Kef Time

Friday night, we gathered to complete the Part II of the AVC training session. The evening began with AVC board of trustee’s member, Tom Samuelian, who gave a lecture on economic development in Armenia. He presented us with some very insightful facts on the present economy of Armenia, as well as proposing ideal ways that could boost the economy in the near future. The second part of the session, was lead by AVC director Anoush Tatevossian, who guided us through a workshop dealing with leadership, and our role as volunteers in Armenia. The group discussed how our work is useful to the development of Armenia, as well as some of the important resources we have to offer while volunteering.

What better way to finish off our great session, but to have a true Armenian kef! The volunteers, along with their coworkers, host families or friends, came together at Beirut Restaurant for an evening of mingling and dancing! Throughout the night, volunteers got to meet and socialize with local Armenian young people, make new friends, and dance the night away to our favorite Armenian music. Seeing how this event had such a good turnout, and everyone greatly enjoyed themselves, AVC is definitely going to make this a regular event!

AVC Training 2006

As many new Fall volunteers have been slowly arriving and getting into the groove of their volunteer work, AVC organized an official 2-part training session for its new and old volunteers.

The first session was extra special because we had the chance to meet some expert volunteers who actually led the training, but also because we had the opportunity to get out of town and head to peaceful Yeghegnadzor, for the second part of the day.

Bright and early, a group of 10 volunteers gathered at the office to attend a lecture on community development held by Jason Sprague, a Peace Corps volunteer from the US who has been living and working in Gavar for nearly 3 years. Jason led an informative session on ways which we can take a small idea and project, and transform it into something truly meaningful and useful to the smaller communities outside of Yerevan. During the lecture, he discussed all the simple steps on to how plan and implement our own projects, as well as the difficulties we may encounter while doing so. It is always inspiring to meet young Americans like Jason, who are living and working in different regions throughout Armenia. Most of them come to Armenia as Peace Corps workers for 2-3 year terms, not having any prior knowledge of the language, culture, or history of Armenia. However throughout their term, they become the most knowledgeable individuals on what life in Armenia is truly like, as well as a key resource when wanting to do development work throughout the regions.



The 2nd part of the day was spent at AVC alumni Sheila and Antoine Terjanian’s beautiful home in Yeghegnadzor. While there, Antoine brought us over to his neighbor’s home to watch some ladies prepare fresh lavash for us! After tasting the delicious bread, the afternoon was spent discussing issues dealing with cross-cultural differences, as well as cultural difficulties and encounters one faces when working and living in a foreign country. For the last part of the training, Sheila and volunteer Joe Levonian, who are skilled English as a second language teachers, used their personal experience and led a workshop on ways to teach while in Armenia.



It was truly an enjoyable day in Yeghegnadzor, where the volunteers had the opportunity to finally gather all together and discuss their personal experiences, gain some helpful advice and of course……enjoy each others company!