reason to give my all, every fiber of my being, into this volunteer program that only spans 2 1/2 months for me. For the very short time that I am here, I am stretching my mind in every creative way imaginable. If it weren't for new, exciting, unconventional ideas and proposals, (as well as the people behind them), how would history have come about? Maybe, today in 2011, we'd still be Pagans, worshiping the fire that we're sitting around, and electricity wouldn't exist.

How do you measure results? It's tricky and I don't think there is an answer for that in a volunteer service. Maybe I can measure results by the smiles on my students' faces. Or by their expressions of pride and excitement when they get a difficult question right. Or maybe by the number of international responses that I receive in my Inbox from companies who want to collaborate with my organizations. Moreover, who's to say what's an accurate measurement of success?

In life, you just have to use the tools you were given, the skills that you have, keep an open mind, and pray for the best. Volunteering is no different. Do it. It is a reward like no other. I have found early in life that the rewards that are intangible are the best ones. They're the ones that stay close to your heart forever.

Todo lo que siembras, cosechas (Harvest what you sow)

2011-02-02T04:46:00.000-08:00

Betty Arslanian
Cordoba, Argentina

Soy de Córdoba, Argentina y vine a Armenia como voluntaria de AVC, aproximadamente durante dos meses. Uno de mis sitios de trabajo fue el Colegio Argentino de Erevan. Mi trabajo allí consistía en la enseñanza de idioma español a niños de 8 a 15 años.

El Colegio República Argentina hace más de una década era una escuela soviética, pero a partir de 1993 mediante una donación de la Fundación Boghos Arzoumanian de Buenos Aires, cambio sus perspectivas. Hoy los padres de innumerables niños y adolescentes escogieron a esta escuela como la indicada para la educación de sus hijos.

Trabajando aquí pude observar de cerca uno de los elementos más importantes que forman la trama de una sociedad: la educación. Cada día estuve en contacto con docentes, alumnos y trabajadores de la escuela, y de ese modo pude construir en mi cabeza una imagen de la educación armenia en la actualidad.

Como todos sabemos, la Unión Soviética ha marcado en gran medida el destino del pueblo armenio. Más allá de que durante el período de la Armenia soviética la alfabetización llegó al 100%, algunos de sus vicios, hoy, pueden verse en la sociedad y eso no es tan bueno. Por ejemplo, el idioma ruso es la segunda lengua del país; prácticamente toda la población sabe hablar, leer y escribir en ruso. En todas las escuelas, su enseñanza es obligatoria.

Los libros de español de los niños también eran rusos. Sin embargo, esto es entendible ya que difícilmente se puede conseguir material educativo en español producido en Armenia. Lo cómico de esto es que nunca en mi vida pensé que aprendería las letras rusas para leer con los alumnos…

A lo largo de estos meses he reafirmado una creencia que desde pequeña me han dicho: la raza armenia es una de las más inteligentes. Las diferencias del sistema educativo armenio y el argentino son abismales. Trabajar en el colegio me ayudó a marcar las características de ambas, plantear un paralelismo, y pensar en un equilibrio compuesto por elementos de los dos. Digo que nuestra raza es inteligente porque creo que, a diferencia de otros países, los contenidos son más densos y a los alumnos se les exige mayores conocimientos. Específicamente en la Escuela Argentina, un niño de 8 años, además de tener las materias normales (matemática, ciencias naturales, sociales, etc.), aprende el idioma armenio, ruso, inglés y español. Lo curioso es que el armenio tiene sus propias letras, el ruso también y el inglés junto al español comparten otras letras distintas. No entiendo cómo un niño tan pequeño puede guardar en su cabeza tres alfabetos diferentes y aprender gramática, ortografía y pronunciación de cuatro lenguas distintas. En Argentina una escuela normal enseña el español y el inglés, ¡Dos idiomas similares y con las mismas letras!

¡Los niños son maravillosos! Enseñarles el español, un nuevo y extraño idioma para ellos, ha sido mi motivación. Cada uno de ellos me enseñó algo diferente; yo siempre pienso que de los niños también se aprende y a veces muchísimo. Ellos han sido cariñosos conmigo siempre y creo que nunca olvidaré sus sonrisas, tampoco las veces que he tenido que levantar la voz para que hagan silencio, ni las veces que me preguntaban “Señorita Beatriz ¿qué significa tal palabra?”.

Hay cosas que creo que a pesar que el tiempo pase quedan guardadas en lo más profundo del corazón. Es maravilloso cuando un niño te pregunta “¿Cuándo regresarás con nosotros? ¿Vendrás para el verano?, en verano el Ararat se ve muy lindo desde la ventana de nuestra aula” Creo que esos son los momentos en los que a uno que le llenan de lagrimas los ojos y piensa “¿Por qué el destino hizo que estemos separados? ¡Al fin y al cabo ellos y yo tenemos la misma sangre!

Para un voluntario el mejor premio es cuando ve que su trabajo da sus frutos. Yo no soy maestra profesional, no he estudiado docencia, ni pedagogía; sólo estuve dispuesta a dar mi tiempo, mis ganas, mi voluntad para ser útil en lo que fuera necesario para mi Madre Patria. “Todo lo que siembras, cosechas”, hoy siento satisfacción por haber aportado algo de mí en los niños, estoy feliz por haber provocado en ellos sonrisas al aprender una canción, una poesía, o haber jugado a un juego en español, y estoy más feliz aun por recibir un “¡Gracias, nos encanto la clase!”. Creo que estas son las cosas que, al fin y al cabo, le quedan a un voluntario de su experiencia.

A Special Journey with Special Adults

2011-01-31T04:25:00.000-08:00

Ashley Howard
USA

The final image of David and I, flashes across my mind as a stop motion video. His voice shatter’s around me, the echo of falling laughter. I may never feel the warmth of his young wrinkled hands, or his chapped lips caressing my cheek as he would say goodbye. He whisper’s to me, almost silent, his shadow fallows me as I walk towards the plane. I am on my way “Home” relatively speaking. He surrounds me with all eleven of the adults that I spent the last three months working with at Warm Hearth. I am unsure of the fate of these beautiful residents. Their fate hangs in the closets of politicians. The symphony Natalie; the founder created through the office of each diplomat and political figure may ring through the streets of Yeravan, but it may not even awaken one man. The differences these individuals encompass is more of a gift and less of a disability. There is a light that shine’s from deep within them; it brought a smile to my heart every time I was in their presence. There is a saying that you must smile from your mind, mouth, heart and even your liver to achieve balance. They brought that balance into my life and for all their kindness I am forever grateful. The fate of our adjoined journey is wide open, the path is widening into a road as I start living my life outside of Armenia and my once youthful days. The time has come to start making those choices that lead to a destination. With warm hearth always in my heart; they are the smile to my liver. I will hopefully always work towards the life of this wonderful home!

I sit here in Peet’s tea and coffee in good old Boston reflecting on my three months in Yerevan, fondly re-watching the movie I created through the memory of my wonderful host family and the places I worked. The kindness bestowed upon me was selfless, full of love and I am forever grateful. I was constantly reminded of my beloved grandmother who is wrapped in the embrace of mother’s soil. The need to feed people with love is an identifier of Armenian people, especially the vintage. My host family was constantly trying to feed me, the folk I met on the bus or through work were doing the same. Whether I was invited into the home of a kind stranger or asked to eat with the women I worked with, it was always the same, kindness and hospitality.

One thing I can say for sure, is that Armenia will forever hold a special place in my heart. I may not visit there for years, but the memories and lessons I learned while there are etched in my mind, embedded on the film I used to create my story. If you choose to embark on this journey, you will forever be touched, changed and reborn!

Philanthropy, not Charity

2011-01-24T06:33:00.000-08:00

Rubina Shaldjian
USA

I have been in Armenia for nearly three months. During my time here, I have been volunteering at the Civilitas Foundation. Many people think that Civilitas is a political organization. After all, it was founded by Vartan Oskanian, who was the Armenian Foreign Minister for 10 years. But this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Though Civilitas does try to impact policy in Armenia, it has no official political affiliation. The Civilitas Foundation supports a variety of projects ranging from strengthening civil society in Armenia to providing micro loans to fighting human rights violations. However, the question that always comes up is: what’s next?

To explain Civilitas, I would say that their goal is philanthropy and not charity. It’s something I observed over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, Armenia receives a lot of outside aid. Often, people here don’t think about the money well running dry. The great thing about Civilitas’ projects is that they are sustainable. They are not offering any handouts. Rather, they provide the tools for success.

As an example, Civilitas recently completed a project that renovated a number of libraries in rural Armenia. The goal was to take these cold, bare shell buildings and transform them to community centers. By changing the windows, adding insulation, adding heat, new bookshelves and books, these libraries are transformed to a place where people can gather, learn and share ideas. By adding a computer and an Internet connection, you open up an entire world to these folks. You remove their isolation!

The thing I like the most about these library-related projects is that it’s really up to the locals to use the books and educational tools we give them to better themselves. And this is exactly what has happened. In the short time since they were renovated, the libraries themselves have already organized a number of events, including cultural nights dedicated to Armenian writers, educational events for both adults and children, and book drives to help the libraries grow. It has been really amazing for me to watch the videos of the events held in these community libraries. They are packed full of people! I think with modern technology, many people living in developed countries have forgotten how important a community library can be.

Civilitas has also been soliciting other sponsors to help purchase books and materials. They have gotten corporate sponsors and also have a project called Angel Tree. Angel Tree is a book collection effort to keep filling the libraries. They are also collecting puzzles and educational games for the children’s sections of rural libraries throughout the country.

Overall, my experience at Civilitas has been incredible. The staff is made up of both Diasporans and locals, and many have studied at least a year abroad, so the perspectives are different and interesting. The people are bright and friendly. There’s a lot of laughter in the office, and we eat lunch together 3 days a week. I am also impressed by the amount of passion and creativity. It’s incredibly fast-paced, and in one day, the topics can range from A to Z. So it’s rarely boring, and the days just fly by. Best of all, at the end of the day, you feel like you’ve contributed something.

From Australia to Armenia

2011-01-19T09:57:00.000-08:00

Charis Tyrrel
Australia

Leaving Australia

It is June 2010 and over morning coffee in our home in Canberra, Australia my husband Anthony asks if I would like to relocate to Yerevan, Armenia? He had been offered a 6 month contract with UNDP and I rapidly think through the myriad of departure preparations but just as rapidly agree that this is an opportunity not to be missed and four weeks later we both arrive suitcases in hand in Yerevan and embrace the warm welcoming summer weather.

Looking for volunteer position in Yerevan

I have worked all my life and knew that I wanted to be gainfully occupied and to contribute in some productive way during my time in Armenia.

Firstly I knew that if I was going to volunteer my time and energy to an organisation or project there were several important criteria that needed to be met before I would be prepared to commit to anything. The organisation needed to be authentic, transparent, not for profit and with values and ideals that align with my own personal beliefs.

Secondly I am of not Armenian and only speak English so I needed to take this language barrier into consideration when looking for a suitable volunteer position. However I felt that my skills from working for 35 years in a range of jobs including horticulture, textile art/craft production, art/craft sales, art/craft teaching, gallery operation, art/craft conservation repair, museum conservation, office administration and project management could be put to practical use in Armenia. I have a degree in Visual Arts and a MA in Materials Conservation.

Thirdly I was open to any interesting volunteer projects that would effectively utilise my skills. But I was particularly interested in working/assisting women to extend/develop their textile production with a view to selling their items to increase their family income.

So with all these things relatively clear in my mind, I sat alone in the flat in Yerevan and began my search of the internet which I intersperse with visits to the local café for shots of thick, strong Armenia coffee to keep my mind focused!!

Armenian Red Cross Society

I had previously done volunteer work for the Australian Red Cross so I organise a meeting with staff at the Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS). I was unsure exactly how I could contribute to this organisation but was open to any project and felt that my English language skills may be valuable. I was asked to assist with the Armenian Red Cross Society Project “Don’t Judge by the Cover”.

The basic aim of the six month project was to help reduce prejudices amongst the Armenian population towards foreigners by conducting a series of innovative and interactive “Human Library” (HL) discussion groups for university students and refugees with the results collected from these meetings to be used as recommendations to prepare the Republic of Armenia to deal with national cohesion policies.

Further detailed information on the project can be found on the ARCS Population Movement Department web site:

http://www.redcross.am/?laid=1&com=module&module=menu&id=165

My tasks were clearly set out. I was to provide English editing assistance in the development of project materials and report writing and to attend and participate in workshop sessions and provide feedback to the project team.

Initially I was a little apprehensive about the project as I had not previously done this type of work. However I found the HL project extremely interesting and was very surprised to find that many of the prejudices expressed in Armenia are similar to those expressed towards refugees in Australia. AlthoughAustralia has refugees from other countries this is the first time that I have been directly involved with refugees and had an opportunity to hear their stories and learn how they adjust to life in a new country. Involvement in this HL project has most definitely made me more aware of the difficulties that refugees face and has made me more understanding and sympathetic of their situation.

Armenian Volunteer Corp

I was aware that my volunteer role with the ARCS would only be part time so I continued to search the web for other positions and came across AVC who miraculous had a position advertised in exactly the area I had wanted to work in!! The project was “Working with rural women to develop, produce and sell craft items thereby increasing their family income”. The position was with the newly formed “not for profit organisation” Homeland Handicrafts (HH) and I immediately submitted my details and met with AVC and commenced work shortly afterwards with HH. I believe that the planets had aligned in my favour with this volunteer position!!!

Homeland Handicrafts

Homeland Handicrafts is a purely voluntary grass-roots organisation whose goal is to create jobs through a new generation of Armenian handicrafts, using traditional materials and techniques with the specific focus on women in rural locations.

Further detailed information on the project can be found on the Homelands Handicrafts web site:

http://www.homelandhandicrafts.org

The HH team was extremely creative and operated in an organic and egalitarian style.

My tasks were to help provide feed back on product designs, provide practical advice on product improvement, develop craft product prototypes, provide detailed instructions to accompany the prototypes, and source materials for prototypes and samples.

Returning to Australia

I will share my volunteer experiences with others when I return to Australia and am currently investigating the possibility of talking with several Armenian communities in the major Australian cities with the idea of promoting the AVC and Birthright Armenia programs.

Other – on a personal level.

I formed a close friendship with a young women who spoke an impressive four languages putting me to shame with my ability to communicate only in English! She was keen to improve her spoken English skills and we had fun chatting over coffee and visiting the art galleries and museums together. Through our discussions I learnt a lot about Armenia culture and history. It was also joy to see how much her understanding and ability to express herself in English improved over our months together, bearing out my belief that it is the little things that count in life.

I had contact with an Armenian family whose grandmother was unable to walk after a major medical operation. The family was desperately looking for a wheel chair and through a serendipitous set of circumstances I visited the Punick Disabled Centre in Yerevan who had just received a shipment of brand new wheelchairs from a USA donor. The family contacted the Punick Disabled Centre and was able to acquire a wheelchair without incurring any cost. I know how much this meant to the family and it was very humbling experience for me to have been able to make this connection for them. It was very much about being in the right place at the right time.

Conclusion

The volunteer role with the ARCS was not at all what I had initially envisaged but I embraced the challenge, shared peoples life stories, learnt a huge amount about the Armenian society and culture, and had the privilege of working with intelligent young women on this valuable humanitarian project.

I have to say that the role with HH provided some of the most stimulating, interesting and creatively challenging work that I have ever been involved in. I and am very grateful for this opportunity!

Through both my volunteer roles I met and worked with some very interesting people, learnt an enormous amount and was fortunate to travel extensively in the Armenian countryside and experience the people and culture in a very unique way. My only hope is that Armenia gained as much from my volunteering services as I gained from this experience!!!

By the way: I always received prompt and excellent support from AVC on any questions or requests I had during my volunteering. I have great admiration and respect for the enthusiasm of the AVC staff. I recommend this volunteer organisation without hesitation, even for a non Armenian such as myself!!

Volunteering in Armenia-- A reflection

2011-01-15T06:20:00.000-08:00

Sima Cunningham

USA

What makes someone want to volunteer? This was a question I asked myself a lot during my time in Armenia. Not so much because I had just taken four months off of school to come to Armenia to volunteer, but more because I spent a good deal of my time there trying to encourage others that volunteering is a desirable thing to occupy your time with.

When I first arrived in Armenia I was told I was going to be volunteering at two locations: Manana Youth Education Center and Naregatsi Art Institute. I didn’t know much about what I would be doing beyond teaching an English class to an unknown number of students of an unknown age. The first couple of weeks, I honestly felt like I didn’t know what I was doing there. Here I was, a 20-year-old student who has never taught a formal class before, never written an official grant proposal and certainly never learned how to understand a budget. I’d volunteered a lot during my life: built houses, done food drives, flower-pot fundraisers and more, but I’d always had a pretty firm idea of what I was doing, and more often than not, someone to tell me exactly what to do.

This kind of volunteering was different. I soon realized that I was going to have full control over the creation of an hour long English class twice a week with anywhere between 8-20 kids from ages 9-16 with English abilities ranging from “hello” to Jane Eyre. I learned quickly that the grants that I was applying for were serious and heavily depended on my ability to complete them correctly. More than anything, I learned that when working in a new place, you have to be flexible and sometimes spend a lot of time listening and trying to understand before trying to change anything.

This kind of volunteering is not the kind of hammer-and-nail, soup-and-bread kind of volunteering that I was used to. It required a serious commitment of my mind and my energy. When I first realized this, I really intimidated me and I kept wishing that someone would just give me a manual and tell me exactly what to do with my students and how to best help my co-workers. These anxieties would come and go throughout my time in Armenia, but by the end when I was reflecting on my time, I felt that I’d left something good at each of my volunteer sites and also received so much from each as well, even if I hadn’t noticed along the way.

After my first class at Manana, I no longer feared teaching a class. I didn’t know how to cope with students of such diverse ages and capabilities, and I didn’t really know where to start. I decided to start with what I was good at: music. Something I quickly learned about Armenia, which seems to be true in much of the rest of world, is that the Beatles were the most important thing that happened—ever. I can’t tell you how many of my friends in Armenia answered the question “How did you learn English?” with “The Beatles”. My friend Elen, who had taught English at Manana before and was an avid Beatles fan, suggested I start there. My first lesson I had about 10 students. I cut up the lines from “With a little help from my friends” and handed each a line from the song. Then I had them each read their line out loud. Then I sang the whole song for them and had them line up in order of when they heard their line sung. Then we sang the whole song together. When we finished I looked around and they all had huge grins on their faces. After that, I did a similar exercise with the Shel Silverstein poem “The Long-Haired Boy” except I made them dramatically act out their lines.

With both Manana and Naregatsi I was asked to think of ways to help the organization, whether by finding grants online, or rethinking structures or fundraising efforts or organizing events that could help bring more people to the organization. This part was much harder for me. Interacting with children was easy, but writing official statements about an organization you barely knew, trying to understand how their budget works, and trying to understand all the dynamics of an organization was really difficult for me. Something that I learned about grants in the process of writing them is that you need a lot of planning. You have to try to guess how to present your organization perfectly to a foundation or government program to fit their specific goals, and even if your idea is brilliant, it may not be taken seriously if that idea is not already supported by a bunch of other organizations. It was a true challenge and sometimes I felt like I and my colleagues put a lot of work into a total shot-in-the-dark. Still, I learned so much from it, and despite the fact that the organization maybe didn’t receive the grant, I think they learned a lot from the process. For example, the process of writing a grant and fundraising made us have lengthy and in-depth conversations about how to develop the organizations, how to talk about what we do, what materials we were missing in order to present a complete, legitimate budget, where we could do better, how we could expand the organization, what grand project we would plan if we received this grant, etc. In this capacity I felt that I was very useful. As someone who’d grown up in the U.S., in non-profit arts organizations, in a far away place where free-market capitalism and its simultaneous philanthropic sector has existed for centuries, I had a very fresh perspective on how to operate in a non-profit arts world.

When I felt that I needed more time using the skills I felt most comfortable with (music and interacting with youth) I went to AVC and I asked if there was any way that I could do more of that. I was soon introduced to Warm Hearth, a home for adults with disabilities. I went to Warm Hearth for about 6 weeks and would play music and sing and dance with the residents there. They were so kind and welcoming to me and definitely the most appreciative when I managed to learn a new Armenian song. They were eager to stand up and perform for me as soon as I was too tired to perform for them. Soon after starting at Warm Hearth, I was introduced to a school for young autistic children. My first time there I sat and played about 2 hours of music (mostly my own, the Beatles, and any other folk tune I could come up with, sometimes just improvising). I looked around the room at the adults, sure that they were bored and unsure whether the kids were enjoying it at all. Sometimes the children would approach me and I decided to just sort of let them have at my guitar. After all, it was probably a pretty foreign object to most of them. I would say “Uzum ek navakel?” and one of them would come up. Sometimes they would just place their hand on mine while I was strumming, some would detune my guitar, some would bang on the wood, and one even took a liking to the taste of the strings. Still, I let them explore it as an object and it thrilled them. I watched their eyes grow in fascination as they realized that they could control the sound coming out of the guitar. From what I could tell, it really empowered them to be able to control sound.

During my last week in Armenia, I started to really feel like I didn’t want to leave. I organized an event for singer-songwriters at Naregatsi with seven songwriters from Armenia and the diaspora. The evening packed the place with lots of young faces who had seldom been to Naregatsi, a place that celebrates and preserves Armenian traditional art as well as encouraging new forms of art and music in the new generations. My students at Manana organized a party for me and we sang and danced together. They gave me a photo album with each of their pictures and a little note in Armenian so I could practice Armenian at home. I e-mailed them all on Armenian Christmas and got lots of excited, beautiful emails back which I responded to with glee. I can’t get enough of their energy and optimism.

I’m realizing now that I completely forgot to answer the question that I began this whole reflection with: what makes people want to volunteer? This was an important question for me because one of my main goals in Armenia was to convince my students that volunteering could be a thrilling experience. On December 5, fifteen of my students joined me at the cascade for International Volunteer Day. I gave them all trash bags and gloves and we spent the next 5 hours running around Yerevan picking up trash. I was really nervous that I was going to have to stop a lot and organize some fun game so they wouldn’t get tired, or bored, or upset or disappointed… but I didn’t. They had so much fun. They were running from courtyard to courtyard, climbing up trees to pick out trash, laughing and skipping all day (I know it sounds cheesy but its true!) When I finally made them take a break they were restless and wanted to get back out there. At the end of the day, they were all so happy and cheerful. One student even asked me if he could take some trash-bags with him on his way home to pick up trash. One asked if we could do this every day. I was so thrilled. It was clear to me that they had easily picked up the volunteering bug. It’s not really a bug or a foreign, “Western” concept. It’s the simple idea of doing something good for people and the world we live it. Though it was truly difficult to leave Armenia, and I honestly can’t wait to get back, I left with a smile on my face knowing that I’d helped a few people in Armenia realize what a joy it is to do something for someone else, whether it be picking up their trash, singing them a song, or just flashing them a smile.

This post originally appeared on Sima's own blog, http://simacunningham.blogspot.com/, and is reproduced here with her permission and encouragement.

Volunteering in Gyumri - Armenia's Second largest city

2011-01-13T06:19:00.000-08:00

Haig Balian
Toronto, Canada

Armenia’s second city – tucked up in a high valley north of Mount Aragatz - tends to get very cold, very quickly. The streets of Gyumri, already empty by the late evening when I first arrived there in September, were now dark and deserted by 8:30pm. The marshutkas were bursting with bundled up commuters, packs of dogs prowled the streets, and domigs – the temporary metallic shelters distributed in the wake of the Spitak earthquake – were still in use by a significant minority of the people here.

Gyumri in November did not seem like the happiest of places.

The latter half of my time in Gyumri was spent with Armenian Caritas, a pretty incredible organization headed by Anahit Mkhoyan. I’d gotten in touch with her because I wanted to organize something – anything – to acknowledge the domestic murder of a young Armenian woman named Zaruhi Petrosyan. Anahit asked why I wasn’t volunteering for Caritas. I didn’t have a good answer.

I’d been placed with Gala TV, an independent television station whose journalists and technicians I have an immense amount of respect for. On paper, this seemed like a great fit, but things just didn’t click. I can offer a couple of excuses: I’m not that comfortable with the medium of television, and my Armenian language skills are just not developed enough for reporting. The parting was an uncomfortable one, but at least I had alternatives.

At Caritas, I was tasked to work with Ophelia Minassian, easily my favorite colleague during the volunteering term in Gyumri. In early November, we went out to meet some of the beneficiaries who Caritas works with; seniors who, for the most part, live solitary lives and who rarely leave their homes.

Their desolation was striking. A few couldn’t take care of themselves, and it was common for some to burst into sobs, wondering why they’d been burdened with such a long life. Ophelia and her colleagues offered smiles, hugs, gifts, and a promise that they would return.

There were other projects. Work with children, work with teens, work with families, and women, and the homeless. With each project, the people at Caritas brought a sincere yearning to improve the lives of the people who lived in their community. I was very happy to be a part of it, and I hope my presence in some way contributed to their goals of making Gyumri a happier place.

Note: Haig Balian has since transitioned to Yerevan where he is volunteering with the National Competitiveness Foundation.

The Quest of an Environmentalist in Armenia

2010-12-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Serda Ozbenian
USA

Ever since I heard about the opportunity to travel to Armenia and serve as an Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC)/Birthright Armenia volunteer, I knew it was something I wanted to do…at some point. I put it on the back burner for years. A few months ago I, rather impulsively, decided it was the right time. I took a 2-month leave of absence from my job at an animal protection organization in Washington, D.C. and started preparing for my trip. No time like the present!

To be honest, before I heard about the opportunity to serve in Armenia as a volunteer, I hadn’t really had a desire to travel to Armenia. “My family is from Turkey so why would I want to go to Armenia?” Though I’m a full-blooded Armenian, I felt detached from Armenia. I couldn’t relate to those that referred to it as the “homeland”.

A few years ago I heard about Armenia’s many environmental problems from my friend and president of the Armenian Environmental Network (AEN), Ursula Kazarian. She had just launched AEN, an organization dedicated to raising public awareness among the Armenian Diaspora about environmental and energy concerns for Armenia’s development and how they relate to public health, democracy building, economic growth and security. I was shocked to hear of the multitude of environmental problems in Armenia and as a die-hard environmentalist, I was instantly interested in helping, and am now the executive director of AEN. After hearing about and researching Armenia’s environmental problems, I wanted to go to Armenia and see them for myself. I also wanted to see firsthand Armenia’s beautiful natural areas in need of protection.

Additionally I wanted to learn more about the culture and how it was similar or different to the Armenian culture I grew up with. I wanted to learn about the lives of everyday citizens in Armenia, their challenges, experiences, and dreams. And of course, I wanted to help and volunteer my time and knowledge.

Because of my experience and my interest in Armenia’s environment, AVC placed me with the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC). As the name suggests, FPWC is a non-governmental organization aiming to raise local and international awareness for the preservation of Armenia’s unique natural heritage. Specifically, FPWC provides environmental and media education to youth, holds public events, produces nature documentaries, and implements various other projects.

I offered my assistance on a number of different initiatives but most notably, reaching out to US universities to locate potential partners interested in helping FPWC develop curriculum for an environmental college in Armenia. FPWC hopes to launch the college in 2012 and it will be the first such college dedicated to the environment in the entire Caucuses region. Additionally, I developed the framework for a conference on nature conservation in the Caucuses to be held in 2011.

FPWC has established a network of Eco-clubs throughout Armenia to foster a new generation of Armenians that are strong advocates for their country’s unique biodiversity. My second month with FPWC, I traveled to different regions in Armenia to work with their Eco-clubs on their SOS projects. SOS is an initiative to document the degradation of naturally and culturally significant sites in Armenia. I visited three towns, Urtsadzor, Sisian and Dilijan. What I encountered in these towns was both beautiful and devastating.

Before I begin to describe the environmental problems I witnessed in these towns, I want to mention that I stayed with different families in each village and each one was more welcoming than the other. I was so touched by each of these families and feel lucky that I had the opportunity to spend time with them and experience their way of life for a few days.

Armash and Urtsadzor

Before heading to Urtsadzor, I accompanied FPWC director, Ruben, to Armash in the Ararat Province. On the way to Armash, he pointed out a concrete mine and explained that the mercury dust produced by the mine contaminates plants and vegetables in the area, a fact which the local community is unaware of. He also pointed out a gold processing facility that uses cyanide in the extraction process. The radioactive chemical soup is then transported via pipes to an open outdoor tailings dam. The dam is built so close to neighboring villages that livestock often graze along the dam, consuming toxic chemicals that are then transferred to people through meat and dairy products. Millions of birds and other animals have even died as a result of drinking the toxic sludge. On several occasions, the pipes transporting the waste were damaged, flooding the villages with the toxic soup.

When we arrived at Armash, Ruben told me that Armash contains a series of artificial lakes used for eco-friendly fish farming. The lakes also serve as vitally important habitat for an astounding array of birdlife, including threatened species. Though I am a vegan, it was impressive to see a productive fish farming operation flourishing without the use of antibiotics, chemicals or any other environmentally destructive methods. Sadly, in the past, some of the operators of the fish farms set fire to the nests of the birds fearing competition for fish.

After leaving Armash, I continued with FPWC’s Urtsadzor Eco-club coordinator, Manuk, to Urtsadzor, a small town in the Ararat Province. Along with a few members from the regions eco-club, we visited a series of ruins of monasteries, prehistoric cave dwellings, and ancient graveyards, even one Arabic graveyard, all ignored and neglected. It was obvious that no one was taking care of these historic sites and locals were using them as grazing land for their livestock. It saddened me to see such history being lost. Manuk even told me that he found human remains at one church that was undergoing renovation and handed it over to those in charge and the skeleton was simply thrown aside. I was angered that some in Armenia, including (and especially) the government, do not recognize and value how vital these historical and archeological treasures are to Armenia’s personal identity. Manuk also took me to an area that is home for many species of rare reptiles. The area was directly next to a large quarry where mountains, and habitat for these wildlife, were being destroyed to make tiles for homes and buildings.

Sisian

The next town I went to was Sisian, in the Syunik Province. In Sisian, we also documented the ruins of ancient, crumbling churches and gravesites. One of the gravesites we visited was cradled within the majestic mountains and…surrounded by a massive landfill! The size of the landfill was absolutely appalling. There were millions of pieces of electronic equipment, toys, dishes, tires, you name it. Plastic bags caught on trees were swaying in the wind, occasionally taking flight and soaring over the trash pile to pollute another area. I was already aware that Armenia lacked a proper waste processing plant (this is evident by the trash littering the streets just about everywhere in Armenia) but I couldn’t believe my eyes, or my nose, at just how bad it was. I kept wondering what kinds of toxic chemicals were seeping into the ground and how many such landfills there were in Armenia.

Dilijan

The next Eco-club I worked with was in Dilijan, in the Tavush Province. Dilijan is a popular resort town in Armenia, located in the beautiful and densely forested Dilijan National Park. Here, I set off with a group of Eco-club members to document a few old dilapidated buildings, including an old KGB hotel. I was also lucky enough to participate in a tree planting with local schoolchildren, organized by the Every Drop Matters Project which seeks to address the problem of water pollution in the Aghstev River in Dilijan through engaging local community. Dilijan has no sewage treatment plant so most of the town’s sewage flows directly into the river and its tributaries.

Though the act of documenting degraded and ignored sites was not exactly uplifting, I was very encouraged by and impressed with how knowledgeable and engaged the Eco-club members were. It gives me hope for the future and I’m thankful that FPWC has taken on the important task of educating and empowering these teens to speak up for their voiceless and priceless environmental and cultural assets.

Khosrov Nature Reserve

My first introduction to the majestic beauty of Armenia’s natural areas was on a trip with FPWC staff to a “buffer area” near the Khosrov Reserve. FPWC leased a significant portion (450 hectares) of formerly unprotected land in the vicinity of the reserve. The area is adorned with ancient and breathtaking juniper trees and is vital habitat for the endangered and endemic wildlife in the area. FPWC purchased the land and erected informational sign posts to inform the public that the area is protected. This area was popular for hunting but now under FPWC’s management and oversight, no hunting or other exploitation is allowed. This privately managed and monitored reserve is the first of its kind in the region. Sadly, laws are not properly enforced within the reserve (and other reserves throughout Armenia) so FPWC hopes the buffer area will serve as an example.

With the aid of binoculars and Manuk, I was fortunate enough to observe a group of endangered Armenian mouflon. Mouflon are threatened by hunting (even though it’s illegal) and habitat loss. I was overcome with emotion to not only see these beautiful animals, know the threats they face and know that thanks to FPWC, their habitat in the buffer area will be protected.

Other….

Aside from working with FPWC, I also had the opportunity to volunteer for other causes as well. Along with other AVC volunteers and many community members, we helped the Fuller Center for Housing pour the concrete for a family’s home in the Armavir village. It was an amazing experience to work with the community and other volunteers to provide this gift for a family in need.

Additionally, I worked with local activists to oppose the construction of a dolphinarium in Komitas Park in Yerevan. While in Armenia, using my connections in the U.S., I prepared a letter to government officials in Armenia that was signed by 50 organizations from around the world. We also held a pres conference with other activists to announce the letter. We were successful in engaging the media and are hopeful that the plans for the dolphinarium will be scrapped.

I also worked with local activists from the Save Teghut Forest Group to raise awareness of a copper mining project that involves the destruction of 882 acres of pristine forest. Teghut Forest is home to many endangered species of plants and animals and the copper mine would not only destroy vital habitat but toxic waste from the mine would pollute the land and water in the area and have disastrous effects on the health of local villages.

The opportunity to live and work in Armenia gave me the chance to see Armenia’s challenges firsthand and make connections and form relationships that I will maintain for years to come. I was also able to see firsthand the awe-inspiring natural and historical treasures in Armenia. I was so impressed with and inspired by the environmentalists I met fighting for environmental protection and sustainable development in the country under a government that does not value the wishes of its citizens and is more interested in selling off natural treasures than protecting them. I feel as though I gained a gift by visiting, living and working in Armenia. I gained an understanding of the true meaning of a “homeland” and I recognize that Armenia is truly another home for me. Through this experience I also gained the responsibility of caring for my homeland, a responsibility I am proud to have and I will do my best fulfill.

Gyumri, Armenia: Word on the Streets

2010-12-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

Vana Nazarian
Canada

There is a Chinese proverb that says “better a diamond with a flaw, than a pebble without.” This is a little account about my two month experience with the Armenian Volunteer Corps. Two days upon my arrival to Armenia, I finally came to Gyumri. What I knew about the place was the fact that it was the second largest city of Armenia and that it had lost it all in a devastating earthquake some 22 years ago. What I imagined was a smaller version of Yerevan and perhaps a few little reminders of the destruction. Anxious for my summer travel, I had taken the time to Google images, sites, and frankly anything that could have given me an idea of what to expect. Yet reality, as I came to discover, was something a lot different from what I had imagined.

Every inch and every little corner of the city was a fresh reminder of both its glorious and dark past. Parts of it were filled with the abandoned factories of the Soviet Union, others were mainly inhabited by the very ruins of the earthquake. And, a tiny magical part was where I had the chance to work; it was the historic district of Kumayri.

I was placed in an NGO called Historical Armenian Houses that had as a primary mission to identify, research and preserve the historic houses of Gyumri. I had several tasks on the job, among which block surveys. In this particular assignment, I had to walk around designated blocks of the Historic Kumayri district to collect addresses and information about each building. What started off as being my most dreaded task, block surveys became one of the most meaningful experiences.

Initially, the very idea of this task entailed that I had to walk the Gyumri streets on the hottest time of day, considering I had to get it done during working hours. To those who think Gyumri is mountainous and cool, let me assure you; daytime Gyumri, in the summertime, can get pretty hot. As to the task itself, what sounded like a piece of cake became a whole new story. Most common of scenarios would occur in the act of collecting the addresses. Suddenly, surveying the block would lead residents to become suspicious and distrustful. First, I thought that it was the outsider versus local issue. Some locals would be helpful but a large number of them would not. Too often, I found myself thinking of how a simple and innocent act as surveying architectural features of a block could possibly become a most threatening event for others. At times, simply standing in front of a building would make me a curious subject and all of a sudden, an entire neighborhood would come to bombard me with questions about my work, my intentions, life and marital status. Other times, the crowd of interested people would get so curious that minutes after they had approached me, they would start discussing and debating aspects of my life amongst each other. I dreaded the task because it required long hours and endless walks, which commonly resulted in frequent loss of my sense of direction and absolute exhaustion at the end of the day.

Of course technical difficulties did not make the task easy. What I chose to refer as technical difficulties consisted none other than the bad street conditions and stray dogs. The first concern was actually very simple; if I wasn’t cautious and attentive to every little inch I stepped on, my feet could end up in a hole, a pile of excrement, mud or better yet, I could fall head first to the rocky ground. The second problem was actually the only thing that preoccupied my mind before my arrival to Gyumri and to each time I had to be on the streets. Dogs in Gyumri had become a natural guarding device to the streets. They were everywhere and would casually go around in packs. Most often they became very territorial and would go against other packs to defend their land. They would easily sense fear and before you even knew it, you would get followed. Did I mention how I was utterly terrified of dogs? And so, to make matters worse, the very first week I was there, one of our fellow volunteers got bit by a dog. Can you imagine my terrorized state while walking the streets? But after a while I got used to them and they got used to me; although, the former statement is probably the rather likely situation. By the second week, I had learned to control my fear. And at the end, this much dreaded task became one of the most life changing ones as I came to face my fears.

Before I even knew it, Gyumri became my diamond. It was beautiful like a diamond but not flawless. Every single day that I lived in that city, I came to discover the talent, the culture, and the life of this odd and magical place. It was a bittersweet reality. It had so much to offer but no means to give it. And ironically, I fell in love with a place that was so different from my reality; not to mention a city that didn’t quite resemble one, from a Western perspective. On the other hand, it offered what no other place could; an approach to life that exceeded all understanding and rationality. Those people had every reason to be sad but instead they lived with the dream of the good old days, hoping for the good ones to come. That was the best life lesson I could retain after my two month experience. Gyumri people had experienced death but had not forgotten to live. As soon as music broke, one would witness a scene of people hand in hand, dancing like there was no tomorrow, with movements that were more passionate and perfect than the greatest performances anyone had seen.

As an Armenian of the Diaspora, it often was difficult to associate to the motherland. We often focus on the differences and fail to see the common points and the truth is, we might have too much in common. What had first stricken me as different, strange, and bizarre, suddenly became familiar. I realized that once I understood their ways, lifestyles, and norms, it became easier to connect.

Armenia, for me, is the center, the heart; and I, one of its veins. At times, it is necessary to visit the core that pumps your blood. But most times, it is crucial to cease from being the vein, and start becoming the blood gushing through.

This post first appeared on Vana's own blog, http://vana-nazarian.blogspot.com/.

Not the end but the beginning: Meghrig's Journey

2010-12-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

Meghrig Jabaghchourian
Syria

I still remember the 13th of September, I was in the Aleppo international airport, saying goodbye to my parents, when I left them I couldn’t look back, as I didn’t want to see my mom in tears. (Working and living in Armenia) I was thinking about it and how difficult it could be being away from my family for 9 weeks.

When I arrived to Zvartnots international airport, Vahram (the driver of Birthright Armenia) was there holding a photo of mine… then after a few minutes another volunteer (Haig from Canada) arrived, Vahram was frustrated with heavy weights of our luggage he was saying. (Tuk qar ek perel tser hed????)

I went to the home where I was going to spend my next 2 months, I met my host family, they seemed nice people, The first night was strange, I was thinking about so many things my life here my work...Everything… The next morning I went to the office of BRA and AVC, I was welcomed with a BIG smile and Hugs, Sevan, Sharistan, Vahan and Gohar. They treated me very nice and they made me feel at home.

My Work in Armenia

[Yerevan State University] where I was going to volunteer in Armenia, at the center of culture and civilization studies and at the same time teaching (Islamic history and Arabic)at the Orient studies department. When I went to the center for the first time, my boss even didn’t look to my face he just asked: vorkan es mnalou Hayasdan?

I said: minchev noyemper 15.

He said: ok, so you can prepare a research…

(oh my God….)he even didn’t look at me…when I came back home, I was totally hopeless, but then I decided to proof to him that I can accomplish this research in two weeks not two months, He was really surprised when I told him 2 weeks later that I finished my research, after that we started making good friends, I think that my boss is very wise man and helpful, that he even tried to help me in my masters studies, I respect him very much.

My colleges at work were very kind with me, we were close friends to each other during the lunch time we used to talk about different subjects.. The most exciting thing that you eat a lot during the work time

My second work (teaching) was very exciting, I was in touch with many Armenian students and know their mentality there wasn’t difference of age between us, so we were friends. This was a good experience as well.

The things that I will always remember about Armenia

1-the taxis: when you take a taxi, you always have a nice conversation with the taxi drivers, or when you take aMarshoutka you have also nice conversation with the people in and the driver even if you don’t know the way they can always help you. I still remember how they were surprised when I was telling them that I am a volunteer (working without taking money) they were wondering (baaaa vontses abroum???)

2-the football matches: the best place where you feel you are Armenian, you feel that grate energy, when you shout HAYASDAN you don’t courage any other country or other nation, you courage yourself your nation Armenia.

3-Yeraplour: the place that I couldn’t stop my tears, a place where you ask yourself
a simple question: (what am I doing for my homeland while they gave their most precious…) I bow down for all these martyrs who died to keep Artsakh and Hayasdan safe.

4-Artsakh: the heart of every Armenian, our proud, the victory of us, You walk very proud in Artsakh because you feel the victory on your skin, and you also touch the pain of all the Martyrs.

I still remember that old lady at the museum who lost her son, at the beginning I tried to stay strong, but when she said (I lost my son) my heart was going to explore …. If you simply compare, you see that we are doing NOTHING beside what they did..
I also remember the dinner at Saro’s house in Shoushi and how we danced and sang… and talked with Saro he’s a patriot.

Kantsasar monastery one af the most beautiful places special at night, you feel it, this is yours you belong to this place, I just can’t forget Sevan’s words that night while he was talking to us.

5-My last excursion (to Haghpad and Sanahin):
when I arrived to the office that morning, Asqanaz (from the stuff of BRA) told me that this excursion was for me, he was right… I was living my last days in Armenia. The way to Sanahin was magic while I was listening (Parov mnak) a song of Arture meschian, I was trying to live each minute, each second without missing anything. I will never forget the lunch that day(was really delicious especially the honey…)

My host family:
At the beginning it was hard sometimes to understand each other, but after sometime we were very close to each other, my host mum had to work a lot to save money to pay for her daughter’s university, at the afternoon we used to drink coffee all together (me my host mum and Armine) we used to talk about our life, the problems that we face and our joy….everything.

I didn’t have a sister but now I have Armine my host sister, every night she used to come to my room so we can talk for a long time about our dreams….

Now I came back home after leaving a huge part of me in Hayasdan, now I know where I belong, I know what it means to have a homeland, I understand what it means to be Hay (Armennian) even that I’m far away…

BUT this is not the end, It’s just THE BEGINNING.

Creative Technology in Armenia

2010-11-18T00:16:00.000-08:00

Jirair Garabedian
Canada

If you've ever taken any of the marshutkas across the Kievyan bridge and wondered what that giant pink curved building across the gorge is, that's Tumo.

I pretty much accidentally stumbled upon the world's biggest creative technology center. About sometime in mid-July, I believe, I had started volunteering through BR/AVC. Anyways, I'd been ridiculously busy at KassArt Studios, helping pull together the second annual ReAmimania Animation Film Festival. Busy as I was, I figured 'hey, it won't kill me to go to one forum/havak'. So I get over to the Birthright Armenia office, it was the first time I'd been there in weeks and the first time I was actually meeting any of the other volunteers. So I get down there, meet a few folks, shake a couple hands. Then we all cram into one or two taxis and start heading somewhere (I didn't know where, yet).

As our taxi pulls up to the dusty gates, I looked around, trying to find where it is we'd be going.

We get out of the car and walk through some ripped up terrain, I turn the corner of the trailer and see this massive behemoth of a building.

Anyways, we got a tour of the place and I was pretty much dragging my jaw along behind me. I was amazed that something of this quality, of this sort of vision existed in Armenia of all places. For those of you who don't know, the Tumo Center for Creative Technology is a place for kids from 12-18 to come learn technology, design, animation, programming, game design and the like.

They're given all the tools, the learning space and all the opportunites to become professionals in a growing entertainment/media arts industry. Anyways, it's a great place to work, I love every second of it. Challenging but also very rewarding. I realize the description and overall quality in this blog post kinda went downhill after the main paragraph...I'm at work..

Alright back to work.

Later!

(The picture is of Jirair planting a tree at Toumanyan Park, within which TUMO is located, earlier this fall.)

Returning to Armenia and Finding Organic Farming

2010-11-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

Diana Muratova
USA

Born and raised in Yerevan for the first half of my life, I have always associated my homeland with its beautiful capital - busy streets, stone buildings, and marshrutkas. So when I was assigned to volunteer at an agricultural NGO specializing in organic farming, the images in my mind were instantly shattered and replaced with a big question mark. Curious about my role within the organization, I accepted the assignment and arrived at Green Lane Agricultural NGO my third day back in Yerevan.

The following month at Green Lane was spent soaking in an incredible amount of information about farming and the state of Armenian farmers, meeting professionals from Armenia and abroad, and enjoying one of the friendliest environments I have ever worked in.

Let me begin by clarifying what Green Lane Agricultural NGO is all about. It is an organization led by a group of extremely knowledgeable agricultural professionals whose aim is to encourage and facilitate organic farming in Armenia and help farmers improve the quality of their products, thus enabling them to compete in local markets and secure a higher standard of living. These objectives are achieved by creating farmer groups and cooperatives, introducing new technologies, and organizing seminars and research projects.

Considering I knew almost nothing about organic farming or farming at all, for that matter, I wondered how I would be able to assist Green Lane. It turned out, my knowledge of English and enthusiasm for helping underrepresented communities was enough to make a change in this organization within a short period of time.

Aside from everyday assignments, my main project involved composing, editing and translating material for inclusion in an annual report in English, which was two years behind schedule due to lack of English-speaking staff. What is a 20-page report in English good for, you ask? Aside from documenting the organization's growth and progress, it helps establish credibility and an international idenity. Considering Green Lane works with a number of international organizations and is mainly funded by foreign sponsors, an interactive report in English would help communicate with current and potential stakeholders and spark interest in the organization. Granted full creative freedom in composing the report and making it visually pleasing, I enjoyed the process more than you may think. But I still wanted to get in the field and see farming communities for myself.

So I did! Well, kind of. On a sunny Wednesday, Mr. Vardkes, the head of a farmers cooperative in Lukashin, stopped by the office to drive me to his village and introduce me to the cooperative's operations. I spent the next 24 hours trying to make sense of contradictions and gradually letting go of expectations about this visit. To my initial surprise, Mr. Vardkes was not driving a soviet zhiguli, but a Mercedes. Yes, a farmer came to drive me to his community in a Mercedes! His daughter Lilit, a second year student at the Yerevan State Institute of Economy, was in the car as well. During the hour-long drive to the Armavir Marz, where Lukashin is located, Mr. Vardkes debriefed me on the village's unique history. It turns out Lukashin was founded in 1925 when an American orphanage in Dilijan sent over a hundred orphans following the genocide to settle there. Today, the village population is comprised of the descendants of these settlers, whose main source of income is local agriculture.

Judging from the car I was in, I was beginning to picture a mansion in an idyllic location with marble statues and fountains. Thankfully, we arrived in front of a modest Armenian home surrounded by nothing but dirt roads and the smell of cow dung. The location was beautiful and the scenery breathtaking. The remainder of the day was spent preparing lunch and dinner with the women of the family, chatting with the village girls over coffee, and watching a comedy show with grandpa.

I almost forgot, we managed to interrupt the unconditional local hospitality with a few hours of work. Mr. Vardkes walked me over to the cooperative offices where we brainstormed ideas for a project he wanted to launch with the help of the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan. More specifically, the embassy's Democracy Commission Small Grants program provides up to $24,000 to help fund democratic initiatives in different regions in Armenia. After a thorough discussion with member farmers, we settled on a program to promote and protect human and minority rights, more specifically, those of the prominent Yezdi population in Lukashin. While I would not be able to write the proposal and complete the application during my short month in Armenia, I enthusiastically offered to help from the States. I will be working on this assignment during the next couple of months.

I spent the night at the grandparents' house, buried under layers of comfy blankets and listening to birds chirping on the roof. The following morning, Lilit and I hopped on a marshrutka back to Yerevan and promised to stay in touch after I return back to the States. We have.

My impressions of Lukashin were reflective of my overall experience in Armenia - a combination of surprises and glaring contradictions, feelings of happiness and moments of sadness. I was as elated to be home, at the same time feeling constant nostalgia for the Armenia of my childhood that no longer existed. My initial surprise at the omnipresent Western luxuries casually juxtaposed with equal amounts of poverty and dispair was quickly countered by the realization that Armenia does not evolve in a vacuum. Instead, it is a product of long-standing traditions pulling it one way and foreign influences pulling it the other.

As evident from my short count of Lukashin, regions outside of Yerevan are not immune to globalization either. They continue to adapt foreign customs to their daily lives while maintaining the authenticity that has prevailed in the country for centuries.

Now if only there was a healthy balance between tradition and modernization, an opportunity for one to complement the other. In my opinion, Green Lane is helping achieve just that. It makes use of advances in agricultural science and technology to help Armenian farmers grow crops unique to their land, while establishing a platform for self-governance and sustainability.

The organization not only promotes democracy in remote regions of Armenia, but also within its office walls. Team members are valued for their presence and contributions to the organization and, therefore, work with great enthusiasm and drive. Green Lane and similar organizations are at the forefront of progress in Armenia, serving not only as leaders of change but also as prime examples of innovative thinking and democracy in the workplace. For this and other reasons, I am excited for the prospect of returning to Yerevan and continuing to work with Green Lane Agricultural NGO.

Armenia’s Environmental Issues Through the Eyes of an AVC Volunteer Sponsored by Birthright Armenia

2010-10-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian
USA (Alumnus, 2010)

To celebrate and shed light on the state of the world’s biodiversity, the United Nations has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. Furthermore, Conservation International has named Armenia and the Caucuses at large as one of the top 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world. Not a title to be proud of as it means that although it harbors a significant amount of biodiversity, 70 % of it has been destroyed. What is more, prior to this summer, I did not have a slight idea of this rather concerning reality about Armenia’s natural world. But, I went, I saw, I felt and feel compelled to enlighten.

As a biology student engrossed in my studies at the University of Southern California, I worked for many of its educational outreach programs. Fully devoted to bringing the local youngsters in touch with the beauty of nature while stressing the importance of its protection. A mere act of reciprocity for the sheer beauty, tranquility and the resources that mother nature provides. It is fair to say that I may have never thought about volunteering in Armenia if it were not for two organizations: Birthright Armenia and Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC). Birthright Armenia is a non-profit organization with the mission to bring the Diasporan Youth to volunteer in Armenia. AVC, on the other hand, upon careful consideration of the volunteer’s educational and extracurricular experiences, places him/her at an appropriate site. While Birthright Armenia sparked the thought to volunteer, AVC acted as the catalyst to solidify and finalize my decision. (For more information on Birthright Armenia and AVC please visit www.BirthrightArmenia.org and www.ArmenianVolunteer.org respectively)

Thus, only a few days after my graduation, I accompanied the AVC director to my volunteer site in Yerevan: The Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC) also known as SunChild. FPWC is a non-governmental organization which, through many educational projects such including its eco-clubs in all regions of Armenia, aims to bring about a new generation of Armenians who will protect and serve as the stewards of Armenia’s natural world and biodiversity. Although I worked on many different projects, my primary focus became the green bus tour which entailed going to and spending a week in three different regions of Armenia (Tavush, Lori and Syunik). There, with the cooperation of the local municipality, we implemented many educational activities which included showing and discussing environmentally relevant films at local schools and kindergartens, organizing forums, and measuring the water quality of the local rivers with high school students.

As I write my impressions of each region, primarily in the light of their unique environmental issues, I will inevitably relive the sixteen-hour workdays on the bus, the sleepless nights, the heart wrenching realities, and the unforgettable touching moments as we go through Tavush, Lori and Syunik. Be prepared to learn about the good, the bad and the beautiful.

Tavush Region

The first stop on the FPWC’s green bus tour was the region of Tavush and specifically the small town of Ijevan. Ijevan’s breathtaking natural beauty had floored me and so had its people, specially the youngsters. Despite the fact that I was quite far from home, and traveling with a group of locals I had just met at my volunteer site, the children made me feel rather at home. Magnetized towards us and the bus, they quickly made themselves comfortable in my arms and hands. Eager to learn and listen to what we had to say and the films we were to show. Nevertheless, I soon had my first encounter with Armenia’s education system which pushed me deep into my thoughts. Part of our green bus program entailed showing environmentally relevant short cartoons to youngsters and discussing them. But, we soon learned the difficulty of doing so as the children were surprised and startled when asked to share their thoughts and opinions about the issues being raised in the films shown. Most tried to find a way to agree with whoever was leading the discussion. In parentheses, I do not in anyway blame these children for such behavior as I am certain they would not object to progressive education that emphasizes critical and independent thinking. I could see the potential in their eyes but at the same time how much it has been repressed. With our time up in Ijevan we headed out to Noyemberyan.

On our way there, it was evident that we had come to the right place. Trash everywhere. The one children’s park that we saw had more trash and plastic bags than kids and swings combined. As we went to the surrounding villages, and spoke with the local municipality, the littering problem was the main topic of conversation and concern. Some said a small fee gets the residents’ trash picked up and thrown away while others said the service is provided by the municipality with absolutely no fee. Yet, in both cases, most people insisted on taking their bucket of trash and dumping it into the local river. Some were saddened by this occurrence but most, perhaps having given up, consoled themselves by saying, with a rather wide grin, that the water ends up in a neighboring country anyway so let it be.

But, this is far from being a laughing matter as although it may end up in a neighboring country, it would inevitably have to go through Armenia first. On our last day, on the way to Debetavan, the last Armenian village hugging the Georgian border, I poked out my head out of the bus to see a fitly, brown and sand filled Debet River. What is more, as we sat down with the municipality and the locals of Debetavan, we learned that people cannot use the river water for irrigation because the crops would simply dry. Consequently, most have left the village leaving a few hundred folks behind most of whom work outside of the village to make a living. The disheartening conditions of the school and the kindergarten made me lose sleep for sometime to say the least. Just as difficult was to see a group of elderly gathered with buckets to get water from one source that the entire village shares.

Of course, I know life is not fair, I also know not everyone has the same opportunities in life and that such conditions and even worse exist in other parts of the world. I would be naïve to think otherwise. But, my heart still ached and still does to this day. Would having a clean, crisp water running through Debetavan, partly prevented by not dumping waste into the river, solve all of the problems of the region or the village itself? No, I am not dull enough to suppose that. But, it would at least allow them the opportunity to raise their own crops, perhaps ship and sell. On days such as this, the mission of FPWC and its green bus became even more vital as we, among other things, went to almost every village and town in the region and measured the water quality of the local river with a group of high schoolers stressing the importance of keeping them clean. Most were ashamed when they found the water quality in the worst condition possible. Perhaps shame is a good source of motivation to change.

Lori Region

The town of Allaverdi was our first stop in the Lori region and no sooner than my first night there did I learn a hard lesson about its main environmental issue; the open-pit copper and molybdenum mines. As I tossed and turned trying to sleep in the scorching heat and humidity, I realized that my nose was bleeding. Strange. Never have I had a spontaneous nose bleed in my short 22 years. I quickly ran to the bathroom while unintentionally waking up the landlady who took advantage of the opportunity to tell me a story. “For a high school field trip” she began, “they took us to one of the local copper mines and five minutes into our trip, our noses started to bleed.” She then grabbed my hand with exquisite gentleness and took me out to the balcony. “That” she said “is what we breathe,” pointing to the gases flowing out of the chimney of the copper mine across our apartment. “That copper mine, among other ones, is what makes this region’s air thirty times more toxic than it ought to be. That, is what made your nose bleed.” If it was difficult to sleep a while ago due to the heat, it just became impossible after hearing all of that.

Regardless, thanks to the utter cooperativeness of the municipality and the youngsters, after a couple of successful days in Allaverdi, we were on our way to the nearby town of Akhtala. Despite the nauseating smell of the chemicals produced by its copper mine, I was mesmerized by its Monastery. To think that people had the persistence and talent to build such intricate, and detailed moldings with their bare hands just amazed me. It is truly a perfect specimen of a cultural asset which reflects the character of our ancestors. I do not think words can ever do justice to all that it is. But, what I saw and learned next was sickening.

As we introduced ourself as representatives of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC), the eyes of the municipality staff and the residents of Akhtala lit up and they began to tell. Lori region is rich in copper-molybdenum deposits which has opened the doors for people to use it to produce copper. Certainly, it would only make sense to make use of natural resources to make something useful for people to use. But, the problem lies in the fact that the waste is not disposed of properly. Specifically, in between the monastery and the copper mine, runs the Akhtala River where part of the waste is dumped into while the rest is left out in the open, instead of being fenced by cement, diffusing all through the town and making its way into the lungs of the locals. I was truly heartbroken when I learned that Akhtala’s Monastery did not qualify as one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites due to the radioactive waste produced by the open-pit copper mine across from it. What a shame.

Unfortunately, the effects of polluting the Akhtala River goes far beyond the monastery sitting a few miles across from it. Specifically, the point where the Debed River and the Akhtala River merge together is a revelatory one. This junction clearly shows clear crisp Debed merging with yellow Akhtala river contaminated by the copper mine, and two together flowing towards the Tavush region. Seeing this, right away, reminded me of our visit to Debedavan—a village hugging the Debed River in the region of Tavush. The residents there had complained that their trees were drying and had pointed to the Lori region as the primary source of the problem in addition to the trash dumped by their own residents. They were right. Those folks, all 700 inhabitants of the village, now share the one source of clean water available for the entire village thanks to the carelessness of another region’s copper mines. When mother nature give us a gift, do we not have the moral responsibility to not use that gift to harm our natural world? It all became even more real when we went to the local kindergarten to do our presentation. Besides the suffocating smell of chemicals present in the classroom, the dark under eye circles on the pale faces of the children explained it all. All 30 of them had them. “It is from the polluted water, and air,” explained the staff.

After a melancholic day in Akhtala, we headed out to Teghut and along the way were confronted with massive amount of logs. Deforestation at its best. Teghut is also now a candidate for a copper mine and its residents were split in their opinion. Some supported it saying that it will open jobs as 3,000 jobs had been promised. Others realized that the adverse health consequences far outweighed the job opportunities. I am quite certain that all of the money in the world would not convince me to see any kid in the conditions of the kids of Akhtala.

Syunik Region

After a rather scenic, breezy, and an overcast 10-hour ride through the hills of Syunik, the very southern tip of Armenia, we entered Kapan. Hardly had our bus rounded the corner of the road leading to the municipality building than we saw a group of youngsters gathered and taking part in what looked like a summer day camp. With a chalk in hand, they were diligently writing the name of the local gold mining company all over the streets: the sponsors of the day camp. Mining companies reaching out to the community, a reoccurring theme in the region of Syunik as we learned when we ventured out to Kajaran. Not even for a second did any of the community outreach programs make me overlook their company’s adverse effects on the environment.

Never one to take much notice of car brands, I was startled by the abundance of new cars and SUVs I saw in Kajaran. It also had the most upgraded municipality building I had seen thus far. Not to mention the newly built science laboratories of the local high school that were in the process of implementing environmental studies courses. All compliments of the copper-molybdenum mine that I quickly eyed while we sat with the mayor and talked about our green bus tour. I soon learned that the majority of the town’s residents worked for the mine and were paid quite well by any and all standards hence the very modern cars. But, despite the rather positive picture painted by the mayor, I could not help but ask “where is the waste going?” Perhaps knowing what I would hear next. The Voghji River. Not surprisingly, this river which runs through Kajaran now leads Armenia as the most polluted river along with Debet.

The general consensus of the citizens and the municipality was the following: they’re there, have always been there, and are at least providing us the financial support to counteract their pollution. Not even slightly convinced. Most certainly not content.

Also not content are the residents of the village of Lernadzor. Located in-between Kajaran and Kapan, Lernadzor has a rather concerning environmental issue. Syunik, specifically the hills around Lernadzor, have for a long time been suspected to be a rich source of radioactive ore such as uranium. Recently in 2008, The Uranium Project was launched by the Armenian-Russian Mining Company whose shares are divided equally between the Armenian Government represented by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and a Russian state-owned nuclear energy company. The Uranium Project entails surveying the hills of Lernadzor and upon finding sufficient amount of uranium, mining it sometime in 2010. Although no actual drilling has been done to this point, there was a tangible fear and horror within the residents of Lernadzor who had the very reasonable concern that exploration work, which will involve some sort of drilling into the hills, will contaminate their water subjecting their health and the health of their children to a tremendous risk. Though the project officials have been reassuring that such catastrophe will not happen, the residents have voiced their decision to block the much important road linking Iran to Armenia should the project proceed and drilling take place.

Before I end, I would like to take a moment and talk about our last day in Kajaran where a group of high schoolers and I did a water quality survey. Based on biotic (I.e. type of living organisms), abiotic factors (e.g. temperature, flow rate, pH, turbidity) and other simple calculations, together, we classified a local river’s level of cleanliness. Unlike the past surveys I had done, we were taken to the very source of a river where no opportunity exists for people to contaminate it. It was the first time that I saw what our rivers ought to look like. Flowing with much energy, cold, and clear in contrast to the dirty, sandy, yellow and lifeless warm river waters that I had seen and been in. The substantial contrast between the two pushed me into a moment of introspection. How many people would purposely make their home dirty or allow others to do so? I do not know of too many. Armenia is the only home we have ever known.

This blogpost first appeared as an article in the Friday, October 15, 2010 issue of the Asbarez.

I Love Armenia

2010-10-18T04:53:00.000-07:00

Alis Nini
Greece

‘I love Armenia and I love America and I belong to both, but I am only this: an inhabitant of the earth, and so are you, whoever you are. I tried to forget Armenia but I couldn't do it.’ – William Saroyan-

Being a young diasporan who visits Armenia for the very first time can be an overwhelming experience. When I first wandered in the streets of Yerevan I was looking for something familiar to find myself in.

My first thought, when I landed in Yerevan, was the fear of not finding what I have been looking for all these years. Thankfully, national consciousness revealed itself to me soon. It wasn’t revealed in something specific but it was rather a series of moments like during a conversation with a local Armenian or another diasporan Armenian, the sight of a church or a mountain proudly surrounding the Armenian land. It must have been a moment when an unexpected emotion conquered me and forced me to discover Armenia.

Discovering the glorious simplicity of the churches,
The rugged sceneries, yet breathtaking nature,
The valuable remains of a lost kingdom,
The determined people, yet always welcoming,
The presence of art in every corner of Yerevan,
The longing of taking a glimpse of Mount Ararat in a clear sky, were all signs which showed me I started connecting with homeland. My stay was for six weeks and I went through three phases. In the beginning everything was like a puzzle which turned into an ongoing search for the pieces to be put together. I am now holding the perfect picture and I am sure each volunteer hold their own.

After six weeks of working, living, dealing with pleasant and unpleasant situations, adapting, travelling in Armenia, searching and discovering I realised that there was a mighty generation which established a kingdom,
A generation of intellectuals gifted with wisdom which gave us and the world outstanding inheritance,
There was a generation consisted by heroes and survivors,
There was a brave and courageous generation which preserved our identity and traditions through immigration,
And we are the generation which is called to acknowledge our past, embrace our developing nation, reconnect with the homeland and make sure it will continue to grow.

Above all I realised that being a diasporan Armenian comes with a price. It comes with a doubtful feeling of not entirely belonging somewhere and an anguished effort of searching for homeland.

On the other hand, being a diasporan Armenian gives me an advantage. This doubtful feeling of ‘not entirely belonging somewhere’ makes me an ‘inhabitant of the earth’. It gives me the freedom to make an endless journey that will keep me developing, having at the same time my Armenian roots as an integral part of my identity.

Now When I Think of Armenia…I think about the next pages of our history

2010-10-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

Noushig Hovhannesian
USA

I had been looking forward to the day when I would have the opportunity to visit Armenia for the first time. For so long, I wanted to understand the connection I have had to my homeland. Before, when I would think about Armenia, I would think about the land where the stories of our history were created and only understood it through my interpretations of images and texts.

This summer, I had the incredible privilege of living, working, and experiencing life in Armenia.

Through the Birthright Armenia program, not only was I able to see Armenia and experience the beauty of our landscape and our culture, but I was able to live life as a local rather than visit as a tourist. For two months, I served with the Armenian Volunteer Corps in the city of Gyumri.

The opportunity to be a Birthright Armenia volunteer was introduced to me earlier this year. As I was considering my next step after graduation, I was unsure about the decision I had to make. I found myself discouraged in a poor job market with sparse fulfilling employment opportunities. I had been working for a Real Estate company for four years and had developed notable job security in an unstable economy, yet I was determined to find greater and more fulfilling challenges. I was too comfortable and knew that I was capable of more and for that reason, more must be expected from me. I needed to find a place where I would be able to help others without working to gain anything, see and understand life from others’ perspectives, and, for a little bit, forget about my personal priorities.

After a lot of thought and consideration, I decided to quit my job and pursue the opportunity to volunteer in Armenia.

Birthright placed me with a homestay family in Gyumri with whom I have developed a close relationship and what I hope to be a lifelong connection. Now when I think of Armenia, I think about my extended family that lives in Gyumri. I have a mother who has been through an earthquake and has lived through devastation, who has seen the worst but only knows how to offer the most to others. I have three sisters, three nephews, and one niece who I think about often. I have mothers, brothers, and sisters-in-law. I have neighbors and their children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

There are moments I have had with my family in Gyumri that I can never forget and that have created my new knowledge of Armenia as I know it today. Now when I think of Armenia, I think about the many long, late hour talks I had with my host mother with whom I lived alone, since all three of her daughters were married and living with their in-laws. I think about Nareg, my favorite five year-old nephew, whom I love with special admiration. His singing and humming of Armenian songs around the house still ring in my ear and put a smile on my face. When playing alone in the middle of the living room, he would recite Armenian poems that he had learned in preschool. And when I would incorrectly use an expression or improperly pronounce a word in the Eastern Armenian accent, he would correct me rather than expect me to know better than him as an adult.

Now when I think about Armenia, I think about the unique and joyous traditions of our Armenian culture. I remember going to my upstairs neighbor’s apartment on Vartavar late Sunday afternoon with my small pitcher of water. In hopes to surprise her, I knock on the door and go running around the corner to hide and soak her with my pitcher when she found me. That was when my friend Zach, a fellow volunteer who had been staying with my neighbor, and her son chased me through the hallway with a tub of water that they managed to pour over my head as I was standing there helpless in the hallway, still holding onto my small pitcher. They had been playing, indoors, since early that morning. That was just the beginning of the fun we had that day. I remember my host nephew’s adamahadig, celebrated just as we do in the Middle Eastern Armenian tradition. After five minutes of the young child being indecisive about the item he should grab, the doctor’s item was handed to him, and that’s when they determined that Haigo was indeed going to be a doctor.

I had the privilege of working at Fritsiov Nansen Orphanage, an internship in which I was placed by the Armenian Volunteer Corps. I worked with a group of teens, ages fourteen through nineteen. All of them have left a significant impact on my life. Now when I think of Armenia, I think of the beautiful faces of these Armenian boys and girls; although they are disadvantaged and deprived they are able to speak of the future. Whether that future holds marriage and creating families of their own, job opportunities, or a new city to call home, they were able to see past the affliction in which they lived. My perspective says affliction, but perhaps in theirs, they are content. I witnessed the care and concern they all have towards each other as siblings. It is distressing to say, however, that some had no hope, brushing off my question of what they want to make out of their lives, what they most like to learn, or what they most enjoy doing. It is difficult to handle a response that tells you that there is no desire or want to become anything and no interest to learn from anyone. I did not want to go through a day without seeing the children, even if it was for only half an hour on certain days. And then there was Khoren. Khoren is an undeniable inspiration to all who know him. His love of the Armenian culture was evident, his intelligence was heartwarming, and his tremendous talent was uplifting. His singing voice could move you to tears. Khoren is physically challenged and the only child in the orphanage who had such harsh physical impairments. The bones throughout his body and his face were not properly developed. He would often be interviewed by a local television station and the interviews would be televised for local viewers; unfortunately, I had never had the opportunity to see any of the interviews. I was told that when he was once asked what he wanted to do in his life, his response was to be a doctor so that he may be able to cure others’ ailments so that they may live better lives.

As a Birthright Armenia participant, my fellow Diasporan Armenian volunteers and I had the opportunity to participate in weekly forums and havaks where we were able to meet with political figures, war heroes and veterans, local youth and historians, and talented artists. Now when I think of Armenia, I think of one of the most uplifting and emotional moments I experienced when one of our war heroes stood during our forum and with marked emotion told us in Armenian, “This is your Armenia just as well as it is my Armenia. This is your home. We are left with only a small portion of our great land, but remember that it is ours. It is Armenian land. We must always fight to make sure we hold on to what we have left so that there will always be an Armenia.”
That first night I arrived home from Armenia and sat in my living room, I felt a rush through me as if I had left a part of me behind in Armenia. My connection is now not only emotional but has become physical, fixed to the grounds on which I had the privilege of walking. Hardships and setbacks were evident. However, progress and hope is strong. Armenia is moving forward. Although few job opportunities are available, education is a priority. My host mother, who was widowed and who could barely afford her monthly expenses, put her daughter through college, knowing that the chance of her daughter being employed after graduation was slim to none. This says a lot about a country and a people, as Sevan Kabakian, the director and our leader in Birthright, kindly brought to my attention.

The next pages of our history have already begun. We are a free, independent nation and a newer, stronger, and greater Armenia is being created with the same determination as those of our legendary heroes, through those who believe in prolonging our history and in lifting it to a new level of glory.

Beyond the Stereotypes

2010-09-30T00:32:00.000-07:00

Nora Injeyan
USA

My work experience in Armenia, in Gyumri, was molded and influenced the greatest by my boss, an elderly woman named Julietta Eganyan. She has come to represent, to me, everything Gyumri is, and everything it has the potential of becoming.

On my first day in Gyumri, a few other new volunteers and myself went to our jobs and got acquainted with our site. Upon my arrival, Julietta had Shant baghbagag waiting for me and soon enough, the awkward, first-meeting conversation ensued.

“Vor deghatsi es?”
“Ameriga”
“Eenchoo Gyumri es yegel?”

I didn’t provide her with any substantial answer as I honestly wasn’t quite sure why at that point. After a few minutes of uncomfortable chit-chat, she finally said, “Ari mi pajag gini khmenk” and my complicated love/hate relationship with her, with Gyumri, began.

Julietta lost both her son and daughter in the devastating earthquake in 1988, she in fact has a personal survivor story that is so unbelievable you would think it was written by Hollywood screenwriters. However, I am not going to delve into the specifics of her story, only to reiterate that it is safe to say, this woman lost everything to the earthquake. But as the days passed, our relationship slowly progressed and she began trusting and depending on me more and more. I think our relationship reached a level that few of the other AVC volunteers got at their job site. In fact, on my last day in Gyumri, she took me to visit her children’s graves. As we approached the grave, it became obvious that 22 years had not healed her wounds, 22 years had not eased the pain of losing her children any more. Julietta proved that the people of Gyumri are still living in the aftermath of the earthquake. Although the world, even the Armenian diaspora seems to have moved on, the Gyumretsis are still living, day to day with the reality of the earthquake in their minds and this reality has created an amazing set of contradictions that I would have been completely oblivious to had I not worked so closely with this woman. Despite being devastated by an earthquake, a subsequent lack of aid and being forgotten by the world soon thereafter, there is a desire and an attempt here to rebuild or create an even greater community. Julietta, having nothing, is still willing to give everything to her NGO “Margartatsaghik.”

This attitude is what lives underneath the top layer of cynicism most people are accustomed to on their trips to Armenia. This is not to say there is not a deep rooted anger and disappointment among the people, however, anyone who dismisses this as the primary motivator among the people has not made the attempt to understand that anger. I refuse to accept the common perception that the Armenian people are stuck in this bubble.

In my short time working in an NGO dedicated to helping those affected by the earthquake, it became obvious that these effects are still being felt every day. However, there is a strong desire for change permeating throughout Gyumri. People are becoming fed up with their living conditions and have decided to create change by getting educated, nurturing discussions aimed at solutions, and opening up institutions of change such as NGOs like Julietta did. This is where the inherent contradictions lie, contradictions people tend to mistake as simple pessimism and hopelessness. Yes, Gyumri is filled with people who are backwards, angry and hopeless, but the times are changing indeed and trends of modernity, optimism and change are spreading. It is now up to the Gyumretsis to foster that change and the diasporan to aid and support them by coming to Armenia, living there, working there, talking to the people and simply trying to understand life in Armenia, in Gyumri, beyond the stereotype, beyond the negativity.

A Volunteer's First Impressions

2010-09-24T22:56:00.001-07:00

Haig Balian
Canada

I’m lying on my single bed in my new room in Gyumri, and my host family is down on the main floor, watching an Armenian soap opera. It’s been two nights since I arrived in Armenia, and I think I may have already beaten my jet lag. Yesterday, I wasn’t very hopeful that I would.

I had the day mostly to myself, and spent the morning wandering the getron – the downtown area – running errands and buying a few necessities. Before I arrived, I’d thought that being in Armenia would be like being dropped into a totally foreign country, but magically having the ability to communicate with the people there.

That’s sort of exactly what it was like.

At the phone shop, I figured out the rates for data plans. At the electronics store, I bought a converter for North American plugs. At a tiny bakers, I ordered two lahmajoon – commonly described as Armenian pizzas – and they were made to order. I’ve had fresh lahmajoon before, but never straight from the oven. They were pretty incredible. I know I could have figured all this out without knowledge of the language. I’ve gotten used to gesturing with my arms, as well as approximating pronunciations in my guide books. But it’s never been this easy.

Not that I’m even close to fluent. I stayed with a family my first two nights in Yerevan. They were, I think, pleasantly surprised by the amount of Armenian I was able to speak, but soon my limitations came to the surface.They asked what I did in Canada; I couldn’t really answer (of course, I have the same problem when speaking with English speakers). They tried talking about politics. Food. Culture. The best I could do was try to understand concepts. The fact is, I stopped going to Armenian school in the fifth grade, so I read and speak at less than a fifth grade level now. That being said, I’m getting by.

In the early afternoon, I made my way back to my host family, but my head down on my pillow, and slept for three hours. I knew it was a terrible idea, and I did pay for it that night when I woke up at four and went back to sleep at 5:30. I’d made plans to meet with another new volunteer later that evening. Meghrig is a recent history graduate from a university in Haleb (Aleppo?), Syria, a city with a large Armenian population. We made plans on the phone. It was the first time I’d spoken Armenian to anyone other than a member of my family on the phone for as long as I can remember.

Yerevan’s main square – which is actually more of an oval – is like nothing I’ve seen. It’s surrounded by five low-rise stone buildings, and at the centre is a large fountain. On summer evenings, the buildings are illuminated and there’s a choreographed water show on the fountain, set to the music of Aznavour, Khatchatourian, U2, Piaf, and Williams, as well as others.

Much more to write, but it’ll have to wait until at least tomorrow. And I’ll have more pictures, too.

A few random observations:

* Armenians – Yerevanites, anyway – are incredibly put together. The women especially seem to spend an incredible amount of time getting ready for the day. The men, too, make an effort to look nice. Yesterday, I wore shorts and a t-shirt, and was awarded with stares; today I wore pants.
* When someone invites you to sit down to eat hatz – bread – you’ll be in your chair for at least half an hour. You’re in for a lot more than just bread.
* Mt. Ararat is completely visible from Yerevan. I went running the morning after I first arrived, turned a corner, and was completely surprised by this.

This post first appeared on Haig's own blog, www.haigbalian.com

Volunteering: A Give and Take Between Peers

2010-09-15T04:47:00.000-07:00

Alexandra Achkarian
Canada

It’s my last day in Armenian and I as I sit down to write this I feel at a loss of where to begin. Perhaps it’s the desire to pretend that this adventure is not coming to an end or pure lack of ability to sit down and write anything after a month of vacation; either way this is becoming a struggle for me.

I am not going to pretend otherwise, I came over to volunteer with AVC as an adventure for myself. I grew up volunteering within my community at home in Toronto where my mother would constantly be signing me up for random volunteer events: school fundraisers, canvassing for charities, bake sales…you name it, we did it! It became second nature to me and when I got to high school I was signing myself up to volunteer and taking initiative within my neighbourhood to create volunteer opportunities for myself and my peers. This continued on in a similar fashion throughout University where I eagerly sought out new opportunities to learn from volunteerism and found myself pursuing a Certificate in Corporate Responsibility while working towards my Bachelor of Commerce degree. There was something in me to always want to help others but as I grew up and started to learn more about the world I lived in and my place in it, I found myself “volunteering” in different ways.

Often when people hear of volunteers going off to foreign countries to volunteer they think of building schools in remote villages or teaching English. My experience was much different and although I was volunteering it was a work experience as well as a cultural one.

I was placed at Armenian Caritas (you can follow them @ArmenianCaritas), a division of the International NGO Caritas, and was working under the supervision of the PR Manager who also doubled as the Volunteer Coordinator. I was thrown into work on the very first day and asked to write a Press Release. I studied brand management in University and did not learn anything about writing Press Releases. The challenges began. It was a blessing in disguise as I found a skill that I held and previously did not know about: writing. When I handed in my first press release my boss praised me and continued to pile on the work. I was overwhelmed while at the same time gaining confidence in my abilities and feeling pride in the work I was accomplishing.

Work continued on like this for the duration of my time at Caritas. Although our office hours were 9-5 and we had 15 minute coffee breaks and 45 minute lunch breaks, work is nothing like at home! I was constantly being taken away from my desk for celebrations outside in our courtyard – the last one we had was to celebrate our co-worker’s daughter being accepted into University! Can you imagine? Something that we take for granted as an assumed next step in life is cause for celebration at the workplace (celebrations include brandy and chocolate at 10 AM). Another day I was dragged out of my office (kicking & screaming of course…) to be taken to the fish farm (a well known fish restaurant in Gyumri) to say goodbye to a co-worker who was off to New York to continue her studies. You see, work in Armenia is not as cut and dry as it is at home, it is more than about getting the job done. People truly get to know one another, and genuinely want to be involved in each others’ lives.

I was lucky enough to also work with the volunteers who work at Caritas’ various programs. Caritas recently created a network for their volunteers called the Armenian Caritas Youth Corps (ACYC) as a means of providing the youth in the community who want to be involved in volunteerism a support organization to initiate various events. I spent a lot of time with the youth learning about their experiences, collaborating with them to develop the first ever large-scale fundraiser in Gyumri and mentoring them. They showed a great deal of interest in the fact that I was from Canada so I decided to make a presentation on it for them. As you can imagine, a presentation on Canada could be a little bit broad, but I am pretty sure I did a good enough job and lightening the mood (No, we do not live in igloos and it is not snowing all year round…)

My work experience was not just about gaining skills in my area of expertise and lending a hand to my workplace but it was a give and take between peers who were learning about each others’ culture and way of life. Some of my fondest memories of my time at Caritas include lunches when Tatjana would come and visit me and we would eat in the courtyard (a new trend I started) and chat with my co-workers, and visiting the various programs Caritas offers.

My experience was more than I expected and could have asked for. It was humbling and rewarding while it also changed my view on volunteerism at the same time. There need not be a material outcome from your efforts as a volunteer; it may show itself as a change within you, a change within someone else or simply a learning experience. Mine was a bit of all of those.

Volunteering and Animation

2010-09-06T03:46:00.000-07:00

Jirair Garabedian
Canada

So I've been an AVC volunteer for a little over a month now, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.

Actually, I've been in Armenia since May. Working at KassArt Studio. We've been scrambling to get ready for ReAnimania 2010 International Animation Film Festival of Yerevan. It's the second annual animation festival being held here.

You wouldn't believe the amount of work that goes into getting a festival going! It seriously couldn't be done without the 60+ staff and volunteers putting their sweat and blood into it every day.

I'm having a good time though, I mean I haven't been on any of the excursions..and I think I only went to 1 forum. But that's just because I'm so busy with work. I can't remember the last time I've pulled this many all-nighters in a row. Hopefully after the festival there'll be time to go on some of the excursions, get out of the city you know? There's only so much dust and smoke I can stand.

But on the upside, I've had pretty much complete immersion into the society, I'm over the whole culture shock thing and Ive picked up enough of the slang to sound local! So there's something to be glad about.

Anyways, there's 3 days to the festival so I should get back to work!

Live, Life, Love

2010-09-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

Ara Koulayan
USA

Իմ Կեանքիս Մէչ միշտ կուզէի վոր իմ Հայրէնիքիս համար լաւութիւն մը ըննէլ եւ վէրջապէս այս երազս իրականածաւ։ Շատ հէտագըրգիր է որ շատ տարփէրութիւն չկա Ամէրիկայի հէտ Երեվանի մէջ, Բայց ես Կյումրիի մէջ իմ կամաւոր պարտականութիւնս վորոշէցի ընել վորովհետէւ կուզէյի աւէլի համը արնէլ բուն Հայրէնիքին։

Իմ ընտանիքս որ վորոշւատձ էր իմ համար կարձես թէ շուտ օրվանէ ձանօդ էն ինձի։ Շատ մեձ հաճույք է լաւ ընտանիքի մէջ ապրիլ եւ կեանք սորվիլ իրար հէտ։ Աստուաձ տայ որ երկար կյանք եւ միշտ կապուաձ մնանք իրար հէտ։ Արմինէն, Արմէնուհի Նիկողոսեան, որ Փյունիք-ի կէնդրոնին տնօրէնն է իմ գործատէղիս Կյումրիում, կարձես թէ Հրէշտակի լուսապսակ մը անընդատ իր հէտ կը պտըտվի:

Հազար մարդու հաւասար է այս կինը: Շատ մոտ ենք արդէն եւ չէմ գիտէր ոնձ պիտի հէրանամ այս հրաշալի կնոչմէ:

Շատ չէ պատահաձաց որ այսպէս ըզկացերէմ մարդու հոքին. Իր մոտ աշխատիլ որպէս կամաւոր շատ պատվէլի է իմ համար։ Կուզէմ ըսէլ որ ես հավատացյալ էմ լաւ քորձելու մէջ եւ շատ աւէլի կարողութիւն կունէնայ մարդ ամէն տեսքով։ Ապրէս այն Հայէրուն վոր արանձ լէզուն խոսելով եկան որպես կամաւոր բարիք քորձէլու։

Շնորհակալ էմ Դէպի Հայք -ին (Birthright Armenia) որ այս արիդը մէզ համար կայ։

Ara's blog post first appeared on networkedblogs.com.

Another Day in Gyumri, Armenia

2010-08-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

Shant Mardirossian
Canada

This morning I wake up to a traditional Armenian breakfast which usually contains: eggs with beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, yogurt, and lavash bread. I get changed and wait for one of the most interesting rides on the famous marshutkha. This van manages to squeeze up to 20+ passengers who bend their limbs in unimaginable ways to fit on this very inexpensive ride of 100 drams. It’s fun and exciting, yet stinky, crammed, and quite dangerous. Best part is that you can get it to stop wherever you please.

I get off the marshutkha a little early and walk to Gyumri Healthy Center where I carry out my volunteering duties. The Gyumri Healthy Center is a developing NGO organization that has a future mission and vision to establish a Healthy Center that encompasses a wide category of health including: physical therapy, rehabilitation, resistance training, Yoga, Pilates, and sex education. Here I work with my 3 colleagues – Naira, Nune, and Satig. They are a charismatic and optimistic group who have faith towards the future of their developing center. I work hard here to teach these therapists’ the many practical techniques and exercises that I have acquired while earning my B.Sc degree in Kinesiology. We spend long hours practicing on one another so that these skills become sharpened enough to carry out on patients. Also, one of my ongoing goals is to teach Armenians the benefits of regular exercise and diet. For that reason, Naira, Nune, Satig, and I keep active by going for runs together, doing some resistance training, yoga, and stretching.

I leave work awaiting a home cooked meal from my lovely host mother Anahid. This lady can make anything and everything. She makes dolma, harisseh, dried fruits, jams, marubas, pastries, and a whole variety of other tasty meals. I enjoy dining to these flavoursome foods, while listening to Anahid and her husband’s Jora’s unthinkable genocide and earthquake stories. As our time spent together grows, the more I appreciate how genuine Armenian people are. Its fascinating how some people have nothing to give, yet give you everything they have. The local Armenians truly do illustrate the meaning of loving their neighbour as they love themselves. I only wish a fraction of this sort of unity would carry on into western society.

After dinner on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go to Armenian language class. The other volunteers and I gather with our teacher Anahid, and her three helpers: Lucineh, Rosa, and Armen. Together we strive to learn proper Eastern Armenian language, which for many volunteers is very different. Many Armenians today including myself are Diaspora Armenians. Growing up all around the globe, Diaspora Armenians have accumulated many unique dialects of Armenian language. For that reason, it is quite difficult to fully understand, speak, and decipher true eastern Armenian. Therefore, attending these classes has become very helpful for us Armenian speakers and non-speakers, as we learn to understand, speak, read and write the traditional Armenian way.

After class I walk home to kids playing football, men playing backgammon or chess, and woman chatting with their neighbourhood friends, all while hearing authentic Armenian music being played within the vicinity. I go home to another yummy meal then get changed to gather with all the volunteers down at Azatutian square, downtown Gyumri. Here we sit together like one big family while enjoying the scenery, music and warm presence of the local Armenian community. Some of us choose to drink coffee with Armenian sweets like “gata,” while others “do as the Armenians do” and chirp on raw sunflower seeds all night. As time passes in the midst of Armenian company, I realize that, regardless of where I come from, what traditions I grew up in, or how different I am, I go sleep at night knowing that I have finally found my way back home.

2 mois et demi en Arménie !

2010-08-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

Nouny Benchimol
France

Ce voyage de la découverte de soi a commencé par mes pleurs et ceux de ma mère sur le quai de la gare, à Montpellier. 2 mois et demi, loin de ma famille et sans la France, je pensais que ça allait être long et difficile. Pour moi, c’était comme un défi dans un pays qui me tenait certes très à cœur de par mes origines mais qui restait inconnu de par sa culture et sa langue…

L’arrivée, enfin…
J’atterris à l’aéroport de Yerevan à 4h du matin. Je souris en m’apercevant que tout le monde parle arménien. Beaucoup d’arméniens attendent des personnes de leur famille un beau bouquet de fleurs à la main. Enfin mon aventure commence ! Direction la famille hôte de Gayane.

Yerevan…

A Yerevan, je fais la connaissance de volontaires et je rencontre Sevan, Nairi et Sharistan de Birthright Armenia et Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC). Mon portable français ne marche pas en Arménie, je pars donc en quête d’après les indications de Sevan, carte de la ville en main. Une demie heure après être rentrée dans le magasin Nokia, je ressors toute fière avec un portable neuf et la joie de voir que j’arrive à me faire comprendre, même sans parler un mot d’arménien.

Gyumri…

J’arrive à Gyumri, il pleut. Je fais un tour de la ville avec Shogher (qui s’occupe des volontaires de Gyumri) et d’autres nouveaux volontaires. C’est ici que je vais vivre plus de deux mois. Ces rues inconnues, je vais les connaître par cœur. Je vais les aimer. Ces volontaires des pays du monde entier, je vais apprendre à les connaître et je vais partager des moments inoubliables avec eux. Le début est un peu difficile, mon anglais (langue souvent parlée entre volontaires, car une partie ne parle pas arménien) est moyen et mon arménien niveau 0 mais l’accueil est très chaleureux. Je pressens déjà que Birthright, c’est une grande famille.

Ma famille hôte à Gyumri, les Hambardzumyan…

Ma famille est composée des deux parents, de la fille Gayane, du fils Yervant et de sa femme Susana. Dès les premiers instants, je me sens bien chez eux. Une grande joie pour moi quand je découvre que trois d’entre eux parlent anglais…
Tous les matins, Hasmik (la mère) se lève pour préparer mon thé du petit déjeuner. Je découvre le Madzoun (sorte de yaourt), le Smeta (ressemble au madzoun mais possède plus de matières grasses), le bon goût du pain arménien et les fabuleux dolmas. A chaque fois que les Hambardzumyan m’annoncent : « Ce soir, il y a des dolmas ! », mes yeux s’illuminent. Les dolmas, c’est le bonheur.
Avec le temps, je deviens de plus en plus proche de Susana. On parle de ses problèmes, de ses envies. De mes envies, de mes problèmes. Et même de mes amours ! On aborde aussi d’autres sujets plus généraux tout en lavant et en essuyant la vaisselle. Elle rigole en voyant à quel point j’aime le nutella et les herbes appelées « petrouchka » en russe. A tel point qu’elle me donne un surnom : « Petrouchka Nutella ». Susana est aux petits soins le jour où je suis malade : elle me prépare plusieurs fois du thé à la menthe, passe souvent me voir dans ma chambre pour voir comment je vais et prend ma température. Ah que c’est bon d’être malade parfois !

Les marchoutkas (ou mini-bus où on est souvent debout !)

Ah les marchoutkas ! Une grande et durable histoire d’amour entre eux et moi ! Pour seulement 100 drams (soit environ 20 centimes d’€), on a droit à un voyage plein de péripéties. Pendant deux mois et demi, j’ai pu observer toutes les habitudes des arméniens à bord, toujours avec délices.

Habitude n°1 : Les personnes assises laissent souvent une petite place aux personnes debout et courbées accompagné d’un « Nastir ! » (« Assieds-toi ! »). On s’assoit alors avec reconnaissance.

Habitude n°2 : Dans le cas où l’habitude n°1 n’est pas observée, les femmes assises prennent et gardent les sacs à mains des femmes debout, pour la durée du trajet. Et là aussi c’est très agréable !

Habitude n°3 : Il y a toujours quelqu’un pour laisser la place aux plus âgés.
Habitude n°4 : Les femmes ne s’assoient généralement pas à l’avant, aux places à côté du conducteur. Mais bien sûr, il y a toujours des exceptions !

Les marchoutkas me manquent. Certes ce n’était pas confortable. Certes ça faisait mal au dos. Mais c’était l’Arménie et c’était amusant et joyeux.

Vardan et Lala, mes fabuleux collègues de travail à Gyumri…

Shogher m’accompagne pour mon premier jour de travail. Je rencontre Vardan et Lala. Ils ne parlent pas un mot d’anglais. Je ne parle pas un mot d’arménien. Je me fais la réflexion : « Purée, comment je vais pouvoir travailler pendant deux mois et demi sans pouvoir comprendre ?! ». Je suis sous le choc et un peu déprimée. Mais je me rappelle des paroles de Sevan : « Vole comme un oiseau entre les obstacles ». Déjà je positive en pensant que je ne suis pas la seule à qui ça a dû arriver... Ok Sevan, je vais tâcher de voler.

Petit à petit, je m’améliore en arménien (entre autres grâce aux cours deux fois par semaine), Vardan et Lala font tout pour que je me sente bien. C’est adorable de leur part. On part souvent visiter et conseiller des fermes possédant des vaches laitières autour de Gyumri. On va à Yerevan plusieurs fois pour apporter des échantillons de sang d’animaux au laboratoire pour que des tests soient faits (notamment de brucellose).

Vardan m’invite dans sa maison à Hazatan et je rencontre sa famille : ses filles Tamara et Galiné, son fils Garo. Très vite, je m’attache à eux. J’ai l’impression de faire partir de leur famille : ils m’invitent aux 15 ans de Tamara, je visite Etchmiatzine avec eux, je joue au ballon avec les enfants, je mange des graines de tournesol avec eux…

La veille de mon départ pour Yerevan puis la France, Vardan et Lala s’obstinent à m’acheter des tonnes de cadeaux pour toute la famille : ce cognac pour ton grand-père arménien, ce souvenir d’Arménie pour ta mère, ce collier pour ta sœur… Ce sont des personnes formidables. Ils ont à la fois cette grande pudeur et cette chaleur arméniennes. Je réalise alors à quel point ils vont me manquer. Voilà, ça y est. Je suis nostalgique avant même d’avoir quitté l’Arménie. Je ne pourrais jamais assez les remercier. A leurs côtés, j’étais chez moi.

Lorsqu’il est temps de partir, Vardan me dit : « Tu peux venir vivre ici à la maison. On a tout ce qui faut et les enfants seraient très contents. Nouny jan, tu es comme ma fille ». Non Nouny ne pleure pas, contrôle-toi, ne pleure pas…

Les tomates, concombres et chewing-gums à la pastèque…

En entrant dans un magasin SAS de Yerevan, je suis surprise de voir qu’au rayon légumes, il y a essentiellement des tomates et des concombres. Je comprends pourquoi peu de temps après : les concombres (varoung en arménien) et les tomates (lolik) en été, c’est comme le pain pour les français : on en mange à tous les repas ! Et il faut dire qu’avec cette chaleur, c’est plutôt agréable. En Arménie, tous les fruits et légumes sont délicieux.

C’est en Hayastan que j’ai découvert les chewing-gums à la pastèque. Je suis maintenant accro. En France, ce parfum n’est pas connu !

Tata Simonian…

La chanson entraînante « Tesel em » (« J’ai vu ») de Tata a les couleurs des rues et du marché de Gyumri…

Les cours d’arménien à Gyumri…

Les Hambardzumyan, la famille dans laquelle j’ai vécu, habitent à cinq minutes de l’orphelinat où Anahite et Arpiné nous donnent les cours d’arméniens. C’est toujours une joie pour moi d’apprendre de nouveaux mots et de les apprendre avec mes amis de la diaspora. D’autant plus qu’Anahite nous offre systématiquement des bonbons Grand Candy (fabriqués en Arménie) et que parfois Hovan m’attend à la sortie avec un beau bouquet de fleurs et un pot de Nutella.

Le 11 juillet 2010, «Vartavar» ou comment être trempée comme une soupe en moins de 10 secondes…

Ce dimanche fut exceptionnel et il restera gravé dans ma mémoire. Une journée où j’ai beaucoup ri. C’est un jour chaud. Hovan (volontaire à Birthright Armenia et arménien de Jordanie) m’appelle : « It’s crazy today ! I am trempé comme une soupe, everybody is throwing water on me from everywhere!!!! » J’hésite donc à sortir non accompagnée. Finalement, Hovan vient me chercher et on part en direction de l’immeuble où il habite à Gyumri, le plus discrètement possible de peur de se recevoir de l’eau. Notre tentative de ne pas se faire repérer a échoué : devant son immeuble, des tas d’enfants nous bombardent d’eau glacée. Ça y est, je suis trempée ! Mais qu’est-ce que ça rafraîchit !

Les enfants mouillent par mégarde un homme âgé marchant tranquillement dans la rue. Il est un peu hargneux dans un premier temps puis éclate de rire. Et oui Vartavar, c’est ça : le but du jeu est de mouiller tout le monde, petits comme grands ! Personne n’y échappe.

La journée continue, on se jette des seaux d’eau avec la famille hôte d’Hovan. Le couloir de l’immeuble ressemble à une vraie piscine ! Ils me prennent pour cible prioritaire et mettent en place des ruses : le père me poursuit avec de l’eau, je cours vers l’appartement pour me cacher, ouvre la porte mais voilà, je me reçois un seau d’eau encore plus gros : la mère m’attendait patiemment derrière la porte !

Le centre KASA et Siranouche…

KASA (Komitas Action Suisse-Arménie) réalise des projets humanitaires, culturels, éducatifs, de construction et d’équipement en Arménie. Dans ce centre, j’ai donné des cours de français à des arméniens avec Siranouche, arménienne de Gyumri parfaitement francophone.

Un soir, je suis invitée par la mère de Siranouche à manger des dolmas (hummm des dolmas !!!). Nous avons une discussion sur le tremblement de terre de 1988 et sur les terribles conséquences dans la vie des arméniens touchés. Et oui, c’est aussi ça la réalité de l’Arménie. Elle a traversé des épreuves terribles qu’elle n’est pas prête d’oublier. C’est aussi ça qui fait sa force.

Le mariage… C’est pour quand ??

Une question qu’on a dû me poser une centaine de fois en Arménie : « Du amusnatsats’ es ? » (Es-tu mariée ?) Une collègue de travail de Vardan a même tout organisé pour que je rencontre son fils Hrach : « Mon fils est beau, intelligent et en plus de ça il parle anglais ! Viens à la maison, je te ferai des dolmas (elle savait comment m’attirer !) et tu discuteras avec mon fils ».

La traite à Marmachen…

Je suis à Marmachen (village tout près de Gyumri) avec Lala et sa mère et ce soir, je vais traire une vache arménienne à la main pour la première fois de ma vie ! J’ai hâte. J’en suis toute excitée. Les vaches rentrent du champ où elles ont passé la journée, on les attache dans l’étable sombre et la « fermière » me montre comment m’y prendre. Tiens, ça a pas l’air trop dur… il faut juste bien tenir le seau entre les jambes et ne pas faire gicler le lait n’importe où. Je m’y mets. Ouf c’est plus difficile que ça en a l’air ! Sans machine, je n’ai pas l’habitude. D’autant plus que la vache que je suis en train de traire me regarde d’un œil noir… J’aurais bien voulu lui parler en arménien pour la décontracter un peu mais avec mon accent français et le peu de conversation que j’ai, je pense que ça aurait été pire… !

Les bouses de vaches séchées et moi dans un village proche de Gyumri ! Elles sont utilisées pour chauffer les maisons en hiver.

La visite de la « Black Ox farm » ou ferme moderne…

Je visite cette ferme avec Gevorg, jeune vétérinaire de l’association SDA (Strategic Development Agency). Cette ferme fait partie des fermes les plus avancées en Arménie : la traite se fait avec des machines, les abris des animaux sont modernes et adaptés et, pour la reproduction, seule l’insémination artificielle est pratiquée (pas de saillie naturelle). Oh il y a même des vaches Holstein !

M. Ghazarian nous invite à goûter son Smeta qu’il vend en grande partie à des restaurants de Yerevan. Hum c’est délicieux ! Dans le salon, je remarque avec étonnement que la télé montre des plans filmés par des caméras accrochées un peu partout dans les locaux de la ferme. Je demande : « A quoi servent ces caméras ? C’est pour surveiller les vaches au cas où elles tenteraient une évasion ?! » (blague ratée de ma part). Lui : « Non c’est pour voir si les employés travaillent !! »

Arman, Levon et Idjevan…

Arman et Levon sont deux vétérinaires de CARD (Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development) avec qui j’ai travaillé pendant mes deux mois et demi en Arménie. Nous avons visité des dizaines de fermes ensemble dans des dizaines de villages et dans différentes régions d’Arménie.

Pendant quelques jours, nous sommes restés à Tavush dans un hôtel proche d’Idjevan. Le soir, après le travail et après avoir acheté au marché de la ville une fleur entière de tournesol pour en manger les graines, direction une rivière proche. Je trempe mes pieds dans l’eau. Brrrrr c’est glacé ! Les garçons, eux, se mettent en caleçon et plongent. Je les observe nager et s’amuser comme des enfants de mon rocher au milieu de l’eau et je ne peux m’empêcher de sourire et d’être heureuse. En cet instant précis, je suis comblée. Ça doit être ça le bonheur.

Artur, moi et Arman, de CARD

Les danses arméniennes…

Ça a toujours été une joie pour moi de danser avec les arméniens ces danses belles et gracieuses. D’après ma mère, mon arrière-grand-mère d’Erzurum dansait comme ça, les bras en l’air… J’aurais tellement aimé la voir et la connaître.

Le départ, déjà…

Je suis à Yerevan dans la famille de Susana. Le dernier soir, on s’assoit sur la terrasse et on mange des graines de tournesol. Je remarque avec satisfaction que mon niveau en rapidité d’ouverture des graines s’est amélioré depuis le début du voyage : ça y est je deviens une vraie arménienne ! Pendant que Susana me fait un collier en souvenir, je suis déjà nostalgique en repensant à tout ce que j’ai vécu et appris ici. A toutes les personnes que j’ai appréciées, aimées et avec qui j’ai partagé d’inoubliables moments. Non je ne veux pas partir. Je sais déjà à ce moment là que le retour et la réadaptation en France vont être terribles…

A 4h00 du matin, direction l’aéroport. En quittant les bras d’Hovan, mon cœur se serre. Voilà. Ça y est. C’est fini.

Après avoir vécu deux mois et demi en Arménie, j’ai remarqué de grandes ressemblances dans la façon d’être et de vivre entre les familles arméniennes et ma famille. Je pensais baigner totalement dans la culture française. Je me trompais.
Cet été, mes parents sont aussi allés en Arménie pour la première fois. En France, à leur retour, alors que ma mère déballe les cadeaux achetés pour toute la famille, j’aperçois trois paires de chaussons de bébés colorés et faits à la main. Je demande : « Maman, mais pourquoi t’as acheté des chaussons ?? Ya pas de bébé à la maison ! » Réponse de ma mère : « Je les ai achetés pour tes futurs bébés et les futurs bébés de ton frère et de ta sœur ! »

Ah ma petite maman ! Maintenant je vois très bien le côté arménien en toi. Tu ne le soupçonnais pas et moi non plus mais l’Arménie est toujours en nous. Les traditions et la culture peuvent s’effacer, le fond arménien demeure, même avec le temps et les générations.

Ce voyage a été une révélation pour moi. A journey of self-discovery… Il va changer ma vie et les décisions futures que je serai amenée à prendre. Sevan, comme tu m’as si bien dit : « L’après-Arménie est le commencement et non la fin ». Et tu as parfaitement raison.

Merci à tous mes amis de la diaspora et à tous mes amis arméniens :

Hovan, Nathan, Shake, Jackie, Tatjana, Alex, Anoush, Rebecca, Noushig, Kristene, Selin, Shant, Fernando, Zach, Yervant, Amaras, Taleen, Sanan, Nora, Lori, Corinna, Vana, Pauline, Zaruhi, Harut, Vahan, Armen, Arpine, Vardan, Lala, Siranouche, Tamara, Galine, Garo, Arman, Levon, Gevorg, Axel, Artur, Susana, Gayane, Yervant, Hasmik, Serjik, Anahit, Gohar…

Vous avez rendu mon temps en Arménie formidable et j’espère vous revoir très vite, en Arménie ou ailleurs.

Et bien sûr : Un grand grand grand merci à Sevan, Shari, Nairi et Shogher pour m’avoir permis de vivre tout ce que j’ai vécu. Merci de travailler si dur pour nous.

My Armenia

2010-08-17T23:42:00.000-07:00

Noushig Hovhannesian
USA

After trying numerous times to put my thoughts together in writing about my experience in Armenia for the first time, I have found it merely impossible. My focus is scattered, my emotions are many, and my reactions have been too confusing to define. I have realized many simple joys. I have appreciated effortless moments. I have been overwhelmed by the beauty within the landscape, the culture, and the people. I also have many frustrations. I have been disappointed and have felt helpless. I have been angered. I have been found ignorant. I have too many questions. I have wanted to do so much but find it difficult to understand where I am to direct my attention. In a country that has been through many hardships from which it continues to recover, where morale is often low and disappointing, and where words have been shared about difficulties and have torn my heart into two, I have found that faith and brotherhood are immensely strong and are the bond that is sustaining our country.

Progress is slow but evident, nominal but inspiring, and will continue to come through those that have recognized and acknowledged the need.

My connection to Armenia, a connection that has been innate, has been touched by the reality of what it is and is now better understood. These are my people where I am a sister and a daughter amongst no strangers. This is my music and my dance. These are the songs with the greatest melodies and with the most profound lyrics. This is the land that was conquered and inhabited by the least fearful and the most faithful, the land that has been graced with Mount Ararat and which Haig Nahabed claimed as his own, whose descendants ceaselessly continue to defend and faithfully continue to inhabit, the kingdom that is now a fraction of what it used to be, our beautiful and treasured motherland.

This post originally appeared on Noushig's own blogspot: http://noushighovhannesian.wordpress.com/

Nouny and the cows

2010-08-09T03:54:00.000-07:00

Nouny Benchimol
(France)

A preview of what to expect from Nouny's upcoming post....

38.576 Pictures a Day

2010-08-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

Zach Dyer
(USA)

We bring you this regularly scheduled interruption to my AVC blog posts to inform you that all my pictures from Armenia from June 3 to August 1 have been uploaded, and put into order and can all be found here. It averages out to just under 40 pictures a day for those 59 days. The next picture update most likely won't be until I come back to the States (in 6 days!) so enjoy these for now. The newly uploaded pictures start in "Hayastan2" and continue through "Hayastan3." And here's two:

Today's picture was taken at Meghvik ('little bee') where I taught English during my two months here. I suppose there are better pictures to illustrate the issue I'm about to explain, but I haven't had a chance to upload pictures in a while and I thought this was a nice picture in any case.

Coming to Armenia to volunteer after having only studied the language for one year prior, and with a different dialect than the one that's spoken in Armenia, I fully expected my stay here to be "a 10-week game of charades" as my mother said on the way to the airport. And while my Armenian has definitely improved, I'm nowhere close to where I would like to be in terms of fluency. Every day is a struggle for us non-speakers trying to get something done with coworkers who can't get their point across, or struggling to tell your host mother that you don't want ice cream tonight when you don't even know the word she uses for ice cream (and if you did, it would take a minute or two to put a logical sentence together).

Week after week I have watched fellow diasporans build strong relationships with local friends, host family members, and coworkers, while I simply have not had the opportunity to do because of the language barrier. Sure, after 10 weeks at the Healthy Centre we developed a pretty strong bond and saying goodbye today was hard for all of us, but I can't help but to be jealous of my coworker, Shant, who on his second day was able to engage one of our younger patients in a way I never could before.

In my third work place, the YMCA in my district, I teach first aid to a group of young people who all (for the most part) speak English. In that class, I, along with Kristene, a volunteer from LA, have successfully taught CPR, how to take and assess blood pressure and pulse, treatment of burns, among other topics. Even though I spend more time at the Healthy Centre and at Meghvik, I can tell that I get more across on a day to day basis at the YMCA where they mostly understand what I am saying.

Again and again I ask myself, "should I have just waited even a year to improve my language skills? Am I getting short-changed an experience of a lifetime because I am not better prepared to communicate with all the people around me I desperately want to be able to?" The answer, I think, lies in the fact that because communication is such a struggle, it takes more of an effort on both parties part to have meaningful conversations and to form lasting relationships. For those of us who don't already know Armenian, we can pretty immediately tell who is earnestly interested in helping us or even just talking to us, and who isn't. If someone on the marshutka takes the whole ride to figure out if you have any brothers or sisters, they're probably worth the conversation, they're actually interested in you. You know what is important to talk about at work, you know that if your mother doesn't try to communicate to you more than once that she'll take care of the dinner table, that it's probably safe to keep on cleaning up.

It's still a difficult question to answer, even on my last day of work, whether it is better to wait until you have the langage skills under your belt to come or not. But then again, why wait to come to Armenia in order to learn the language, when you can come to Armenia to learn the language. And now that I've gotten basic conversation down, there's not much left to prevent me from coming back again, and again, and again.

Picture a Day: Baby Steps

2010-08-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

Zach Dyer
(USA)

For most of the day at the Healthy Centre I sit and write grants or research organizations or put together classes. After several days of compiling glum statistics about the region's health problems, I begin to wonder how much good an organization can do with only two paid employees that operates out of a renovated garage. Up against such staggering numbers and a long history of poor general health across the population, what will heat in the winter, or funding for a sexual health training (the two grants being worked on by the volunteers here) really be able to do for the people of Gyumri and the Shirak region?

And then there are moments like the one captured in this pictured. Today's picture means a lot to the people I work with at the Healthy Centre. The boy pictured is four and a half and is taking his first unassisted steps in his life. He is one of the many rehabilitation patients of the Healthy Centre, and one of the many success stories. What isn't shown in this picture is his mother, off to the side, crying to see her little boy walking on his own. After several surgeries and now in the second stage of rehabilitation, Garnik has learned how to use the muscles in his legs to walk on his own. After moments like this, I think to myself, "yesterday there were a million problems to be fixed here, today there are a million minus one." And I sit down at the computer, and I do my best to help an organization that does it's best to help the world around it.

Lori au pays des khachkars (Lori in the country of Khatchkars)

2010-08-04T03:15:00.000-07:00

Lori Baltazar
(Canada)

Au Canada, lorsque je mentionne que je suis d’origine arménienne, on me demande toujours si j’ai de la famille, là-bas en Arménie. Cette question m’a toujours un peu gênée, car je ne savais pas comment m’y prendre pour répondre. Comme plusieurs Arméniens de la diaspora, mes ancêtres m’ont transmis la souffrance qu’accompagne la perte des terres de l’Arménie occidentale. Par conséquent, je n’avais aucun lien avec cette « autre » Arménie, qui n’était pas la mienne, me disait-on.

Suite à ces semaines passées en Arménie, tout cela a changé. Je me souviendrai toujours de la première fois que j’ai vu le mont Ararat, lors de mon atterrissage à l’aéroport de Zvartnots. C’est difficile à expliquer, mais j’ai senti comme si je revenais chez moi, après un long voyage à l’étranger.

En me promenant sur les rues d’Erevan, un sourire se trace sur mes lèvres malgré moi. Quel plaisir d’entendre la langue arménienne parlée dans les rues! Quel bonheur de vivre dans la culture arménienne! C’est alors que j’ai compris qu’il ne faut pas tant s’attarder sur les différences qui nous séparent, mais plutôt sur le fait que nous sommes tous Arméniens.

AVC est un organisme génial pour tous ceux qui désirent faire du bénévolat en Arménie. En tant qu’étudiante en médecine, la santé publique ainsi que la médecine préventive m’intéressent beaucoup. L’Arménie, comme plusieurs états post soviétiques, est confronté à divers défis de santé publique telle que la lutte contre le tabac, la tuberculose ultra-résistante et la malnutrition. Lors de mon stage à l’Université Américaine à Erevan, j’ai décidé de me pencher davantage sur la dépression majeure, un problème caché en Arménie. Ce projet m’a familiarisé non seulement avec la recherche en santé mentale, mais aussi avec l’histoire de l’Arménie moderne.

AVC offre également la possibilité de vivre avec une famille arménienne, ce que je suggère fortement. Cela m’a permis de mieux comprendre la vie de tous les jours des Arméniens. De plus, il est important de mentionner que l’hospitalité connait son apex en Arménie. En effet, lorsqu’on habite chez une famille arménienne, on devient membre de cette famille.

J’aimerai remercier tous les membres d’AVC, Birthright Armenia ainsi que tous les autres bénévoles pour mon expérience inoubliable en Arménie. J’espère revenir dans quelques années en tant que jeune médecin!

Picture a Day: Family

2010-08-03T01:18:00.000-07:00

Zach Dyer
USA

My first day at Gyumri Healthy Centre, like many 'firsts' I've experienced in this country took me by surprise. After cramming five people into a taxi, we drove away from the city center and rather unexpectedly took a turn down a road that at first glance looks almost nothing like a road. In the time it took for the taxi to navigate the ditches, potholes, trenches, and puddles that lead to the Healthy Centre, my expectations of what lie at the end fell significantly.

Once in the building, they explained to me that the center was a renovated garage that had once served as temporary housing after the earthquake. With only the front office and a modest "fitness center" in the back, the center was what was to be expected at the end of such a road. But what was not expected was the immediateness with which the three ladies of the Healthy Centre accepted me as if I grew up in the neighborhood, was a member of the family.

From my second week working with them, the two younger women referred to me as their brother and the older woman would introduce me as her son. After long weekends when I walked into work, Noune, the oldest of them would exclaim, "Zach-jan! Your second mother has missed you!" But the sense of family did not end there in the Healthy Centre. From the patients' families to the neighbors, after two months here they all greet me like we've known each other our whole lives. Not a day goes by where I don't feel completely comfortable sitting down for lunch with my coworkers and discussing anything from politics and religion to what "Starbucks" is and why I keep saying that I miss it.

When I went to other sites to volunteer, I found the same thing. At the day-camp where I teach English, my boss's son invites me out after. At the YMCA where I teach first aid with another volunteer, they suggest taking sightseeing trips with us. Even after an hour at the ambulatory center they offered me a bed in the office.

And while I cant necessarily say that every volunteer's experience has been exactly the same, for the most part, when the people here see someone opening up and trying their best to help, they try to offer the same in reverse.

Picture a Day: Mountains Beyond Mountains

2010-08-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

Zach Dyer
USA

In the same vein as my hometown's Worcester Magazine 1001 words feature, I decided that for my AVC blog posts, I'd rather do more showing than telling. Unfortunately I don't feel I can be quite as succinct as the photographers over at WoMag, so 1300 or so "words" will have to do for each of these 5 posts that I'll use to wrap up my time as a volunteer in Armenia.

“The mountains,” I answered to the AVC coordinator's question about what surprised me about Armenia after my first weekend in the country. “They’re just completely different than anything I’ve ever seen. I expected you know, New England mountains, with trees,” I continued. And while coming into a country whose constitution is newer than the US constitution's latest amendment, a country in which I barely speak the language, a country in which power, gas, and water outages are daily occurrences, it was the mountains that struck me most.

Two months later, starting my last week of work, by and large it's still the mountains that take me by surprise in my daily life here, but in a different sense. If you've ever spent time in Armenia you know that to go almost anywhere you have to go up and down mountains—there simply isn't an "around" option because, climb any mountain and what you find on the other side is yet another green, treeless mountain. My time working here in a number of different organizations has found me in similar situations; to get anywhere, there are at least a couple mountains to get over.

My first project with the Gyumri Healthy Centre, the organization I spend the most time with, was to put together a first aid class for kids of the community. I chose to focus the class on first aid most useful in the summer and naturally included the topic of dehydration. The day I was presenting the lesson plans to the president of the Healthy Centre, I spent at least 30 minutes trying to communicate what dehydration is. While I've always been taught that water is a key component to health, it is widely believed here that water is bad for your heart, will give you high blood pressure, and will make you fat. So before I could suggest teaching children to stay hydrated, I had that mountain to climb. It wasn't until weeks later we were even sure about the Armenian word for dehydration.

Last week I was introduced to the director of ambulatory care in Gyumri and he allowed me to ride in the city's ambulances for the rest of my time here. I asked for a list of the medications they carried on their ambulances so I could make sure I was familiar with them before I actually went on a ride-along, and could keep up with what they were doing. As I was spending hours going through the list of medications they administer in the back of what are often station wagons or mini-vans, I came across the phrase "rarely used in the developed world due to high mortality rates" more often than I would have liked. When I brought this up to the nurse with whom I was speaking the next day she explained to me, the mortality rate is still lower than not giving it at all, and with such a small budget, it's all they can afford. Another mountain.

And while AVC brought me here to "come move mountains," I didn't quite realize that there would a couple to climb before I got to the less stationary ones. Luckily I don't mind hiking.

Zach will be blogging every day this week, his last week of service in Armenia.

When Nothing Else Could Possibly Go Wrong

2010-08-02T00:02:00.000-07:00

Kristene Ghazarian
USA

Deciding to come to Armenia was a decision I didn’t have to think much about. Having had a sister who had come to volunteer here the previous year and hearing her stories I knew it was only a matter of time before I jumped on a plane to come here myself. I flew into this country with no expectations other then that of making great friends and learning as much about Armenia as I could. With only high hopes for a great time its safe to say that my first week in Gyumri made the only thing I was expecting, impossible. Having had traveled before and experienced other cultures I thought nothing could possibly go wrong and cause me to not have the time of my life. Well my first week here really made me question my ability to overcome obstacles. Just about 3 hours after meeting my homestay family I returned to my new room to see that I had ten missed calls from back home. It only took one phone call back to learn that my grandma, the woman who brought me into this world, had just passed away. This news tore me apart, not only was I trying to feel comfortable in a new home with a new family in new city in a completely different country, I felt guilty for not being back home with her for her last few days. I didn’t know who to turn to for comfort and all I could do was cry.

After my grandma’s death I truly believed nothing else could go wrong to make my experience here more difficult, that is until my first day at my job site when I got attacked by a dog. Not being scared of dogs and not thinking much of it, I had to be persuaded to go to the hospital where I was told that the bite was actually a lot worse then I expected and I could possibly have rabies. To add to my already difficult week, this news was not taken easily. At this point I believed it was a complete mistake coming here and had no idea what I was suppose to do now. Feeling defeated and confused with diminishing hope of ever being able to have a good time, I received multiple phone calls from other volunteers calling to see how I was. With their help it didn’t take me long to realize that I needed to change my attitude and think positively. I wasn’t going to let a few puncture wounds get in my way of achieving why I had come to Armenia in the first place, especially knowing that would not be what my grandma would want. After a few changes I finally was able to start experiencing the real Gyumri.

Everyone faces challenges when entering a new environment, some bigger then others, but the importance of staying positive truly saved me from potentially having the most difficult two months of my life. Its been four weeks since all this has happened and not only will I return home with scars that will forever remind me of this unique experience but also friends that will leave a lasting impact in my life, and for that I wouldn’t change a single thing.

AVC Y Birthright Armenia: Un Gran Nexo A Nueestros Origenes

2010-07-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

Alex Sarafian
(Argentina)

Para comenzar agradezco a Birthright Armenia, organización que se ocupa que la estadía de los voluntarios en Armenia sea lo más satisfactoria posible, y en especial a su director en Ereván el Sr. Sevan Kabakian, quien creo que es uno de esos héroes encubiertos haciendo patria. También a la señora Sharistan Melkonian quien es la directora en Ereván de Armenian Volunteers Corp (AVC) organización que se encarga de conseguir el trabajo a los voluntarios participantes del programa.

En un principio quisiera decir que, siendo de origen armenio, siento que viajar a Armenia no es el típico lugar para visitar como un turista tradicional. Porque uno no es ajeno a ese lugar, a esa gente, a esa realidad. Hay un lazo en común, hasta llegar al punto en que se siente todo como propio. Por eso mismo, cuando decidimos con mi esposa viajar a la Madre Patria, tuvimos la necesidad de ir y comprometernos con un proyecto a realizar. AVC y Birthright Armenia nos dieron esa posibilidad y así pudimos experimentar nuestro lejano país de una forma distinta.

Como armenio de la diáspora y asiduo concurrente a la colectividad de la Argentina, estoy permanentemente enterado de muchas cosas que suceden en el seno de la armenidad, entonces viajé a Armenia bastante informado: su geografía, sus personalidades más destacadas, el conflicto de Nagorno Karabagh, sus relaciones con Irán, Rusia y Turquía, etc. Entonces partí desde Buenos Aires con todo ese bagaje pero sin un elemento esencial el cual sólo pude adquirir estando allí: ese despertar a la conciencia histórico-cultural-social al que se accede viviendo y trabajando dentro de este país milenario y lleno de riquezas humanas. Durante dos meses tuve la oportunidad de hacerlo y pude sumergirme en una cantidad de realidades que creo que a la distancia son difíciles de captar.

Una vez en Armenia (el 28 de febrero de este año), cuando la directora de AVC me preguntó cuál era mi profesión o a que me dedicaba, yo le expliqué que mi trabajo en Buenos Aires está vinculado a la confección de ropa de mujer, por lo tanto mi labor en Armenia correspondería a esa área. Al principio necesité de algunos días para encontrar un trabajo que se relacione con el mío. Finalmente llegué a la oficina de Nina Hovnanian quien es la dueña de los negocios "Tesoros de Armenia". Después de conversar durante una hora me ofreció trabajar en su empresa en el desarrollo de una línea de mallas para niñas. Durante dos meses dirigí este proyecto como voluntario. Fue un desafío mayor confeccionar algo que, creo yo, no se fabrica en Armenia. Desde la tela, hasta los moldes, pasando por los motivos y las estampas, la confección y un sin fin de cosas más, dificultaban día tras día nuestras intenciones de darle un sentido a nuestro proyecto.

Además del trabajo, la organización disponía de la posibilidad de tomar clases de armenio oriental dos veces por semana y todos los sábados, realizar una excursión a algún lugar de Armenia (desde áreas naturales, ruinas históricas, iglesias antiguas, sitios culturales, Nagorno Kharabaj, etc.)

Mas allá de brindar un trabajo relativo a la especialidad de cada uno, de garantizar un hospedaje gratuito en una casa de familia y de reembolsar el monto de dinero del pasaje aéreo una vez cumplido con el programa de voluntariado, AVC y Birthright Armenia ayudan a entender muchas cosas que como simples turistas o visitantes no serían posibles. Por ejemplo, en mi caso y el de otros voluntarios, tuvimos la posibilidad de acceder a forums y havaks (así llaman ellos a pequeñas conferencias y debates semanales) con gente de diversas áreas de la realidad de Armenia: militantes de los derechos humanos, de conciencia ciudadana, ecológicos, gente del área política, de universidades y hasta clases de cocina armenia y actividades tradicionales armenias como pintar huevos de Pascua. Ambas organizaciones además, alientan permanentemente a que uno participe de espectáculos culturales, como danzas, música, arte, etc.

También se tiene la libertad de moverse por cuenta propia, ya que las mencionadas actividades no son obligatorias y uno tiene la posibilidad de estar solo si quiere o de buscar actividades de acuerdo a sus intereses personales.

Realmente la propuesta que ofrecen estas dos organizaciones es integral y está tan bien desarrollada, que a uno le hace observar las situaciones desde otro ángulo muy interesante. Creo que de regreso a nuestros países comenzamos a comprender lo armenio con una visión diferente.

AVC y Birthright Armenia son organizaciones que tienen el objetivo de hacer entender, valorar y concientizar a cada uno de sus voluntarios, de quiénes somos los armenios y cuánto de ese patrimonio que tenemos a tantos miles de kilómetros de nuestras casas nos corresponde por simple herencia. Y más aún, nos dan la libertad de pensar qué hacer con todo ello una vez asimiladas esas características que nos proponen como punto de partida.

Tatjana on Nathan’s Archeological Dig Site

2010-07-27T04:45:00.000-07:00

Tatjana Crossley
USA (Florida)

I was given the opportunity to visit Nathan’s work’s dig site. My first visit to an archeological dig! It is a site that is 5000 years old and has remains from a temple and houses. Apparently the archeologists had found 7 sacrificial wolves at the site that are now at a museum.

The dig wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but then again I imagined we’d be dusting off ancient artifacts and going down into enclosed chambers- I guess I pictured a dig more similar to what one might see in Indiana Jones or the Mummy- very unrealistic, I know.

So we spent our time digging up dirt, moving dirt in buckets and moving rocks to a rock pile… when I started moving the rocks, I was told by a few of the men that I shouldn’t move rocks, I should move the buckets of dirt… so I did. But when I started carrying the bucket in front of me as apposed to holding the handle I was told to not do that- I must carry the bucket by the handle because it is not good for my health… and by my health I think they meant the health of my ovaries since as the man was telling me it was bad he kept motioning to his belly, or maybe they meant for the health of my back, I’m not really sure- which I found amusing but slightly annoying since they wouldn’t let me carry rocks and now they were telling me how to hold a bucket.

But it was interesting, and the scenery was lovely. We found lots of ceramic pieces and animal bones and the head archeologist found a little piece of what used to be a bracelet someone wore centuries ago!

This entry originally appeared on Tatjana's blogsite: http://tatjanacrossley.wordpress.com/

Six weeks in Armenia...Volunteering

2010-07-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

Kareen Boyadjian
USA

Six weeks ago, countless thoughts were circulating in my head as I was driving to LAX to finally embark on my trip to Yerevan, Armenia. The preparations were made, including living arrangements, work appointments, orientation dates, and a collection of relatively generic, yet comforting thoughts of what I expected to participate in throughout the trip. However, in hindsight, all the planning and imaginary expectations couldn’t possibly have prepared me for such an inconceivable experience.

When I first reached Yerevan, I was not aware of how prominent the language barrier was. Back in Los Angeles, I attended an Armenian school for 15 years and so I believed my language experience was more than necessary to get by in Yerevan. My assumption could not have been more incorrect. It was when I first heard the lightning speed at which the locals spoke, and the effortless insertions of Russian slang that led to me believe the language may take some getting used to. Furthermore, it took close to a week to easily understand the great majority of daily conversation that took place in my work environment and otherwise.

Daily wardrobe, on the other hand was a little more difficult getting used to. Coming from Southern California, I’m used to the daily uniform consisting of jeans, a t-shirt with converse all-stars of every color. Once again, I could not have been more wrong. In Yerevan, the daily wardrobe consists of tight jeans, skirts, frilly tops and high heels. In rain or shine, through potholes and up multiple flights of stairs, high heels must be worn at all times, and any other type of footwear, signals “tourist.” At that point, one might as well be wearing a gigantic camera around their neck with a map in their hands and a LA Dodgers baseball cap.

Things to note when first arriving to Armenia:

Do not have expectations

Try to have an Eastern Armenian friend with you at all times… they really come in handy!

If you’re a Western Armenian speaker, remember, “gor = oom em,” “yao = eli,” “hajees = khntrem” “T = D” “K = G” “P = B” “S = Z” “ooghigh = straight”

In the work place, it is okay to work at a slower pace… everyone does. (don’t slack off though)

Getting the Armenian menu – the biggest compliment
Getting the English menu – slight insult (you’re probably wearing sneakers)

Work environment is very much similar to a family environment… don’t be so serious

SAS Supermarket delivers!

You will always different because you look different, speak different and act different… instead of imitating them, observe them, and embrace the differences.

Everyone stares… it’s okay, it’s not because there is something in your teeth

Always carry manr’s (change)… everyone hates making change

Kareen Boyadjian is volunteering with ReAnimania Film Festival.

Getting Started

2010-07-24T02:04:00.000-07:00

Tigran Khatchikyan
USA

When I landed in Hayastan, I saw my papik, tatik, keri, the staff from the Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC) and Birthright Armenia and my homestay father, who is also Deaf. My grandparents were kissing and hugging me as if they had not seen me for a long time. The staff, the host father and I were introduced to one another. My host father’s name is Frunzik. He welcomed us all to his home.

After everyone left expect Frunzik and me, I talked with Frunzik. After a few hours, I went to the Deaf Center and met Shari, the AVC director, Grgor, who is the director of the Deaf Center, and some of the other people who work at the Deaf Center.

The next day I went to the AVC and Birthright Armenia for an orientation with Shari, Sevan Kabakian, the Director of Birthright Armenia, and two other volunteers who had come from Canada.

I have not started to volunteer at the Deaf Center; however, in the two weeks period, I have participated in many activities with Birthright Armenia, such as a basketball game with volunteers, and several excursion including to Noravank and Khor Virap monasteries, and Areni village. I met the Defense Minister of Armenia. And, I went on a four day excursion to Artsakh (Karabakh).

Although I have not started working at the Deaf Center, I have been volunteering at the AVC office. I am looking forward to working at the Deaf Center as soon as possible because I am ready to start volunteering!

Last Recap with SunChild Rebecca

2010-07-21T05:32:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian
USA

As usual, lots of highs and lows but overall a great week in the Syunik region.

Also, this time around I was able to squeeze in a trip with the fellow volunteers to Gharapagh. Unlike most other volunteers, I have not really been in one place enough to make or maintain any sort of a contact with the other volunteers. It had also been a while since I had socialized with folks my age but I quickly found likeminded people and made some long lasting friendships. But, socializing with coworkers and natives is quite an experience itself. For the past two months, I have been away from any and all comfort zones, with locals, no prejudgment, no familial relations, nothing just them and Rebecca. And, to be able to keep your ground, stay true to yourself, do what you’re supposed to and for them to understand and appreciate it all builds character. So, as my professor used to always say ‘try it (volunteering outside of Yerevan and Gyumri) you might like it’.

After spending the weekend with the other volunteers, I rejoined the green bus folks and two days later we drove back to Yerevan. I return to Los Angeles in two days. Million dollar question: How do you feel? Very grateful. Yes, there were as much lows as there were highs but that is part of the process and it is quite unrealistic to expect otherwise. In a weird way, looking back, I am thankful for those lows too because without them some things may have not accomplished.

I must now thank AVC and BR staff for their support and also YOU for reading. Should you have any questions, comments about my volunteer experience or otherwise please feel free to contact me directly at rkandilian@gmail.com.

This Armenian Life: In Volunteers We Trust

2010-07-20T02:08:00.000-07:00

This Armenian Life: In Volunteers We Trust

By Edna Baghoumian
Reprinted from hetq.am

What Is The Armenian Volunteer Corps?

I Googled the above and the following result appeared: “Armenian volunteer units or Armenian volunteer corps were Armenian battalions in Russian and British armies during the World War I. “Armenian battalions” [a perfect title for my subject] – “an army of volunteers that organizes change” which could not be a more appropriate description for all the volunteers who come from every corner of the world to Armenia to help.

But this new “battalion” or “army of volunteers” which is headquartered here in Yerevan at AVC, was founded in 2000 by the visionaries Jason Dermerjian (now Der Hovnan Dermerjian), Thomas Samuelian and Tamar Hajian.

“We have over 300 AVC alumni – individuals who served Armenia via volunteering in schools, non-profit organizations, public foundations, institutions and businesses,“ said Sharistan Melkonian, AVC’s director, “but we need more – this is a call for more adult volunteers.”

AVC acts as a volunteer’s “job shop.” Volunteers must be at least 21 years of age. There is no upper age limit, so more mature volunteers who are fit, healthy and willing would be warmly welcome to apply. If one wishes to be considered as a volunteer, you would need to commit to serve in Armenia for at least one month or for any period up to 12 months. Dependent on your skills and personal interests/preferences, you would be placed with appropriate organizations wherever these organizations may be in Armenia. Volunteers work on a wide variety of projects – from working with children or young people to giving “hands on” assistance to conservation projects or to campaigns for the protection of the environment. Volunteers make a vital contribution to all aspects of community life. The diversity of opportunities for voluntary work is limitless.

Meet the Pro at the Command Center

Sharistan Melkonian has been the Director of the Armenian Volunteer Corp since 2009. She moved with her family to Armenia from Boston to be part of this remarkable new wave of repatriation.

Shari says, “Volunteers can do almost anything!“ and “We need you!”

The Army

Twenty one year old health volunteer, Zack Dyer, is from the USA and is AVC’s poster child for being a unique individual with a keen passion to serve Armenia. He is the son of an Armenian mother and an African American father. Zack said, “Volunteerism has always been very important to me and [I] decided to spend the summer volunteering in a place where it meant a lot.” He commutes daily by “marshutkas” (local minivan taxis) from his host family’s home to the Gyumri “Healthy Center”.

He is working on organizing first aid classes for children dealing with summertime first aid concerns and putting together CPR classes for adults to provide emergency help to those with cardiovascular problems. He is also involved in preparing a proposal for application for a grant to fund the building of a bigger building for the center. His supervisor explained how easy it has been to work with Zack even though he does not speak the Armenian language and described Zack as “an extremely intelligent young man we are honored to work with.”

The agriculture volunteer, Nouny Benchimol, 21, is an Agronomy student from Montpellier, France. She decided to volunteer in Armenia for personal reasons: 1) an important journey of self discovery – her grandfather is Armenian and speaks fluent Armenian – she always wanted to learn about her Armenian origins; 2) she wanted to study the animal breeding practices in Armenia first hand.

Working as an intern at CARD (Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development) and visiting farms around Gyumri to help small farmers to increase food production gives her the opportunity to apply her knowledge where it’s needed and to gain additional experience of different farming and food production methods that are in practice in Armenia.

Environment volunteer, Ohannes Markarian, 21, comes from Jordan. He is passionate about environmental issues.

He decided to visit Armenia as a volunteer rather than as a tourist. He works with different NGOs involved with environmental issues and is also busy writing a children’s book in Armenian.

Business development volunteer, Tatjana Crossley, 21, is a Senior at Rice University in Texas. Her mother is Armenian. She wants to learn about Armenia, devote her time doing voluntary work and to put her knowledge to good use where it may be needed most. She is excited to be part of the work being carried out on an architectural project in Gyumri called the Techno Park – working on the on-going research and development to make this important project come to life in the very near future.

Education volunteer, Saro Danalian, 21, is from Los Angeles. Saro is working with Armenian Young Lawyers Association in Gyumri as an interpreter and he also teaches English to the other employees at the office. He said that the idea to do voluntary work in Armenia was inspired by his Jewish friends most of whom left for Israel once they reached the age of 16 in order to help their country. He was keen to do the same for his country and made the necessary enquiries and learned about AVC and Birthright Armenia (Depi Hayk in Armenia).

Birthright Armenia (Depi Hayk in Armenia) is AVC’s partner organization which sponsors volunteers from many different volunteer organizations with the travel fellowship and host family living arrangements as well as organizing unique excursions, language classes, forums, and much more. This organization makes the experience of the volunteers worthwhile and rewarding. Depi Hayk strongly believes in global participation in Armenia’s social, cultural and economic development.

I have met so many dedicated volunteers, like Valeria Cherekian, 32, of Argentina, who recently completed her three months’ voluntary service in Armenia. As an accomplished singer, she decided to work with the Little Singers of Armenia and the Centro Hispano. She also fulfilled her lifelong ambition to record songs, here, in Armenia.

Another such volunteer is mid-career professional architect, Lilly Djaniants, 30, from New York. Born in Baku, she decided to return to Armenia after 18 years abroad and spend two months volunteering. She is currently involved with three projects: helping with the initial design and planning for a tourist information center in the heart of Yerevan with the National Competitiveness Foundation; assisting the TUMO Creative Technologies Center to design a children’s park at the edge of the city; and working with a team of architects and urban planners on the initial designs for a Techno-park in Gyumri.

Why Volunteer to Work in Armenia? Armenia needs you and public spirited people like you. This country also needs skilled people and volunteers from all professions to come here to help with the immense work that needs to be done and to help this country to grow and prosper. The volunteer organizations need you to come and be, for however short a while, a part of life here in Armenia. When you then return to your own community – be it in Los Angeles or Buenos Aires or elsewhere – the hope is that your experiences will be encouragement and inspiration to like-minded Armenians in your community to follow your good example.

Before volunteers leave Armenia to return to their respective countries of residence, they are asked if they have a complaint about their voluntary work experience in Armenia. The invariable response is a big smile and the words “I just wish I could do more.” What spirit!

10 Things I Hate/Love About You

2010-07-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

Zach Dyer
USA

10 things that regularly annoy me about Armenia:

1. dairy
2. not knowing what hunger feels like anymore, but always being thirsty
3. the supposed difference between the letters գ, վ, and ք
4. that no women sit in the front of a marshrutka even if 20 of them are cramped standing in the back and no one's sitting up front
5. entitled diasporans
6. that if you ask a young person about their dreams, they usually include leaving Armenia
7. superstitions, especially those that are health-related
8. that the english word 'bribe' is more commonly known than the word 'please'
9. trash. everywhere.
10. they make their ice cream with butter

10 things I strangely love about Armenia

1. the fact that no matter who I talk to, after "where are you from, are you armenian, how long are you staying," the next question is "are you married" from a woman and "do you like our women?" from a man.
2. marshrutka drivers
3. the fact that saying someone is fat is not insulting, just a description
4. freshly made cherry juice
5. the phrase "problem chgah"
6. how good the tap water tastes
7. the sheep at my bus stop in the middle of the city
8. pomegranate wine
9. that strangers are typically trusted because they typically can be
10. THEY MAKE THEIR ICE CREAM WITH BUTTER!!

Sunday Recap with SunChild Rebecca

2010-07-11T23:47:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian
USA

Blog 8 already…only one more left. I don’t know how I feel about that so we’ll leave it at that.

Change of pace… Here is a list of 5 things I did this week to avoid getting lost in the little details and to focus on the ‘major’ events.

1. The beginning of the week…Off of the Green Bus
-Catch up on sleep and laundry
-Re-fill the bus with gifts, calendars, and supplies for the next trip

2. Meet with potential Sponsor for the Debetavan project
- A fairly positive meeting

3. Lots of text editing in between things…
- Getting pretty good/fast at this

4. Seminar on ‘Networking’ intended for the staff of Ministry of Nature Protection with a rep from Environmental Protection NGOs (i.e. me)
- Communication 101 all over again…
- Met lots of folks from the ministry of Nature Protection
- Got invited to their weekend Getaway out in nature as a NGO rep again

4.5. The Green Bus is being worked on and we cannot leave until next week so I can accept the invitation…

5. Off to Zigitar National Forest with the Ministry
- Surrounded by like minded and highly educated folks, the whole weekend was spent out in the woods, talking about wide array of things including what they each do in the ministry and answering their on-point questions
- Besides the billion mosquito bites, I would say this weekend will go down as one of the more memorable and interesting ones.

Sunday Recap with SunChild Rebecca

2010-07-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian
USA

Sunday 1:09 AM and it’s only been a couple of hours since I’ve been back in Yerevan.

So many things happen in just a day on the green bus that it’s almost impossible to do a one-week recap in less than a page. But, I can always try. Before I left for Lori, ‘Lori’ itself did not mean more than a region on the west side of Tavush. But, after spending a week there, it means a whole lot more—a slew of unfortunate and very serious environmental issues.

Throughout the week, as soon as Sergey and I said we represent Foundation for Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Affairs (FPWC), peoples’ eyes lit up and they poured their hearts out. Lori region is rich in copper-molybdenum deposits which has opened the doors for people (mostly non-natives) to use it to produce copper. Rather, ABuse it as the waste is not disposed of properly. Specifically, the open-pit copper mine in Akhtala faces one of the most beautiful churches I’ve yet visited—such pity. In between the church and the factory runs the Akhtala River. Yes, some of the waste is dumped into the river and the rest left out in the open (instead of being fenced by cement) diffusing all through the town and making its way to the lungs of the locals. Naturally, the animals drink the local now-yellow river water, people eat those animals and you have a problem.

The affects of it all on the inhabitants became apparent when we went to the local kindergarten in Akhtala to do our presentation. Besides the suffocating smell of the chemicals present in the classroom, the dark under eye circles present on the pale faces of the children explained it all (see pic). All 30 of them had them—it’s from the polluted water, and air the staff explained. Does the owner at least provide some support to the school? I asked. She pointed to the old worn out carpet—enough (not) said.

The copper produced in Akhtala is sold for much money in England we were told and the workers here don’t even get lunch breaks. What money can make people do. Or, what people do for money. By now, I think it’s pretty clear that I have a soft spot when it comes to kids and seeing those kids’ eyes and in such poor conditions and at the same time knowing that it’s mainly a result of greed and material gains just made me sick to my stomach.

Besides Akhtala, we visited 8 other villages. Most had the same problem as Akhtala and those that did not have a copper mine debated about allowing or disallowing the establishment of one. A no-brainer in my opinion.

In a couple of days, after much rest and laundry, we will leave again to go to the Syunik region.

(Apologies for the delay this week. We had some Internet challenges.)

Civic Advocacy, CASP, and Silva

2010-06-30T04:04:00.000-07:00

Silva Boghossian
Toronto, Canada

My first day as a volunteer at Civic Advocacy Support Program (CASP) a division of Counterpart International Armenia, a co-worker of mine showed me to my desk and gave me a tall pile of documents to read in order for me to understand what CASP was all about. After reading through the pile of documents I still didn’t quite understand what CASP was so I asked my co-workers. My co-workers explained to me that the goal of CASP is to strengthen advocacy NGOs and in order to achieve this they help local organization build on their advocacy skills, organizational development and want partners to have the proper skills to lobby issues and cooperate with the government. CASP also works on public awareness campaigns, elections, CIVICUS and many more projects. I have worked for CASP for the last 3 months and while I have been here I was given a few projects. The one project that got me to truly understand and learn the names of Armenia’s cities and villages was when I was mapping out the impact Counterpart’s funding gave to these communities and how far it reached out in Armenia. I can truly say that I believe in this organization and they have done a lot of good work for Armenia.

Sunday Recap With SunChild Rebecca

2010-06-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian
USA

It has already been a couple of days since I’ve been back in Yerevan and I’m just starting to acclimatize to the life off the green bus. Life in some ways has become a bit uninteresting and slow as I’ve been accustomed to going to at least 2 villages a day, meeting a wide array of people and laughing a ton. At one point, my coworker Satenik and I laughed for three minutes non-stop—a result of identical sense of humor and tiredness. Heck, life is too short so why not laugh through it right? Easy thing to say now but there were plenty of days and instances on the bus where even the silliest and funniest occurrence would not have made any of us crack a smile. Having lived in Yerevan for a bit one might start to forget the absolute horrible conditions that almost the entire Armenia is in. I went, I saw and I have since not been able to sleep well.

I would now like to write a bit about a place that, in retrospect, left a mark on us--not in a good way I must say. Debetavan--The last village hugging the Georgian border. 20 kids and 3 teachers. No visitors for the past three years. Kids with just as much depth and understanding as any other kid but far from having the tools to receive the best possible education. After spending some time with the kids, we sat down with the teacher and had a little chat. I started to look away as I did not want to distort my ‘tough’ image. The kids had 40 year old bowling pins that they played with. The teacher had told them that those things are a part of a game and she would do an exercise where the kids close their eyes and imagine playing. Right then and there, my mind wanders off to a lot of kids back home that so often have so much yet complain about insignificant things like not having the right brand of shoes. Life is truly not fair. Then, I feel blessed and lucky to have lived in conditions better than those of the Debetavan kids. But, I still cant get over the fact that these kids are just as worthy of a decent education as any other.

To end on a good note, I hope to put a proposal together that will make the kindergarten more than a just a house with a bunch of kids. But, a place where children learn the first lessons about life, reading, writing and decision making. FPWC cannot do this without the help of other organizations or donors. I must now invite anyone and everyone interested in helping out in anyway to email me at Rebecca@sunchild.org.

I just started doing my laundry today and tonight I will stuff my backpack and hop on the green bus to go to the Lori region tomorrow morning. I leave without much expectation to safeguard myself from disappointments...

Sunday Recap with SunChild Rebecca

2010-06-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian
USA

On Wednesday, three of my coworkers and I said our farewell to the rest of the staff and hopped on the green bus (which is a misnomer as the bus is white and not green)—on our way to the Tavoush region; on our way to provide environmental education to Armenia’s youth one region at a time.

A typical day-- 7:00 AM our clocks go off and after having a meager breakfast we head out to a nearby village. There, we ask around and find the village headquarters. Thus far, they have been extremely supportive and they provided us with a native to lead us to the nearby school. There, we set up everything to show a short film or two on littering, deforestation etc. Then, we TRY to lead a discussion, ask the children to write a fairy tale with nature as its theme and for the artists an opportunity to paint on the green bus. Clean up and to another village. Around 5-7, we head back to Ijevan where we screen a movie (Avatar, Wallee and Home). The number of people that came to the movie increased exponentially each night. If we had stayed there for a week, I am pretty certain that we would have had a full theater.

Our day officially ends around 10:00 PM. Unofficially, 1:00 AM and I am already deep asleep at 1:02—that tired! I must say, our days on the green bus truly feel like a week as we seize every second of our day to educate and raise awareness for the innumerable environmental issues that Armenian is faced with. Overall, during the past five days we’ve visited 5 villages (Achajour, Khashtarak,Lusadzor, Yenokavan and Sev Kar) and have become celebrities in Ijevan.

It is now time for me to vent a bit. Driving through the untouched beauty of our nature and going all around Armenia to educate the children sounds pretty ideal right? Don’t get me wrong, the experience so far has been absolutely amazing and the project touches on almost all of my personality traits and interests. But, it’s only fair that I state the ‘downers’ as well. My co-worker Satenik tells me, I (her too) look visibly saddened every time we hop on the bus after visiting a village. The truth is seeing those kids, knowing how much potential they have and at the same time realizing and seeing that the potential is absolutely not being nurtured just breaks me to pieces. No, we can’t choose where we’re born (it’s one of those human conditions) but it still doesn’t take away from the fact that these kids are in dire need of independent thinking and a better education. We ask these kids what their thoughts are about the films and they just look surprised—no one has ever asked these kids about their OWN opinion. They just look for a way to agree with us and say exactly what we are saying. To end on a good note, we loved those kids, they loved us and as a wise person once said it has been a big love fest.

We just left Ijevan this morning and are now in Noyemberyan. I must say it is already evident that Noyemberyan is a couple of years behind Ijevan in the littering and environmental awareness department.

A reasonable happy but with a dash of sadness SunChild thanks you for reading...

Teaching and Learning

2010-06-16T23:02:00.001-07:00

Zepur Simonian
USA

In seven weeks, I have learned and grown so much more about life than for the past twenty-one years. I have witnessed three car accidents – one fatal, one badly injured, and one o.k. (so he seemed). I have met the very poor and also some quite the rich. I have encountered the best people in the world, and perhaps the worst scums of this earth. I have experienced very euphoric days – days when I want to share my happiness – and days when I just question the purpose of my life – wanting to dwell on my lonely thoughts. Pretty much my Armenian experience has been whiplash after whiplash after whiplash, but for some odd reason, I have never ever wanted to leave Armenia. In fact, I feel like there is this magnetic force that literally pulls my heart out and places it on my sleeves. I become so vulnerable and so emotional about Armenia, and for what? Honestly, I have asked myself – why do I care so much about this country when it does not even really belong to me? But of all things Armenia possesses - scenery, culture, corruption - Armenia’s youth is the only thing that keeps me sane, hopeful, and makes me want to live here for quite a while. In fact, my interaction with Armenia’s youth has changed my negative perception of Armenia and it has completely changed my life’s priorities. For this reason, I hope to use this one and only blog of mine to encourage volunteers to teach the youth. Teach them anything, and when you teach, you not only help the future leaders of Armenia (I don’t care if this sounds cheesy, but it’s the truth), but you also learn from them and become a better person.

Currently I teach 12-16 year old students how to write a five paragraph academic essay in Armenian. This may not sound exciting, but honestly, it is just as important, if not more than volunteering in NGOs or other facilities for research, etc. And I know I could say this because I also work for an NGO and am currently writing a research paper about channels of communication between NGOs and the government. For this paper, I interviewed NGOs and government officials, and my hope does not rest in civil society – my hope in Armenia’s future rests in the youth. Unfortunately, these brilliant minds need teachers.

Imagine if American high school students were never taught to write an academic paper. How in the world will they succeed in college? More importantly, how in the world will they succeed in life? Writing, other than oral communication, is by far the most important and powerful skill in life, and imagine, these children only know how to write creative essays. Essays, that will not bring forth scholastic achievement. Besides the fact that they lack the concept of academic writing, the biggest problem is that they have beautiful minds – very philosophical and profound – but they cannot effectively express their thoughts because they lack organization and they are told how to write and what to write. Their minds are subjugated to think and to write a certain way when writing is having the freedom to express thoughts on a paper.

Consequently, freedom was their main topic. Students were given two poems, by Michael Nalbandian and Medzarentz, and they were asked to write an essay about the poems’ connections, their definition of freedom, and the importance of freedom. Knowing that these kids lacked any understanding of a five paragraph essay, I created a word cluster diagram, an outline, and gave a detailed explanation of each section’s structure and purpose. (Oh, and most importantly, these kids love to plagiarize, and I know that this is a problem for college students, so if we as volunteers teach them now how to avoid plagiarism, then we can solve cheating in education and perhaps, it can transfer to their lives in general). Anyway, these students have come a long way – imagine a twelve year old boy keeping up with a sixteen year old girl. These students could not even write a thesis. I made them write their theses at least four times – each paragraph three times. At one point, they were about to give up. But today, they have a fully structured five paragraph essay. These children are absolutely brilliant, and they are the only reason I look forward to going to work. Armenia has so so so much potential – I cannot say it enough – but that potential exists in the youth. And by the youth I mean pre-schoolers to thirty year olds max.

We volunteers are obviously accomplished people, but we have reached this point in life because of the education we received from our teachers. Yes, other people and environments have influenced us as well, but imagine if we did not have teachers who cared about us – who showed us a path – who taught us to recycle, reuse, reduce – who showed us the difference between right and wrong – who reprimanded us for our wrongs and praised our rights – who taught us dance, music, art – who taught us sports – who shared with us a marketplace of ideas. Imagine not having competent teachers. Imagine living in America and reading papers that are filled with grammatical errors and disorganization. Imagine living in the streets – fooling around in the summer because there was not a school or a program that would keep you out of the streets. We are who we are because of our education, and sadly, Armenia is losing its education and brilliant, talented minds are suffering. Armenia is experiencing, or so it seems, severe brain drain. For this reason, I just hope my overly cheesy thoughts encourage volunteers to teach the youth in any way possible.

Zepur volunteers with Professionals for Civil Society.

Sunday Recap With SunChild Rebecca

2010-06-15T00:27:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian
USA

No more itching—Check!

Out of Yerevan and onto the Green Bus—No Check.

Punctuality—Negative Check!

Punctuality is next to Godliness to me. I genuinely get happy and almost euphoric, especially nowadays, when someone is on time. Prior to coming to Armenia, I knew that time was a bit of an issue as there are a lot of challenges-- It’s a developing country etc etc. But, I didn’t know it was an utter epidemic. For the past week, for all of my appointments, the 9 has been 11-12 and 12 2-3. Whereas my 9 is 8:50, my 12 is 11:50 and so on. I don’t mean to boast about myself. No, that is not my intention but why say 9 when you know, realistically, you can’t make it before 11? This train of lack of punctuality, among other things, has put me in a bit of a sour mood. I wish I didn’t care about it and I wish it didn’t affect me but I can’t help it. So, the million dollar question at work and out has been “what’s wrong with Reb?” What do I say? But, you always have this charming smile they follow. But, we all have our off days I say in my head. Ok, now that I have vented, I shall stop here with my rant and get onto the more exciting stuff.

This week, in between editing texts, I went to Tilijan (an hour and a half away from Yerevan). For all those who have some appreciation of the natural world, this is the place to visit. It’s almost like walking through a picture book of beautiful sceneries—very calm, quiet and green! There, I visited the local eco-club. Eco-clubs are established all over Armenia by SunChild and serve as a supplemental place where children and young adults gather to learn English, environmental issues, film making and journalism. These children take an oath to become the stewards of their country’s natural world and strive to raise awareness for nature protection in their communities. One of their yearly projects is the production of a short film that focuses on an environmental issue. So, when I went to Dilijan on Wednesday, the children and I went around town and got some footage for their short film on mud slides. Although I only knew one of the kids from that eco-club, we quickly become acquainted and spent the day hiking around, picking fruits and getting some footage for their film. These films are later screened at many international film festivals and one from another region (Garni/Goght region) was recently chosen as a finalist for the Panda Award at ScreenWild Festival in UK (very impressive).

Thanks for reading…once again, I hope to be on the Green Bus by the time I write next Sunday but I never know.

Non-Sunday Recap with SunChild Rebecca

2010-06-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian
USA

I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries this week about what my days are usually like. So, I must enlighten. Now, it is perfectly normal and totally understandable to not want to know about my daily routine. But in the rare chance that you do, I ask that you read on. Here it goes…

7:30 A.M. – my phone (i.e. my alarm) goes off. I stumble as I get up, wash up and start thinking about what to wear (not that there is a whole lot to choose from). Meanwhile, hearing that I’m up, my host mom gets up and as I finish getting dressed she yells out “your chai (tea) is ready Rebecca”. We sit and eat cheese/bread/strawberry jam and I drink my chai as she drinks her coffee.

8:00- I’m already out and walking to work. I walk and walk some more on the quiet streets of Yerevan for about an hour to get to our office (i.e. the SunChild Office) around 9. Let me briefly describe our office as it is more like a house than an office. As you walk through the metal door, you are met with a bed of stairs which lead to the main office where all of the computers and such are. There is also a ground floor where the kitchen and the bathroom are located with a little backyard behind them which is actually quite precious to me as you will later find out.

So, as I walk in, I run upstairs (I’m not sure why I run but I do), turn on my computer, and first check the news (LA Times, CNN, NY Times etc.)—I do have to keep myself a bit informed on the affairs of the world. Then, I check to see what I need to get done for the day—usually editing writings written in English. At times, it’s more like rewriting than editing but regardless I do both gladly and with lots of joy. You may find this a bit quirky but I do take a lot of pride in editing writings—taking something that is ‘all over the place’, understanding what the writer wants to say and presenting it all in a clean-cut-trimmed-terse manner.

Around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, the whole office heads down to have lunch. I find this a very bonding and stress relieving period as we all gather around a big table and eat/laugh/talk away. And, coming from a particularly CHOOSY eater I must say there has yet to be a day that I have not liked the food prepped. I guess this is a good time to thank Digin Anahid for making me feel a bit at home with her wonderful cooking.

After lunch, we usually head back up and continue our work and the schedule for the rest of the workday will usually depend on that day’s work load. If it’s a particularly ‘heavy’ day, I will keep working until 5-6 with occasional brief visitations downstairs. On the ‘lighter’ days, I head down to the backyard around 3 and enjoy the tranquility while I take a brief nap on the orange colored hammock—we or I call these my ‘creative’ naps as they recharge my writing.

What do I do after work? As you can imagine, by the time I leave work I am a bit tired and brain-fried but NO I can’t call it a day. So, I usually call a friend or a friend will call to meet up, have dinner and explore the city. Some days, I must gather with the other volunteers for a forum or some sort of a get together. Then, there are those rare days that I am just totally and utterly exhausted in which case I walk home, cook myself a bite to eat and sleep not waking up until I hear my phone go off—back to square 1.

Overall, I try to make the most of my day because as they say life is just too short!
Now, should you have any questions or topics that you want me write about (perfectly fine if you don’t) I will gladly do so. You ask, I write—very simple!

A Technology Leap

2010-06-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

Nigel Sharp
United Kingdom

Sitting here staring out at another hazy, slow and sunny Armenian day it’s easy to forget that my previous life was in the heart of London with all the towering glass buildings and historical bridges. The change of pace is still taking its toll on my body clock, I have a bigger project to work on here than any I’ve done before but I have to work at a much more entangled pace because of the inherent hardships present in everyday actions…

Sending an email waits for the phone line wrapped around a tree to momentarily provide us with broadband internet, The office day starts when people feel like coming to work and the commute to work is at the mercy of the minibus driver’s mood.

Nevertheless, the added challenge is part of the reward of being here, every achievement although maybe never acknowledged brings a sense of personal pride because you’ve done something out of the comfortable western style work environment.

My job is now the Technical Project Manager for the Tumo project, it’s a fantastic project on a fantastic scale, the impact this project may have on future generations of Armenians cannot be understated. We struggle with the basics like an office email system, yet we are designing a cutting edge technology centre which will put similar endeavors in Europe and America to shame, we are building something at least 10 years ahead of its time, and in Armenia the leap could almost be considered as the same jump from smoke signals to 3G communication.

AVC placed me in what I can only describe as a dream project, doing a dream job, I feel very fortunate to actually be able to use skills and my work ethos to have a beneficial impact on a project (especially of this scale).

The initial interaction with workmates was easier than I imagined because English is spoken in the office, and when the occasional switch to Armenian occurs, it’s still quite easy to follow the conversation.

Okay time to stop staring out of the window, the exciting stuff to see is the work on the computer screen in front of me.

Sunday Recap with SunChild Rebecca - June 6, 2010

2010-06-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian
USA

Don’t itch. Self-control Reb!!. Put some alcohol on it. Your blood is just way too sweet. And, the best line I’ve hear this past 24 hours, compliments of my host-mom, “you look like you have some sort of a skin disease.” Thanks host-mom--very kind. No, I don’t have a skin disease but yes it does look like I do as my entire body is covered with golf ball-sized red spots thanks to a slew of mosquitoes. I guess that’s what I get for feeling way too comfortable out in the wild and laying down on the grass with just my little short-igs.

In terms of work, after last week’s hustle and bustle of filming and all, this week has been the calm AFTER the storm. The office has been terribly quiet and calm. But, we can’t relax too much as this week is also the calm BEFORE another storm (i.e. another project). So, let me tell you all about it. It is called the “green bus” project where an environmentally friendly bus equipped with educational tools (e.g. books, films, SunChild staff etc) will travel all over Armenia and make stops at different regions to educate the children of the region about various environmental issues. I, along with a colleague, will do a brief overview of marine biology and water pollution. After spending 7 days in a region we will come back to Yerevan to reload the bus and head out to another region or that’s the plan anyway. Now, the bus was supposed to leave about a week ago but as I have come to learn—nothing is for certain here in Armenia. So, I hurry up and wait for the bus to be ready so that we can start on the project. Believe me when I say that I’m not at all fond of uncertainty. I find it a bit unsettling but especially here in Armenia it is an inevitable part of life. So, I must learn to live with it.

Despite being a more of a ‘relaxed’ week, I still have had quite a bit of work to do mostly editing some texts. Or, as the director says I am quite good at ‘Americanizing’ any and all sorts of texts. At the same time, I wanted to have a day off this week to explore so I worked long and hard this week and took Friday off to explore. Where to? Well, last week, I had made a promise to a couple of the kids from the neighboring regions to visit them and Friday seemed like a good day to visit Symbad-ig—a sweet little guy. So, off I went to ‘Yeghegna-dzor’ to spend the day with Symbad and his family. There, we went swimming in the nearby river. Then, to the lake to catch some fish, cleaned the fish, cooked it and ate while I was being eaten by those lovely mosquitoes. Above all however, I was surrounded with beauty of our nature, churches and lovely people—a good way to spend my Friday.

Thanks for reading…I hope to be in the Tavoush region and not nearly as itchy by the time I write my next blog next Sunday.

Oh and don’t forget to recycle!

Sunday Recap with SunChild Rebecca

2010-06-01T00:44:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian
USA

First and foremost, I must apologize for posting this a bit later than I intended—totally uncharacteristic of me. Only in extreme/unusual situations do I fall short when it comes to making deadlines, promises appointments etc. I must also mention that I have not slept much these past couple of days—here comes another apology for the possibility of not making sense at times. Sitting in the office, next to my overstuffed backpack, wearing my now-faded jeans and Nike shoes filled with dirt with a red bump on every two-inches of by arms and legs (compliments of the mosquitoes and flies) I will try to sum up the interesting/fun/challenging/unforgettable four days I spent out in the wilderness in a region called “Urtsadzor” (Urdz= Thyme , Dzor= Gorge).

What was I doing there? In short, I was helping out with a SunChild project which involved filming a reality TV show where kids spend a weekend out in the wild trying to survive (very similar to the show “survivior”). Over the four days, I was surrounded by three things. First, the breathtaking beauty of Urtsadzor, the thyme filled gorges, rivers, ancient churches etc. Second, a film crew made of a dozen personnel filming every move as these six incredible kids spend an unforgettable three days in the wild hiking through gorges, churches, fortresses and Khosrove reserve all located in Urtsadzor.

The project, among other things, was organized with the goal of introducing the children to the beauty of the nature that their country has and to encourage them to preserve and cherish its existence. These six kids were selected from various eco-clubs, an establishment by SunChild where children gather and learn about different environmental issues and discuses solutions and their part in preserving the natural habitat of Armenia, located in different regions. On the very first day, before the start of their journey, each child was given a task: healer, archaeologist, pathfinder, cook etc. Each day the children equipped with an Ipad (how cool is that?) and a GPS went along from a starting point to their final camp site. Along the way, by following signs were places, riddles given, hints and clues provided that tested them both physically and mentally.

I suppose I shall thank the gal at our office for not being able to go at the last minute and my eager beaver-ness for agreeing to jump right into it. Being a bit of a nerd, I used my studying skills to learn and memorize all of the trails and activities with their minute details in a couple of hours. I also did not know much of the crew members or the kids—I had only been working in the office for 3 days. But, we leaned on our inherent commonality; I was Armenian just like them. But, I later learned, through our chats in between filming, we had much more in common than just that. And the kids, uhhhh the kids, what a joy to be around! Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to speak with them until last night after we finished filming but we instantly ‘clicked’ as they stormed me with millions of questions and asked me to write their names in Armenian to test if I REALLY knew how to write. It also did not take them long to divide up the clothes I was wearing (a dirty jeans and a t-shirt) amongst themselves—apparently they liked the things I wear. I promised to give it all to them after my 9 weeks of stay--I do need my belt and pants for the next couple of weeks!

Thanks for reading…I will be doing a really fun project for the remainder of my stay and will write all about it in my next entry.

P.S. The injured foot is as good as new—I have now gained a much deeper appreciation for my feet.

Sunday Recap with SunChild Rebecca

2010-05-25T04:26:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Kandilian (USA): A Freak of Nature

Green is ‘in’. Or, so I thought. Well, it is certainly ‘in’ at the office I used to work at. Forth floor of Alan Hancock Foundation Building, at University of Southern California (Go Trojans!) located in the heart of Los Angeles. A place where the use of plastic bags is an absolute taboo and leaving a light on after leaving a room is a crime (not sure if it’s a felony or a misdemeanor). And, really, who uses plastic bottles? As a student worker, I gained the respect of my much older colleagues by replacing my plastic water bottle with a stainless steel canteen one. But, based on four days of observing life in Yerevan, green does not seem to be THAT ‘in’. It is however making its way -- slowly but surely. One of the biggest proofs of just that is the establishment of the organization by the name of SunChild; hence the terribly creative title of my blog. SunChild is a project established by the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets. Now, for the next nine weeks I will be working for SunChild. Frankly, I do not know a whole lot about their projects and I am not yet sure what I will be doing exactly. But, I will make sure to inform and provide a recap of what I do during the week on Sundays. Do I expect everyone to develop hatred towards plastic bags and their cars at the end of my nine weeks? Absolutely not! I hope to do something that will someday somehow in someway make something better or NOT. I can only do my best and hope for best; a good philosophy to live by if you ask me.

Now, since I have not yet started to work and arrived here on Wednesday (May 19th), I have had a couple of days to explore. Soon after my arrival, my host family (i.e. the family I’m staying with for the moment) handed me a map so I can familiarize myself with the city. I couldn’t help but gaze my eyes towards the green and blue areas—representing parks and lakes respectively. What a disgrace right? But, we have these beautiful Hrabaraks people would tell me. But, we also have these beautiful parks has been my answer. I mean how can you turn down the beauty nature offers? I can’t. Anyway, my host cousin asked me where I wanted to explore. I told him “Bnutiun shat em sirum”. Basically, I’m a freak of nature. He responded with something along the lines of “the feeling is mutual”. Off we went to the Children’s Railway. Now, allow me to explain as you may say what would a 22 year old do in a Children’s Railway? It is actually a partial misnomer as it is not just a park with a chu-chu train. It has this beautiful greenery with a river running right through it where Garen and I sat for a while discussing a wide array of topics with the sound of the water fall keeping us company. I wish the cousin did not smoke but that’s a whole another story…

Well, that’s all for this week’s blog.

I thank you for reading. If interested, be sure to check back next Sunday night for another ‘Sunday Recap with SunChild Rebecca’. By then, I wish to have visited more of those green areas on my map and have learned more about what I will be doing during the coming weeks at SunChild.

Thanks again for reading and don’t forget to recycle!

Tune in next week because Sunday Recap with SunChild Rebecca will be appearing on Sundays for the next several weeks!

Wednesdays with Tatevik - March 3, 2010

2010-03-03T05:08:00.000-08:00

Tatevik Revazian
Denmark

So today I received a wonderful email. I can stay longer in Armenia. I don’t know the exact date I will be going home, but the fact is that I will be here in April to enjoy the great weather, go on excursions and see parts of Armenia I’ve never seen. I do not want to leave ”im hayrenika” (my homeland). Because of my good mood I had the need to just enjoy it. The result was that I found the Sacre Coeur of Yerevan! Right now I am sitting on the top of the Cascade with the most beautiful view of the opera, and the mountains are slightly visible in the background. On my way up couples were enjoying each other’s company and some were drawing – the only thing that is missing is a bit more sunshine (although I am not complaining about the weather here) and some music.

It should not be a surprise anymore- I’ve had a great week again. A couple of days ago I went to a concert with the other volunteers. The band, Reincarnation, is the only raggae-band in Armenia and the music and performance was awsome. We had a wonderfull time dancing like crazy and laughing.

Another great thing is that I bought a great piano (pianos are very inexpensive here), which means I have no limits to practicing anymore. This was one of my goals coming to Armenia. I’ve heard so much that the musical education is great here –and there is no doubt about that.

Friday we (all of the AVC and other Birthright Armenia volunteers) went to Sevan’s (Kabakian, Birthright Armenia) beautiful house and had a great time eating together, hearing the new volunteer from Argentina sing, seeing Sevan’s children dancing, and playing games.

I finally finished learning the alphabet, so now I can be proud to say that I can read and write Armenian. Now I just need to practice hard to be more fluent. It seems like a small achievement, but the feeling is great. Being able to speak Armenian has enhanced me a lot, but being able to read and write makes me feel even more connected to Armenia.

I went skating this week with my cousin and some friends. The Hamalir (Sports Complex) is a great place. We had a blast. Afterwards my cousin invited me to the house of his friend because the family had heard a lot about me and they wanted to meet me. We had very interesting discussions and one of the subjects was very close to my heart. The little sister in the family, 16 years old, reminded me very much of myself. I could see a special drive in her, but as is the case in so many families they saw this has a weakness, because a girl has to be modest. But I felt that the parents actually wanted to listen to me. My opinion was important to them. Because I am a girl with my own opnion, but at the same time I share their values of being respectful. It seems that they understand that being independent as a girl does not necessarily mean not respecting the surrounding environment. I think this is one of the subjects we are going to discuss tonight at the Birthright Armenia forum, which is just perfect!

Wednesdays with Tatevik - February 23, 2010

2010-02-24T03:25:00.000-08:00

Tatevik Revazian
Denmark

I cannot believe that I only have one month left! Time is passing by so quickly and everyday is special. I want to extend my stay for 3 more weeks. I would stay 3 more months, but I have to go back home and write my bachelor project for my university. But I will be back.

I have slept just a bit more this week as I promised myself. I have started to learn to write Armenian and I can read now, which is fantastic. Of course the level is like an 8 year old, but it’s quite good. I can actually play “alphabet games” with my niece and help her and it is quite fun for me too. I started piano lessons a couple of weeks ago and I am learning very quickly. I played when I was younger, but I haven’t touched a piano since, but it is all coming back to me.

Yesterday I went to a private bar and saw a funny film with Robin Williams. This is the first place I’ve seen a film in English. In the cinema, all the movies are in Russian – even the American ones.

Other than that I’ve enjoyed my time walking through the city and I am enjoying the wonderful weather. We had 18 degrees (Celsius) a couple of days ago. It felt like late spring. So I am quite happy while my family and friends are struggling with the snow in Denmark. Apparently this is a historic warm winter in Armenia and a historic cold winter in Denmark. Lucky, lucky me.

The most memorable experience this week was my first walk alone through the “shuka” (market). I was the only buyer and they were all saying: “kurik jan (sister, dear) come and buy some fruit from me.” I knew that I didn’t have any experience in this area. I was very polite which made me feel a bit obligated to buy something from everyone. Half of the things they showed me I had never seen before. Different kinds of fruits, spices and more.

They found out that I wasn’t from Armenia, which resulted in a huge interest in my talking about the far away country in Europe. And as always I had to answer the question “where do you like it most.” I kind of hate that question because it is impossible to answer. You can’t really compare two completely different countries. I feel at home in both places and comfortable in different ways in both countries.

Wednesdays with Tatevik - February 17, 2010

2010-02-17T05:26:00.000-08:00

Tatevik Revazian
Denmark

This week can be defined briefly as the entertainment week.

Friday was Deannas birthday (congrats again☺) and sadly Brandon’s leaving party. We started at Deannas friends house and continued the party at different places. What a night!

Sunday was an amazing day!!! First my cousin got engaged so I experienced a real Armenian engagement. It is so much more traditional than in Denmark. Afterwards I went to a huge Valentine party. The brother of my friend (from work) was invited to this party organized by ABSOLUTE. It was a semi party/semi concert thing and we had lots of fun! We ended up at a quite fancy club at a special Valentine event. I was not ready to go home, but unfortunately work starts at 9AM).

Monday was one more day with meeting new interesting people! I spend most of the day with my friend from work, Olga. She took me to see her friend’s dance studio which was great. He started everything from scratch and they were all extremely motivated. It was wonderful to see!

Afterwards we went to a goodbye party for an Italian guy, Michelangelo, we met Friday night. Many of the volunteers were present and we had a great time eating home-made pizza.

Yesterday I had a great day at the Arbes child development and rehabilitation center. I was with the group with the youngest children – they are 3 and 4 years old. They don’t really speak, but one of the children tried to say my name. This really teaches me to be happy for the smallest achievements in life. I stayed there the whole day because the President’s wife visited the center (Rita Sarkissian). I was allowed to take a picture while she toured around the center.

In the evening I had Armenian classes and I took Michelangelo with me.

Although he only had one night left in Armenia he was very motivated to learn the Armenian alphabet. I was really amazed how fast he actually learned – especially given that he does not even speak Armenian!

After two hours he actually ended up reading short sentences.

Next week my goals is a bit more sleep!

Wednesdays with Tatevik - February 10, 2010

2010-02-10T04:50:00.000-08:00

Tatevik Revazian
Denmark

This week my mum visited me from Denmark which was really amazing! We visited family members and went to the theatre. I would really recommend seeing the comedy “Don Juan.” It was a wonderful piece! I really did not expect it to be that good ☺.

Saturday we went to Ashotsk village which was an AMAZING experience.

I tried to ski for the the first time in my life. I have bruises everywhere now and it feels great. I was stubborn so although I fell really hard I continued. Next time I have to learn how to stop – it might be a huge help. It was so much fun to see everyone struggling to climb the mountains and as a result then falling.

While I was buried in the snow a guy helped me up and apparently he was from the team who might be going to the World Championship from Armenia. He gave me lessons and I improved very fast. Skiing is wonderful! The view was also fantastic. Being surrounded by mountains all covered in snow while the sun was shining would improve anybody’s mood.

Monday we went to the SOS Children’s Village. Most children living there have parents, but they were living under socially difficult conditions. The government does not support the Village, and the biggest sponsor is FIFA. These children have all the possibilities they could think of to be able to take care of themselves. SOS is willing to pay for any university they want to enter in the world no matter what the costs. But these children are not interested probably because what they need is a family and if they can’t have that, they don’t want anything. 6-7 children live in one house with an SOS aunt. All the employees at SOS are called aunts and uncles. These houses were in really good conditions. One of the children sang Armenian songs for us and it was just breathtaking.

Today I had my first day at the child development and rehabilitation center before going to work. I must say I was amazed by the people working there. I admire their patience because it is challenging to take care of the children, who are almost all autistic. Although there were only 4 children and two 2 employees and me working with them, it was still difficult. The children require constant supervision.

I must say I really liked their method of work. The day started of with a “welcome song” during which every child was acknowledged, then games, and at the end cooking together. The staff involved the children in the cooking process which I think is incredible although it was difficult. I felt very welcome by the children although they could not express themselves vocally. This is going to be a challenge for me!

At Mission East I am still working on the communication plan. I had a good feedback meeting and I know what the next steps are in the process.

Wednesdays with Tatevik

2010-02-03T05:38:00.000-08:00

Tatevik Revazian
Denmark

Work is still fantastic. I have started writing the communication plan for the project and it’s interesting starting to analyze the material I have. Hopefully the output of my work will help Mission East.

Last week two diplomats from the Norwegian Ministry came to Armenia. The director of Mission East decided to bring me along to their meeting, lunch and a visit to the Matenadaran (museum of illuminated manuscripts with impressive old Armenian books).

They were very happy to meet a Danish speaking person, me, in Armenia, and it was great for me to experience how the two cultures interacted. I could see several differences and small misunderstandings throughout the day. At meetings in Armenia it is very common that people answer phones, but in Scandinavian countries, you have to turn off your phone before starting a meeting. The meeting was not as organized as Scandinavian meetings are, and it was quite fun to see such a huge difference. More examples could be mentioned!

On Saturday we went to Dilijan and stopped by Lake Sevan. Both places are quite different in the winter, but it was still very beautiful to see. We saw a very beautiful church Haghartsin that had been renovated.

We also viewed an exhibition and I was very surprised at how cold it was inside, and how the employees managed to work there without even complaining.

Afterwards we went to a small shop where a family produced different things out of clay. People in Armenia are really good working with their hands. I am impressed! After the trip a lot of us went out to a bar. It was nice spending time together in a different way.

The last update from this week is my visit to the child development and rehabilitation center in Yerevan. I was amazed to see how well disabled children were treated there. There were many experts in different areas that worked with children with both physical and mental disorders including autistic children. I was very, very touched because this is not how disabled are treated in Armenia. Most are excluded from society because of lack of opportunities of education and medical treatment. And also because families are embarrassed to have a disabled person at home. This mentality is an outcome of the Soviet mentality where the system is built on the “survival of the fittest” concept. I asked if I could volunteer there a couple of days a week and they were very, very happy. I talked to my manager at he told me it would ok that for me to do some of my work at home, so I can help out! The center is closed on the weekends. The children there were amazing and I just can’t wait to start volunteering there!

Back in New York

2010-01-31T23:27:00.000-08:00

Tracy Serdjenian
New York, USA

I’ve actually been back in the United States for over a month and now I am finally writing! I am still thinking of the last few months in Armenia, and the people I met there, all the time…

I was in Armenia, for my first (but not last) time this fall. I split my time in Yerevan as an AVC volunteer between two organizations: Counterpart International Armenia and Women’s Resource Center Armenia. They happen to be right near each other, on the same street, which made my life easy. These volunteer placements were a great fit for me because both organizations related to my educational, professional, and personal interests – my background is in sociology, social work, and community organizing. Working at two organizations allowed me to do different kinds of work and meet a lot of wonderful people.

As part of Counterpart Armenia’s Civic Advocacy Support Program (CASP), which works to improve democratic governance, support the development of local NGOs, and expand civic participation, I worked primarily on the organization’s community development manual, editing portions of it, assessing what additional content might enhance it, and then developing an action plan and creating a list of resources to guide future work on the manual. I also reviewed reports on climate change to explore how community development and advocacy could be integrated into climate change mitigation and adaptation work. Additionally, I ate a serious amount of cake. At Counterpart, it seemed that almost every day was someone’s birthday, or they just got married, or had a child or something – which was fabulous, because whatever the occasion, it meant CAKE!

At the Women’s Resource Center, I worked with another volunteer to organize and facilitate a discussion group (in English) around issues impacting women. It was really interesting to be a part of the exchange of perspectives and experiences between women who had lived in different countries (Armenia, United States, Georgia, and France) while supporting people who wanted to practice speaking English. I also helped organize and prepare for, and participated in, a variety of events around the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. I put up stickers with information about violence against women throughout the city, took part in a peaceful protest/march and candlelight vigil/open mic event, and gathered anti-violence posters from around the world for an art exhibit and film screening event.

People sometimes say that through volunteer work you get back more than you give. My experience working as an AVC volunteer was really special in that way, because while I contributed to the work of each of these organizations, I received so much more in terms of my own learning and also, most importantly, relationships. Being an AVC volunteer really allowed me to be a part of something in Yerevan. It was very meaningful to me that volunteer work wasn’t completely separate from the rest of my life in Armenia. I spent time with co-workers outside of work, and Counterpart co-workers, fellow Birthright/AVC volunteers, and other friends took part in Women’s Resource Center events and activities, which was so exciting. Even though I am back in New York, through these experiences and relationships, I feel more connected to Armenia now, and it doesn’t feel quite so far away anymore.

PS I kissed Sokho.

From Armenia to Denmark and back to Armenia

2010-01-27T06:14:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

My name is Tatevik Revazian. I was born in Yerevan, but my family moved to Denmark when I was 5 years old. Although I’ve lived in Denmark most of my life, gone to Danish school, high school and university, I have still felt Armenian. I study business administration and organizational communication in Denmark and this is my final semester of my bachelor. In my course it is mandatory to finalize an internship period of 3 months, which I chose to do here in Armenia. I am working at a Danish NGO, which is fantastic. The NGO has worked in Armenia since 1992 trying and changing the lives of the disabled. Since October 2009 the organization has the responsibility of combating HIV/AIDS. The numbers of people infected are increasing in Armenia. I am working on a communication plan for this new project, which is very exiting and relevant to my studies. I am working on one of the largest running projects in Armenia at the moment. It feels great converting theoretical knowledge into practice.

Enjoy the reading!

EXPERIENCE:

What an experience already! I have only been here for two weeks and I am already full of wonderful memories.

To start off the colleagues at work are great and I feel very welcome. We all went to a restaurant last Friday and for the first time in my life I experienced a restaurant with live music and people dancing. This is so normal here, but I have never experienced this in Denmark – it’s so much more fun!

I am also very happy with my tasks and although I am “only” an intern I have to work independently. For example, so far I have written an action plan and interviewed some of the stakeholders that are in the target group (NGO’s, UN agencies and the Ministry of Health). I am gaining insight knowledge to be able to build the communication plan.

I have also started taking Armenian classes through Birthright Armenia. I speak Armenian, but I’ve never learned to read or write. There are no Armenian schools in Denmark and very few people even know that our country exists. When I arrived I felt Armenian letters were Chinese for me, but after two classes, I am able to read some words and that is such a satisfaction. The teacher is working alone with me and I am learning the letters much faster than I had imagined.

My first Saturday in Armenia was spent with the Birthright Armenia participants. There was a trip organized to Khosrovian Forest. Being used to a flat country it was a very scary experience. The roads were awful and we went there in a military-like van – apparently no other car would survive a trip like that. While the guys were playing football in the van I was begging not to fall into the ditch. BUT it was so worth it. Being surrounded by mountains from everywhere was a breathtaking experience. It was so beautiful and the air was so so clean. We hiked until we reached an old church that was breaking piece by piece. This would be a perfect place for an archeologist. It’s sad that there isn’t money enough to explore places like this, there is so much undiscovered history!

Although I am very happy here there are some things that are difficult to get used too. If you have family here (as I do) please forget the privacy concept, this seems to be non-existing in Armenia. I have a lot of family here and they are all very worried about me – especially because I am a woman. It is my experience that the males in the family feel very over-protective. They feel it is their responsibility that nothing bad happens. I am very thankful for that and I am very thankful for the warmth I feel from my family members, but it is a bit difficult. I am used to taking care of myself. This does not mean that I do not have family in Denmark that worries – I certainly do, but it is not in this extend.

Although I haven’t been here for that long I am beginning to get a deeper understanding of my identity. I have learned that there is so much I love about the Armenian culture. At the same time there are many things I have a hard time accepting. The word accepting is most suitable because to a certain extent I do understand why people think or act as do, but it is difficult to accept.

Note to readers: Tatevik will be blogging each Wednesday for the next several weeks. So, come back next Wednesday!

Meet Edwin from Maryland

2010-01-25T02:53:00.000-08:00

Edwin Akopyan
Maryland, USA

Edwin (pictured here with Pyunic Association for the Disabled volunteer Ani Demirdjian of Uruguay) arrived in Armenia in late September 2009 and he plans to be in Armenia for a total of 10 months.

He was born in the heartland of the United States (Oklahoma to be exact) and lived in lot of different places in the United States before settling in Maryland.

Edwin attended the University of Maryland in Baltimore County graduating in December 2008 with a degree in Mechanic Engineering. In college Edwin liked to play and watch (American) football and work on cars. He is a big fan of watching drag car racing. He worked during the summers in college doing all sort of things including construction and even worked as a ramp agent for an airline. After he graduated, Edwin searched around a bit for the right job.

Below is a brief interview with Edwin about his volunteer experience.

Have you ever been to Armenia before: Yes. I spent two months in Armenia with the Land and Culture Organization in 2003, most of the time in Shushi working to renovate the Shushi hospital.

Why did you want to volunteer in Armenia: I have always had a perception that Armenia could utilize help from our large Diaspora. And, I always had big ideas about what could be done if the Diaspora and Armenia worked together. The only thing you can do is try to impact people’s lives in whatever way you can. I want to have an impact.

Where are you volunteering: I am volunteering at Industrial Technologies Co (ITC).

What is ITC: It is a design engineering firm. People from outside of Armenia ask ITC to design a product and ITC does that. ITC mainly designs tools for clients who don’t have the capacity to design them in house.

What do you do at ITC: Small tasks, general research mostly about manufacturing techniques and materials. I even modeled some parts for an exciting project I am working on.

How do you feel about being a volunteer: I guess I am a bit of a role player. I don’t have a major role at ITC but I am there to help out in any way I can.

Did anything surprise you about your volunteer placement: Yes. There is no running water half the time I am there. And, the vast majority of the people that I work with know English and they know a lot about Western culture, like George Carlin. And, a lot of the engineers I work with are not local, they are from Iran and I am also Barskahay.