Volunteering in Gyumri - Armenia's Second largest city

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.

Handicrafts in Gyumri

Anush Mirbegian, 26
USA

It came as an absolute surprise to me as the tears started to roll down my checks during my last day at the women’s handicraft workshop where I had been volunteering for the past ten weeks. All of the lovely Gyumri ladies I had come to know were too looking at me with teary eyes. I had not realized until this moment how they had become part of my life and I, part of theirs.

I arrived in Gyumri at the beginning of July and started working at the handicraft workshop for women, a project created by Armenian Caritas to provide a place for women who are victims of domestic violence, girls from orphanages and poor families to learn skills like sewing, knitting and beading.

I have been working in the fashion industry for four years in New York City, freelancing in design, styling and research. Last winter, things started to feel a bit dull and I was in need of some inspiration, so I began a getaway plan for the spring and summer. By a mere accident, I happened upon the Birthright Armenia website, just browsing on wikipedia. Things started to unfold, I found AVC through Birthright and three months later, I was in Gyumri.

The women at the workshop were students of Nelli, one of the best seamstresses in Gyumri and I was there to assist her and attempt to bring something to the table that they had not previously learned. I racked my brain and decided I had the opportunity to inspire these women to think a little bigger and brighter than they had before. This proved to be one of my biggest challenges during my time in Armenia. I brought in art books, photos and clothes, whatever was inspiring me at that particular moment and shared it with them. I gave presentations about working in New York, like how to design a line and what happened on fashion magazine photo shoots. I managed to create an open forum and encouraged them to share what inspired them and they did. They presented me with sketches of their ideas, books on ancient Armenian costumes and things they had created during the beading and knitting classes. It felt like a truly unique experience because we were all sharing our inspirations and work and learning from one another and from the different lives we lead.

I worked individually with each of the women on their specific projects, which gave me the chance to get to know all of them on a personal level and this was invaluable to me. I fondly think back on our intense discussions about life in Gyumri, meals shared and all the laughs we had.

Toward the end of my time at the workshop, Zhanna, the Caritas project manager came to me with a new idea. She wanted to create a set of Armenian dolls that would be produced and hand worked on by the women of the workshop and then sold in Armenia and she asked me to give a hand in designing them. I was so pleased to be part of the beginning of this project and my desire to be involved in its evolution will bring me back to Armenia in the next few years.

Anush currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is working on a number of projects including designing menswear, styling for Italian Vogue, art directing a new magazine and researching and reporting on fashion and lifestyle trends.

From Unemployed in New York to Fully Employed in Gyumri

Marin Preske
USA

Like so many other Americans, I lost my job early on in 2009. I had been on the editorial staff of a magazine in New York City and when its publisher decided to close several titles due to the economic crisis, I joined the ranks of the newly unemployed. Freelance projects kept me busy for a few months – after nearly 10 years in the industry, I had enough connections to keep me afloat. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that my current circumstance was chance for new and different opportunities. The prospect of landing a position at another magazine left me feeling unsatisfied, and while I didn’t know exactly what to do, I knew major change was in order. I tend to turn to travel in times of introspection, and so I started researching online. I looked into UN projects in Southeast Asia. Considered joining the Peace Corps. But nothing clicked. Then I heard about AVC.

During the application process, I opted to reside outside of Yerevan (after Manhattan, I needed a break from big cities and knew a different Armenia existed beyond the capital) and so agreed to live and work in Gyumri. With a background in media and photography, my professional experience consisted of conceiving and writing editorial, directing and producing shoots, heading visual art competitions, curating shows. I couldn’t imagine how AVC might parlay all of that into a job placement that could match my skills and interests (and wanted me). But I vowed to remain open-minded and explained that I’d be receptive to anything from the visual arts to humanitarian work. And somehow they found my perfect match.

I ended up at Caritas, a global NGO whose Armenian branch is headquartered in Gyumri. During my time there, I focused on two main projects that couldn’t have been more different – the ideal balance. First off, I worked on an EU-funded community development project aimed at 15 villages in some of the poorest areas of the country. Through business training (that includes access to a revolving grant) and local community action, the program seeks to improve social and economic conditions in the targeted areas. With the aim of empowering communities to become self-reliant, the program demonstrates that an individual has the ability to improve his or her own life. Not only was it rewarding to watch various communities band together and draft business plans (with little resources), but it also provided insight into the lingering post-Soviet mentality that plagues much of the country. My role consisted of working on the project manual – a tool kit that might serve as a guide for the project. Based out of the Caritas office, my colleagues and I traveled to nearby villages to see work in effect and made a special visit to Georgia since their Caritas branch successfully implemented a similar project the year before.

My second order of business was hosting photography workshops. As part of the United Nations’ 2010 End of Poverty goals, Caritas is in preparation for a round of events next year, which will include a visual arts exhibit on how youth sees poverty. I created and conducted two-day workshops for local Armenians aged 16-25. Each day we viewed photographs, discussed tips and techniques and went out into their everyday environment to shoot with fresh perspectives. I worked with participants one-on-one to offer feedback and highlight individual styles. It was gratifying to watch a bunch of teenagers walk in the first day more interested in text messaging, and leave asking me for my email address so they could continue to send me photographs after I had left. I even ended up conducting workshops for the Caritas staff itself, nearly logging 60 hours one workweek due to the turnout and enthusiasm.

I’ve returned from Armenia and still am unsure of exactly where my future lies. But looking back at my time in Gyurmi, I feel I gained as much as I gave. And the experience has opened my eyes to a whole new set of possibilities.