International Youth Camp “Patriot” in Anaklia, Georgia

Friday, September 9th, 2011

We /Arthur Movsesyan, Mariam Gevorgyan, Lilit Manukyan, Davit Galstyan, David Sahradyan and Mkhitar Kafyan/ visited to Georgia, Anaklia (the sea-side of the Black Sea) from  August 5-14, 2011.  The theme was cataclysms and modern technologies. Duration of each camp was 12 days including arrival and departure. In each camp were 260 participants from Georgia and all around the world, and English was the main working language in the camp.

The aim of the camp was to involve youngsters in non-formal educational process; to increase youngster’s physical, emotional and intellectual potential; social integration; to promote international friendship amongst youngsters from all over the world and to involve them in intercultural learning process; to increase youth active participation in society.

We were in Tbilisi, Batumi, Zugdidi and of course Anaklia. It was a great opportunity to meet young people from all over the world. During the camp we participated in everyday life of the hosting community, as well as attended cultural and fun activities organized by authorities. We used to discuss our free time activities with camp leaders, organized excursions and visits around the area. There were olympic games, international evenings, trainings, group times and so on…  Of course, the most impressive moment was, when Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili visited Patriotic Camp in Anaklia.

Positive impressions from this camp did not leave us till now, during 10 days camp became our home, participants – our friends, we learned how to treat each other equally no matter the race, religion, age or any other factor. Now, at the end, we have developed on a personal level and after the camp we all became good friends…

A New European Stay – Youth Exchange in France

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

On 21th of July, a group of 24 young Europeans of 15-18 ages, who came from Armenia, Belarus, France and Italy, was received in the city hall of Annville. During the project (from July 20 to August 3), the youth together with AVRIL association participated in the works of restoration of the ponds of Annville. It was the third camp hosted by the community and the first participation of Armenians and Belarusians. Besides these works, the youth prepared their meal together, shared their everyday life and had an intercultural evening. At the end of the project, the youth prepared postcards on environmental issues and thus declared to protect the environment and keep it as clean as possible.

International project in Swiss

Every year, around 15 young people aged from 18-30 from various European countries and the rest of the world get together with young Swiss people for two weeks to work on a project that culminates in the opening of an Intercultural text images exhibition.
This international project is organised by the “Intercultural Creative Factory Solothurn” (Interkulturellen Kreativwerkstatt Solothurn).
From 26 July to 6 August 2011 the “Intercultural Creative Factory Solothurn” (Interkulturelle Kreativwerkstatt Solothurn) organizes two international exchange projects with 19 young people from various countries. The artists from Armenia, Korea, the Georgian Republic, Germany, Argentina, Israel, Russia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Switzerland have designed text images.

Maria Khublaryan is from Republic of Armenia, she is art-historyien and journalist, and she presented Armenian language, Armenian letters and Armenian alphabet. For 11 days the participants painted by oil on canvas and created other interesting works each about him-national letters by differant shrifts. The last day of the project in the center of Solothurn was organized an exhibition where all works showed to people. They could buy each works.

Art Workshop

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

On June 13th AIYO organized a 2-day art workshop to provide an opportunity for Armenian young artists to get together and work as a team to encourage and promote volunteerism. The participants of the workshop painted colorful pictures on the walls outside our office thus beautifying the surroundings. They also printed AIYO’s logo and website address on the wall to let people know about its activities.

Among the volunteers were Aghunik Ghazaryan, Lilit Stepanyan (students at the Academy of Fine Arts), Marine Nikoghosyan (graduate from the Panos Terlemezyan State College of Fine Arts), Sergey Ghazaryan (pupil), Arthur Movsesyan (project coordinator), Vanuhy Ohanyan, Liana Dallaqyan, Arshak Movsisyan (president of AIYO and photographer) and Movses (our little participant).

The volunteers said they were inspired by the ideas and enthusiasm of the passersby and enjoyed working together on making the surroundings clean and attractive.

In future, we plan to organize other workshops like this and are open for partnerships with corporate and community sponsors.

Check back soon for dates and details of our next workshop. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Meline Baghdasaryan

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

I had been volunteer in Romania in Centrul de Voluntariat Cluj-Napoka.
My project name was “Invata de la TV”.Activity was focused education system trying to provide the children integrated into it a number of alternative activities to assist the children’s learning by using non-formal education methods.The activity was in turn subdivided into two components:road education and multicultural education.
During period in the hosting country I was able to discover cultural differences through the meetings with other foreign volunteers or with the Romanian natives.By communicating with kids and teaching them in school,I gained a deeper knowledge about civic rights.
Living to-gather with volunteers from so different countries I could discover other cultures,by the direct contact with them.Also I managed to discover the European heritage during my visits in Romania and in some countries around it.Now at the end I feel that I have developed on a personal level by tolerant in respect to others.All the things I have learned here will help me in the future for sure.

Parandzem Hovhannisyan

Friday, May 27th, 2011

Parandzem Hovhannisyan 10.05.2010 – 10.02.2011, Poland, Gdansk

About a year ago volunteer work was a dream for me, especially work with the disadvantaged people. Today Poland seems to be a dream. It seemed to me that work was only a dream, and the people- the real heroes of that dream.
These heroes were the disadvantaged people who worked in the organization “Sprawni indczej” in Gdansk. Every morning I was looking forward to getting on the trolleybus or bus, and then to my work. Moreover, during my work with a group of 21 people and with the help of the therapeutics, I learnt how to realize art therapies and then I myself did it.
In three different working rooms, there was everything for our work. At first several weeks I worked with the disadvantaged people specialized in making paper, and then I made many ceramic things with the group. However, the major part of my volunteer work I have spent making postcards, painting on the bottles, horse riding and some therapy classes.
On Mondays, we had cooking hours on my own initiative, during which we prepared many Armenian dishes. The work in Denmark was also very interesting. In the framework of the same organization, we were in Denmark, where we organized their leisure and free time far from the family and in extraordinary conditions.
Besides the activities mentioned above the most interesting part of my volunteer work was the time when we should represent our country. Meeting with the Polish people I got them acquainted with the Armenian people, culture, customs and traditions. I am very happy that I could live in that big community, to love and to be loved there.
However, I could represent properly the 9 months of my volunteer work in Poland.

Tatevik Derdzyan

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

Hi, my name is Tatevik.

I’m Ecologist-Chemist, I like my profession very much and now I’m working on my PhD which refers to artificial reservoirs. As a real lover of my profession I’m greatly interested in all aspects of nature and therefore in every program which is somehow related to this sphere.

Thus, I was integrated in ecological EVS program which took place in France, Coutances, a small but a very pleasant and hospitable town, and included young people from different countries of the world, which is another privilege of such programs as you get the opportunity to communicate with people of different  nations, their culture, language and to travel and discover other places.

During our program we realized various activities including animations with people of different ages and field works. Besides, we organized cultural evenings and visited many places. Within the program we made a discovering visit to the marvelous Mont Saint-Michel. It was an amazing and unforgettable day during the whole program.

In conclusion, I would like to mention that during this experience I discovered a lot of interesting things, communicated with people of different nations and professions. And also, thanks to my teacher of French, I could get basic knowledge of this beautiful language. After the end of our program I spent a week in Paris, the heart of France where I was hosted by a kind, intelligent and interesting girl which claims once more the hospitability and kindness of French people.

I will always keep in my mind this unbelievable trip and remember my last day in France spent on the Bank of the Seine.

Lilit Yenokyan

Hey i am lilit and in 2010 i was an EVS volunteer in Poland Sepolno Krajenskie. Sepolno is a very small town with beatifull nature, hospitable people, but is that what is it about no… in Sepolno i discovered MINI EUROPE for me Sepolno is small intercultural town where i spent my 9 months. Volunteers from different corners of Europe, and during this time i have learnt more than i expected.
I travelled a lot, I am now more openminded, i know how to overcome troubles alone, i have got new friends from different countries.
I think EVS is the best way to get new skills and experience.
Thanks to the Voluntary Service and Youth in Action Programme, and of course my sending and host organizations.

Sona Minasyan

I am definietly happy with the project and the results. All my expectation were completely met and I consider it was a very useful experience for me.
I am sure the children in the kindergarten and especially in the orphanage Asen Zlatarov liked all the activities we made together and useful and educative talks we had with many of them. It is true that there were times when the children enjoyed just our presense in the orphanage.
Among the organized activities were a lot of interesting and creative ones like:

  • Knitting – which was rather popular not only among girls but also boys and especially during the winter months, and as a result we had a lot of bags and scarves and other things presented for the exhibition which we organized in the local library later;
  • newspaper activity where they should cut different pictures from the newspapars and combine them together so that to have funny pictures – the children succeeded very well in this activity;
  • activity with napkins was interesting for the children of younger ages;
  • drawing workshops involved children and young people and we discovered that there are many children who are really talented in drawing;
  • attending library to open the world of books was very interesting, educative and something new for the children;
  • etnography lessons in the local youth centre were really interesting with a lot of different workshops including the ones in cooking and were another chance to discover Bulgarian culture, traditions and also cousine. These workshops helped the children to obtain new skills and use their imagination for different activities;
  • english lessons combined with games were really enjoyable for the chilren from the orphanage;

I should admit that the conditions in the orphanage are not appropraite for work if we consider the fact that actually there are no rooms designated for work or study and we were working in the only rooms – bedrooms. But we concentrated more on work and got used to the conditions as there was no other choice. With the support of the director of the local library, who is a very nice person, we organized some workshops in the library room. The staff in the library in general was very supportive and understanding.
We organized an exhibition in the library to present to the local community the things that the children have made. I think all these activities in many ways developed the personalities of the children and even if like a small drop but still contributed in being confident in their own capabilites and in their belief for the future.
Together with a Lithuanian EVS volunteer from Sliven we organized an art workshop which was completely new to me but still very interesting and open for the possibility to use the imgination. The children enjoyed it very much and it was one of those unique activities when they kept their motivation to be involved longer than the defined time for the workshop. I am really happy that this activity was of great succeess among children.
In the frames of my project I made a trip to Kazanlak for four-day experience exchange with a volunteer from Check republic. This was a nice experience which gave me a chance to get acquainted with some other way of work through games with young people. Also this experience developed my Bulgarian laguage skills as the Check volunteer spoke only Bulgarian and understood no English. So in this situation the only laguage of communication was Bulgarian.
I explored many wonderful places in the country and got acquainted with so many nice and hospitable and friendly people that I can say with confidence that I am really happy to have made my EVS in Bulgaria.

Arthur Movsesyan

Friday, April 8th, 2011

I have done my EVS in Spain, in Aragon, Jaca. My main work was with teenagers especially from poor and problematic families. We were a part of Youth in Action Programme. Our goal was to make the life of teenagers more interesting and resultatif. Once a month we had a meeting with the representatives of all regions of Aragon and discussed our problems. Once of 3 months we ourselves organized training for active youth and teenagers, discussed together the current problems, and tried to find solutions to them. I have participated in a 7 day training organized by National Agency and On arrival training in Baños de Montemayor . During the training, we got acquainted with their culture and civilization which helped us to be integrated in their society.
These 4 months were more than a year life in Armenia. I made a lot of foreign friends, got acquainted with both Spanish and European cultures. I was in different European cities, got the independence that you can’t have at home. I learnt Spanish which was new for me. It gave me new ideas for life and a wish to live properly.

Rima Martirosyan

Sunday, December 12th, 2010

Hi, I am Rima, I was volunteer in Romania in Ventrul de Voluntariat in Cluj-Napoka. Clij Napoca is very beautiful town with friendly people.
My activity was promoting volunteerism in the community of Cluj. This activity is closely tied to the mission and objectives of the Cluj Napoka Volunteer Center. We did National Volunteer Week, FlashMob, Blog and e. l. s.
During my EVS I had chance to develop my work related responsibility by working in a team and living together with my colleagues. Also I had chance to travel in European countries.
I spend good time, learned more about different cultures.
At the end of my EVS I felt that EVS is new way to discover life.

Teresa Petrosyan – Workcamp in Greece

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

From the first sight volunteering seems to be an easy task, you apply, get accepted, move to country and realize the project but as soon as you get involved in the project, you understand how many important details are to be taken into consideration, especially, when you are working as a part of international team, because it’s well known that each nation has unique habits, customs, religious and social views, imagination about world and life in general. In August 2009 Armenian International Youth Office gave me a brilliant opportunity to participate in ELIX Conservation Volunteers Greece non-governmental, not-for-profit organization’s workcamp, which took place in Drossopigi village. ELIX’s work camps give to communities and small villages of Greece the opportunity to meet and host young people from all over the world and, with their contribution, to implement important projects for the local community. During the camp I learned traditional restoration craft and techniques, achieved the restoration and conservation of ancient footpaths, painting of public playgrounds, participated in every day life of the hosting community, as well as attended cultural and fun activites organized by authorities. We used to discuss our free time activites with camp leaders, organized excursions and visits around the area. Positive impressions from this camp did not leave me till now, for 2 weeks camp became my home, participants – my family, we learned how to treat each other equally no matter the race, religion, age, sex or any other factor. Appearing in this new environment, I did not hesitate to share my knowledge, learn from others, using gained experience in further stages of my life.