What Birthright Armenia Taught Me About Motherland

What Does Motherland Mean?

I remember the first time I was asked this question. It was in my second grade’s workbook. Pretty young to know what motherland is, right? But my classmates rushed to give an answer while I was confused.

What is motherland? Is it a country or a language? Is it a culture or art? Maybe motherland is people?

I was born and spent my entire life in Russia. I love my home and my town, I love my university and my friends, and I love the Russian language. But have I ever felt Russian? Definitely no.

I visited Armenia every summer and, which is strange, almost all my childhood memories are from Armenia. Those summers had a very big impact on me, they are probably the main reason, the basement of my armenianness. I can not describe how happy I am that I had an opportunity to have the memories of that unmanufactured, raw yard in Kapan, of that huge group of children, boys and girls, who played together. I remember that time when we didn’t use phones and shouted loudly standing under the windows to call each other for playing. I will always have this picture of washing my dirty, dusty hands after a whole day spent in the yard, tired and happy. I never had something similar in Russia, and I can't even explain why.

We spoke Armenian at home, only Kapan dialect. But I, like lots of outside Armenians, refused to learn reading and writing in Armenian, didn't want to explore Armenian history and literature for a very long time, and only agreed on having Armenian dance classes. I got annoyed when my parents forced me to speak Armenian, I lost all of my Armenian friends. Moving to Armenia for studying sounded difficult to me, so I didn’t even try.

I feel like Birthright Armenia reminded me of those childhood days. A huge group of people I had something in common with. Always busy, exploring Armenia, having a lot of fun. It gave me an opportunity to volunteer in my area of interest. It also reminded me how much I actually love diaspora Armenians. There’s something very special in our love to Armenia, strong and irresistible. We appreciate it, sometimes even more than locals.

I still have moments of culture shock in both countries from time to time. I feel equally close with my Russian and Armenian surroundings. So, what am I? A little bit alien for Armenians and a little bit alien for Russians. I have stopped seeing it as a problem. On the contrary, I believe it makes me richer, fuller. I try to take the best from both sides.

So, what is motherland? I don’t know. I think it can be different for everybody, and there is no need to restrict it. For me it is a composition of everything I love. Eight-year-old Ani wrote “it is somewhere I feel good”, and I have never been able to come up with a better answer.

How Birthright Armenia Changed Me

Birthright Armenia is my first volunteer program. I didn't know what to expect, so many things were a surprise for me.

First of all, Birthright diversified my summer. I am a student and do not work at the moment, so it was a good time to try myself in such a program. I spent my time usefully, volunteering in two organizations - Repat Armenia and Akn and Akan.

In the first one I helped translate texts, conducted interviews and wrote articles. I think it's great that there is an organization in Armenia that helps Armenians from other countries to return to their homeland and build their lives here. Who knows, maybe one day I will use their services.

In the second one I visited various cultural events and then wrote about them in a free format. Both projects were really interesting and gave me a lot of experience in working with texts, which will undoubtedly be useful in my future works.

Secondly, thanks to Birthright Armenia, I visited many historical places in Armenia, which is very important for me. The excursions were wonderfully organized, with attention to detail and our interests.

Third, I met incredible people. It felt like a trip around the world. They all brought with them a huge variety of cultures, characters, traditions and stories, and an even greater love for Armenia. We recognize ourselves in each other, our experiences, our stories of self-discovery. It was incredibly interesting to communicate with all these people gathered in one place and connected by one goal - the desire to learn about Armenia, our Armenian identity, to help the homeland of our ancestors, our homeland, with everything we can offer.

And here we come to the fourth point. What can we offer Armenia? We are all young and inexperienced, many of us have never been to Armenia and still have a lot to get used to. In this program, I received more than I gave. Did I help Armenia? More no than yes. But, perhaps, that is the whole point. I gain experience in order to use it for the benefit of Armenia in the future.

Unfortunately, my experience as a volunteer in Armenia was quite short, only two months. They flew by in a flash. I would like to spend more time in Armenia, meet even more interesting people, visit even more parts of the country and improve my skills. I will definitely return to this someday, but for now I have work to do.

Here is my story. Hurry up to create your own with Birthright Armenia.