In the News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Linda Yepoyan
Phone: 610-642-6633
info@birthrightarmenia.org
November 19, 2004
Birthright Armenia Alumni Program Created
Wynnewood, PA – This past summer 40 diasporan
volunteers representing the ACYOA, Armenian Assembly of America,
Armenian Medical Association, Armenian Students’ Association-NY,
Armenian Volunteer Corps, Armenian Youth Federation and the Land
& Culture Organization, experienced unforgettable journeys
of self-discovery to Armenia. Having benefited from their host
organizations’ leadership, meaningful job placements and
program activities, each had a further advantage of gaining a
deeper and broader understanding of the language, the country,
and its people as participants of Birthright Armenia/Depi Hayk.
The spark of fire within
Birthright Armenia launched its pilot summer in the homeland this
year, by offering quality support services of in-country orientation,
Armenian language instruction, and weekly forums, excursions and
“havak” tie-in meetings for all 40 volunteers. “Each
diasporan volunteer talked about what motivating factors played
into their decision to visit Armenia personally, and those are
different for each person,” explains Linda Yepoyan, the
non-profit’s executive director. “There is something
that awakens within them when they get to Armenia—call it
their Armenian soul—and you can literally see the transformation
taking place every single day toward more ethnically aware and
energized individuals getting more and more physically and emotionally
connected to the land.”
Keeping the flame warm
One of the key indicators of Birthright Armenia’s success
will be the cumulative effect of sponsoring hundreds and then
thousands of young diasporans from around the world to volunteer,
study, and live in the homeland. The multiplier effect of having
thousands in Armenia and around the globe who are maintaining
connections with their work colleagues, homestay family members
and other local counterparts is bound to be significant. Keeping
the ignited fire alive within each young person who has been to
Armenia is critical as the exposure to assimilation is such a
reality. Birthright Armenia realizes that the challenge of doing
so is tremendous, as the potential for young students to return
to their cities, universities, circle of friends and to recommence
with their lives as usual is high. Therefore, Birthright Armenia
has created an alumni program that can help keep the volunteers
of all the sponsored organizations active in things Armenia. The
organization is committed to putting human and financial resources
into ensuring that the veterans of this wonderful homeland experience
are not lost, rather they are motivated to remain engaged until
such time as they are ready to become community leaders themselves.
“Although we are focused on getting large
numbers of youth to Armenia so our impact will be strongly felt,
having a significant diasporan volunteer and student presence
there is really just one piece of the puzzle”, says Edele
Hovnanian, founder of Birthright Armenia. “To truly do this
right, the post-program involvement piece needs to be just as
strong”, she continues. “In order for participants
to receive their travel fellowship reimbursement equivalent to
their roundtrip airfare, one of the most important requirements
for them to provide is a one to two page continuing involvement
proposal in which each volunteer explains how they propose to
maintain a personal connection with the homeland and what they
commit to do back home in the Diaspora to help inspire others
to get engaged. We have 40 such proposals from the 2004 summer
volunteers and intend to contact them now, three months after
their return from Armenia, to see where they are on making good
on their intentions.”
As another part of the alumni program, the organization
custom built a bulletin board that makes communicating and sharing
of photographs amongst the alumni as simple as a click of a button.
The board is posted to the Volunteers & Alumni section of
Birthright Armenia’s web site and is password protected
to allow the volunteer alumni privacy in sharing their common
experiences and sentiments.
Updated weekly on the site is also the “Get
Involved” section, which is information tailored to list
interesting volunteer opportunities and community events scheduled
to take place around the world. This makes it easy for alumni
to read about what is taking place in their hometown on a weekly
basis and to participate in the activities that interest them
the most.
For those interested in learning more about Birthright
Armenia, please visit www.birthrightarmenia.org
or email: info@birthrightarmenia.org.
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 a renewed sense of
Armenian identity. This is accomplished by supporting and complementing
the initiatives of existing diasporan organizations that offer
youth programs in Armenia, and encouraging them to expand their
offerings in depth and breath. Birthright Armenia assists with
travel fellowships, language instruction, in-country seminars,
orientation and excursions in exchange for community service in
Armenia.
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