Coming and Going

Sophia Shahverdian
Maryland, USA

I am at the tail-end of my first visit to Armenia. I had tried to come many times before with friends, but each time, plans fell through and I never made the trip. I decided that if I was going to come to Armenia, I couldn’t depend on anyone else to make it happen and I just had to figure out a way that I could go on my own. After some research and talking with past volunteers, I discovered Armenian Volunteer Corps. I knew that Armenia would always be here for me to visit as a tourist, but this was a chance for me to live and work among Armenians, and try my best to understand the history, life today and possibilities for the future. So after one month of planning, I boarded a plane from Washington, DC headed to Yerevan to begin my five-week adventure.

I didn’t come to Armenia with too many expectations. I knew my time was rather short to make a real impact, but I was excited to do something other than tour churches and eat khorovatz (both of which I highly recommend). My volunteer placement is with the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, a public-private partnership which strives to enhance Armenia’s global competitiveness through sustainable projects in tourism, healthcare and education. I wasn’t really sure what that meant or what I would be doing with them, but here I was, ready and willing to help in any way that I could. The assignments I have been given are mostly research-based, like how to develop specialty clinics in oncology and cardiovascular care. This is slightly out of the realm of my process-oriented, logistical coordination and management job back home as a Project Analyst at Johns Hopkins Medicine International in Baltimore, Maryland. However, I figured this was an opportunity to do something different by working on the more conceptual and developmental end of projects. After a few bumps in the road (renovations at the office, no internet to do “internet research”), I began to understand the overwhelming amount of work my colleagues did and how the research I was doing would fit into possible future projects the Competitiveness Foundation has in mind. I looked things up online, read articles, talked with locals and did my research. Turns out that what I did in the short time I was here was useful, and one of the documents that I drafted was used as the basis for a policy accepted by the Board of Directors.

There is a wave of change building in Armenia. There is so much possibility in a developing economy. Creativity, opportunity and ideas abound. The network of ‘movers and shakers’ includes some really amazing people that are trying to put things into motion in Armenia. I am lucky to have met and worked with some of those people, and AVC gave me that opportunity. I have built connections in Armenia that I am sure will help me in my own personal and professional development.

There is a wave building. Hold tight. I think it’s going to be a tsunami.