Gyumri Birthright Experience

Antranig Balian
Worcester, MA, USA

I started Birthright last October of 2017.  I first arrived in Yerevan and volunteered there for the first three months from October to mid-January.  On January 15th, 2018 I decided to volunteer outside of Yerevan.  I went to Gyumri expecting to stay for only a couple months, but I ended up staying here for the rest of my time which was one year.  I am certainly glad I did because I had some really good job sites.  Compared to the ones in Yerevan that were not as pleasant.  Some of the places I worked were Shirak State University, various museums, teaching English to kids, Debi Arach, and Nor Luyce.  I had some exciting experiences there while being able to make excellent videos for most of these places.  

Yerevan is nice but being outside of the city, you really get to see the reality of Armenia and what its like for people living here Gyumri.  Yes, Shirak is one of the poorest regions but there is so much history, and the people are very welcoming once you get to know them.  Staying in Gyumri for so long has given me the opportunity to meet so many people from around the world but then having to say goodbye to most of them.  This really opens your eyes, and you can realize how big the Armenian Diaspora is.  Armenians from every corner of the globe are coming to this one tiny spot to volunteer, where most people overlook, is a big leap especially being outside of Yerevan.  Gyumri, being the second largest city in Armenia holds up, the city has its good parts and bad parts.  The old town, downtown, the Ani district are well developed but you also still have people living in Domiks.  

I decided I am going to stay in Armenia for a little longer and get a job.  I found an apartment at the beginning of August.  Before I found an apartment, I was with a host family, and they were lovely people. But after a while, you feel like you’re over it and want your own space.  My Armenian opened up to since coming to Gyumri I can understand and speak a lot more as well as read and write in Armenian.  Thank you to Birthright for this experience and allowing me to come to Armenia and work as well as help the people.