In the News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Linda Yepoyan
Phone: 610-642-6633
info@birthrightarmenia.org
October 27, 2006
BIRTHRIGHT ARMENIA NOW THRIVING YEAR-ROUND
Yerevan, Armenia - With three years of successful volunteer program sponsorship under its belt, Birthright Armenia has proven successful once again in bringing new volunteers to participate in the progress of the Homeland. This year an increasing amount of diasporans are recognizing volunteerism as more than something to fill in the summer gap and are choosing longer stays in the colder months. The proof is in the numbers. With fall and winter enrollments up by more than 300% from 2004, the 2006/2007 volunteer program is proving to be one of the strongest yet.
So, why are these volunteers braving the cold and putting their current professional lives on hold to volunteer in the Homeland? Twenty-five-year-old Armenian Volunteer Corp (AVC) volunteer Laura Kevorkian states that she chose a year-long volunteer program because she wanted to allow enough time to make a genuine effort to contribute to Armenia. "One of the main factors in committing to a long-term stay in Armenia is the understanding that building relationships and trust within a community takes time to develop. Personally, I anticipated many significant cultural challenges and dramatic language improvements necessary before beginning to understand how and where to contribute."
Recognizing that longer-term stays enhance a volunteer's connection through total immersion, Birthright Armenia has made a significant push this season to attract volunteers for community service programs outside the summer months. All signs show that their efforts are working as the group is currently partnering with more than 15 service organizations, bringing in volunteers from more than 12 different countries. University of Maryland Business School graduate and AVC volunteer Sevan Ohanian says that because he wanted the experience of living and working in Armenia for a longer period of time, the AVC fall program allowed him the flexibility to fulfill his goals. Both Laura and Sevan felt that volunteering after the summer busy season when most of the short-term volunteers had already left would actually help them achieve more stability in a new environment.
As with the summer program, volunteers participating in the fall and winter programs are dedicating at least 30 hours per week to volunteer activities ranging from English instruction to governmental work to environmental preservation. In addition, they are all engaged in the supplementary services offered by Birthright Armenia to fully immerse participants in Armenian culture, including weekly educational forums, Eastern Armenian language instruction, excursions to the various regions of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh, and social "havaks" that bring together diasporan volunteers and Armenian youth. Many of the volunteers are also living with Armenian host families for either all or part of their stay as part of Birthright Armenia's homestay program.
Finally fulfilling a four-year dream of visiting Armenia, Laura points out that living in the Diaspora often portrays a skewed vision of Armenia's current reality based on a "collection of historical myths." Although Laura feels that even a year may not be long enough, she aims to "understand the source and necessity of the myths and differentiate between the ones that stunt our growth and the ones that inspire us to move forward."
Sevan also used this sort of sentiment to propel him to the Homeland. He notes that people are often quick to criticize Armenia instead of recognizing it as a young country just barely out of communist reign. "Instead of criticizing Armenia, we in the Diaspora need to do everything we can to ensure its prosperity," Sevan asserts.
Volunteers and working professionals such as Laura and Sevan embody exactly the ideals Birthright Armenia is striving to instill in all diasporans - the idea that true service to the Homeland continues even after leaving Armenia. Laura, who is currently working with the Women's Center at Yerevan State University and World Vision Armenia in the Building Sustainable Livelihood Program, says she hopes to gain insight into Armenia's current political situation so that she can work in the future to "support community re-empowerment and education to influence decision-makers, locally and nationally."
Sevan, who is aiming to return to the U.S. fluent in Eastern Armenia, feels that since the country's independence from the Soviet Union, the idea of a dedicated Motherland has become an increasing influence in the lives of all Armenians. "It has given us a home and a country to call our own after all that we have been through as a nation." Sevan is optimistic that his time in Armenia will help him to spread the Homeland to other diasporans.
Hopefully volunteers such as Laura and Sevan are only the beginning of a new wave of dedication and participation in the future of Armenia. As Laura so aptly noted, Armenia must become more than a "collection of myths" in order to truly bridge the gap. "Armenia has been a very vague yet ever present state of being in our family and in my life - you just are Armenian with no special criteria and no questions asked. I hope that my visit will bridge a history and build a new vision of where our family has come from."
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. Visit www.birthrightarmenia.org for more information.
