Building a better society

Vana Urartu Agopian

(USA, 2012)My volunteer post was off the hook! I was placed at Ghoghanj Childrens Center… AMAZING! The center helps children from broken homes gain higher educational skills, social skills but more importantly, they assist children/adolescent expand a sense of self-worth which in return help them become positive and productive members of society.  The organization was started by two women, a mother and her daughter; they began the project out of their apartment on the outskirts of Yerevan. Overtime, the two ladies were able to collect enough funding to open a small center in the heart of Yerevan. The children come to the center after school and receive the attention they may not be able to receive in their homes. As for my own personal volunteer work… I joined the children on excursions, took them on field trips and really connected with several of the staff. However, the real work had started by a volunteer before me, she had started a program called Side By Side (a mentor ship program) a replica of Big Sister Big Brother in America, but tailored for Armenia. Side by Side assists in bonding young educated professionals with children from the Ghoghanj center. The goal of the project is to connect for example: a child who may be overly egotistical with a mentor of a more humble character, but share the same interests. Overtime the two begin to bond and balance while the child begins to grow with positive individuality. The program has shown wonderful results for the center. I helped them cultivate this particular program. I visited several businesses in Yerevan fund raising for the program; specifically, I met with owners of café's and restaurants, presented them with the goals of the mentor ship collecting gift certificates for the mentor/men-tee couples to use when spending time together. Side by Side mentor-ship program is a wonderful example of the difference a chain of volunteers can make when picking up where one left off. But I’ll leave you with this…The work being done at Ghoghanj Children’s center is absolutely angelic and through the chain of volunteers from Armenian Volunteer Corps. we can do our part and help them reclaiming a sense of social progress and build a wonderful healthy society for our planet. I hope you will get the opportunity to get to know these ladies and the kids.

My Armenian experience...

Vanya Garabedian
(USA, 2012)

When I completed graduate school in May I found myself with a gap in time before I started my new job. I realized, Armenia, now is the time. I knew I wanted to go for an extended period of time and learn as much as I could. I wanted to spend my time with the locals and experience every day life. I started researching online and found Armenian Volunteer Corps. I read the website, filled out the application and the process began. The date was set, the ticket bought, I was going to Armenia for two months! I couldn’t believe it.

The first week was a whirl wind, being taken, literally by hand, from one place to another. My fears of getting lost and not being able to communicate with locals came true. All of it was exciting, exhausting and good. I was placed at Prkutyun, a day treatment facility for developmentally disabled young people. I was asked to train their staff in Art Therapy.

My goal: To teach them the skills of how to find their own solutions, to think outside the box and recognize nothing is concrete, everything is fluid and subjective. How to help the individuals learn about themselves and express themselves to facilitate their own growth. Needless to say my goal constantly changed and evolved to be more in line with the Armenian culture and ideas.

My first training was exciting; I met a group of young women who were excited and open to learn what I had to teach them. My second training, not so much; it was terrifying. I was in a room with older women who were arguing in Armenian for 20 minutes. I did not understand what they were saying, but understood they were not happy that they were in this room with me. When I asked my supervisor what was being said she simply said. “I told you they would be difficult, they are being difficult.” 

My supervisor tells me to share what I know and not worry about what they learn or do not learn, what they believe or do not believe. She believes they will come around. This comes up against my own belief system of wanting to work within their system and beliefs. I am not an expert, I do not know more. They are more knowledgeable about what will work and not work within their own culture. Then I realize how much of this is another opportunity to practice overcoming my own challenges.... Assertiveness and self confidence are constant challenges for me. How to be assertive and not shrink away or force things. How to stand in self confidence and trust what I know. So I kept moving forward, doing my best to find a balance between my desire to help and understand Armenia.

Right when I believed I was not making progress one of the women makes sure that I have bread at lunch. Another woman goes out of her way to say hi and another makes sure I do not miss out on the coffee break. My supervisor shares with me “They do not want you to go back to America, we will find you a husband so you can stay here. We will lie about your age, no one will know you are 40.”

Then it happened, I let go, I relaxed. I got to know the other volunteers and the women and beneficiaries at my work. Language no longer seemed as big of a barrier. I learned how to be quiet and more attentive on a deeper level than ever before. I discovered that the more I relaxed and trusted the more everything worked out. My relationships deepened, I was only getting lost once or twice a week instead of everyday. I began to understand some Armenian and was able to communicate a litte. I began to connect with people and barriers began to dissolve.

Success does not look like what I thought it might, me bringing new knowledge to Armenia.  Instead it looks like me being stretched outside of my own preconceived ideas and being challenged on professional and personal levels that I have never been challenged on before.

I can honestly say I can not imagine coming to Armenia any other way than through AVC. It was the perfect combination of support and independence. It is the most challenging thing I have ever done, both personally and professionally. I had the unlimited support of the staff of AVC and Birthright Armenia. I would recommend, and have recommended, this as the only way to see Armenia to everyone I know and meet.

An Unexpected Opportunity

by Alexander Azizian

(USA)

Volunteering has always been a long time idea I wanted to look into. But I thought I knew nothing, I had no solid education, and I was just 21. What could I do for someone? Then one day I completely overlooked what I do know; that I did not think was important, sports.

I have been fencing for some time and although I am no grand master or anything, I can still teach the basics. Alas through Armenian Volunteer Corps and Birthright Armenia I was able to get into a Fencing School in Armenia to teach fencing to the small children here. The children are so fun and energetic; they really burrow into your heart when you work with them. The teachers here are great, but the Western ideas and tactics are not taught here and with me here teaching it, it does nothing but benefit everyone. This is truly a dream, not only do I get to work with the small children; I can also train with the National Team! They are also sharing their wisdom and teaching me some new tips and tricks I never heard of before.

Every detail of what I have or know goes a long way here down to the exercises, stretches, and mentality of it all. Although Armenians are sometimes stubborn when it comes to learning things they think they know, I have been creative and found ways to subtlety creep in. The language barrier is not that strong here in sports too, despite my lack of full knowledge for the language. Sports are a mere “monkey see, monkey do” game, it is no different in my situation.

The most rewarding moments happen to take place every day. One of the national team members was heading into competition, and they were missing an important part for their weapon. I just so happen to have an extra piece! One of the students couldn't take classes with the key coaches because of the time schedule; I was able to help this student out due to my time flexibility.

In conclusion, I would say that the kids are so well disciplined; they respect you the way they talk and listen to you. The expressions, the words they use, and the gratitude you receive, are all extremely inspiring.

Finding Myself Through Volunteering

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.

Wednesdays with Tatevik

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!