In the News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Linda Yepoyan
Phone: 610-408-0988
info@birthrightarmenia.org
March 13, 2004

Birthright Armenia: Journey of Self Discovery

Berwyn, PA – While young adults are deciding how best to spend their summer, Birthright Armenia is actively recruiting on both sides of the ocean for an influx of young diasporans representing a wide cross-section of the Armenian community, who are ready to start a journey of self-discovery in Armenia. Birthright Armenia is an ideal match for young diasporans, 18-32 years old, who seek personal and professional enrichment through what promises to be a life changing experience.

Birthright Armenia is proposing an innovative and forward thinking concept that begins with young diasporans, who are traveling to Armenia with one of the many established service oriented programs, including: Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian Students Association-NY, Armenian Volunteer Corps, Armenian Youth Federation, ACYOA, Canadian Youth Mission to Armenia, Fund for Armenian Relief, Land and Culture Organization, and Habitat for Humanity Armenia. For those who are interested in extending their stay in Armenia beyond their program’s end date – making their sojourn to Armenia a minimum of eight weeks—Birthright Armenia is providing community service placement, Eastern Armenian language instruction, weekly seminars, fun-filled excursions, and homestay living arrangements with local Armenian families. The bonus, in addition to these valuable offerings, is that Birthright Armenia reimburses each participant who takes advantage of the in-country extension the cost of their entire roundtrip airfare, paid back upon successful completion of the program. Each of the organizations in the list above enthusiastically embraces and supports Birthright Armenia’s mission, objectives and program services, and is hoping to increase their constituency base as a result of Birthright Armenia’s incentives.

For a brief overview of each organization offering a youth oriented program to Armenia for the summer of 2004, interested individuals can visit Birthright Armenia’s Web site and click on “Program Offerings in Armenia”. It is here that young adults are introduced to the multitude of organizations, their missions, trip offerings, timeframes, program costs and contact information for each, in one centralized spot.

“I have felt there was untapped potential in expanding the experiences in Armenia in the journey to and connecting with the homeland. Instead of creating a new organization from scratch, which is so often the case, I decided to support the existing organizations, allowing them to realize all the dreams they have for their programs and what they can become”, says Birthright Armenia Founder, Edele Hovnanian. “For me, it is critical for both the Diaspora and for Armenia to have our youth fully connected to the homeland in a very positive way, so they can develop into the future leaders and have a positive impact on our community. Given the millions of people we have in the Diaspora, and just a few hundred young adults joining in on the programs annually, our goal is to increase that number tenfold”, adds Hovnanian.

One of Birthright Armenia’s guiding principles is the belief that all experiences in Armenia should encourage immersion into the native population instead of viewing it from the outside. In addition to encouraging homestays with Armenian families over hotel living, Birthright Armenia is facilitating basic language fluency prior to and during trips to ensure each participant gets the most out of their experience and truly immerses themselves into the local flavor of the country. The organization has supported the development of a computer assisted Eastern Armenian language course, which will be available free of charge on the Birthright Armenia Web site starting April 15, 2004. For each Birthright Armenia participant, the learning begins pre-departure with an interactive on-line tutorial, complete with on-line testing capability focusing on speaking, reading and listening skills. The program includes 10 on-line lessons, which cover pretests, grammar, vocabulary, dialogues, reading exercises, and tests to gauge progress.

For those interested in learning more about how to make a difference in Armenia and build new relationships that last a lifetime, please visit our Web site at www.birthrightarmenia.org. The site describes what programs and opportunities are available to young diasporans this summer, as well as Birthright Armenia’s offerings, eligibility criteria, and application materials.

Birthright Armenia’s mission is to strengthen ties between the homeland and diasporan youth by affording them an opportunity to be a part of Armenia’s daily life and to contribute to Armenia’s development through work, study and volunteer experiences, while developing life-long personal ties and a renewed sense of Armenian identity.

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