Volunteering Changed my Life

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.

Philanthropy, not Charity

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.