News
Archives for 2004
March 3, 2005
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On Dec. 17, YCSCA President Yuri Jilavyan spoke at an
event celebrating International Volunteer Day, (which is observed
world-wide on or around December 5). The event, held at the
Armenia Marriott Hotel, was hosted by Our City is Our Home
Foundation, a project connected to the Tufenkian Foundation
and to Makur Yerevan ("Clean Yerevan"), and the HabiArm Community Youth
Group of Habitat for Humanity Armenia.
Jilavyan spoke about the timeliness and importance of developing the volunteer movement, giving examples from YCSCA work with volunteers. He suggested making such initiatives ongoi  ng.
The event was supported by the following other
organizations: Birthright Armenia (Depi Hayk), Land and Culture,
Mission Armenia, Armenian Red Cross Society, ESPACES Center, Project
Harmony and the Union of Youth Eco-economists.
The UNDP office in Yerevan, an important advocate for volunteer activities and community service played a major role, donating books, volunteer signs and a CD about the International Year of Volunteers (2001). The UNDP staff promised to help the groups when they need it, and also noted how important volunteerism is for all countries, including Armenia. Armenian NGO's gather for International Volunteer Day celebration on Dec. 1 |
The guests of meeting were the state officials, and social and private sector representatives of local and international organizations. There were about 350 staff, volunteers and guests all in all. On December 27, YCSCA members also participated in a meeting hosted by Makur Yerevan and held at the Birthright Armenia office to evaluate the December 17 event.There were representatives of the 10 cooperating organizations, volunteers, and in addition, members of organizations which joined the movement after the first meeting. Certificates of gratitude were awarded to the organizing group members. Also, the UNDP office provided badges and materials from the UN International Volunteers movement. CYSCA and YCSCA received awards as active members of the Volunteer Movement. At this meeting the group also discussed next steps for the further development of the movement, including a possible conference and a volunteer expo. Anna Karakhanyan represented YCSCA at the subsequent meeting held at Birthright Armenia on January 25. |
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To see more photos of December 17, go to http://www.ann.am/VolunteerDay12.04/
Some printed materials about the co-sponsoring organizations can be found at http://www.ann.am/25.01.05/ |
September 2004
In September, students and teachers from Yerevan Schools #65 and #190 enthusiastically joined in an after-school program to study different ways in which members of their communities are diverse. They also became acquainted with non-governmental organizations working with diverse constituencies, and explored how students themselves could become more involved in volunteerism and community service. See special website http://www.ann.am/DiversityProject2004/ for photos, newsletter and information about this project, which was the final chapter in the 2002-2004 Secondary School Partnership to Promote Civil Society.
November 2004
In November, teachers Karine Apkaryan and Irina Danielyan held a four-session series of workshops on conflict resolution and diversity for over 30 parents and students of School #190 in Yerevan. This series was an outgrowth of the Diversity Project, whose Director, Joanne Hartunian noted that "Students who hadn't taken it wanted to learn about it and parents who had heard about it wanted to know what their children were learning because it was also interesting to them. We started the first parent-student workshop in the area."
by Randy Cabell--August 2004
Ten entrepreneurs from Yerevan, Armenia arrived in Boston on April 18, 2004 for a 4-week internship/professional development program sponsored by CYSCA. Working under a Community Connections grant from the US State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Program Director Jack Medzorian and CYSCA volunteers arranged with Boston-area companies to provide internships for each individual according to their interests. They also organized academic workshops and cultural activities. The participants lived with volunteer host families allowing them to experience American home life and culture.
CYSCA also arranged a public forum, a business workshop and meetings with representatives of community organizations. The entrepreneurs included: Mkrtich Tadevosyan, banking executive; Artur Andreasyan, Director, auditing firm; Irina Belubekyan, Director, freight forwarding company; Vahan Kamalyan, Founder, web design firm; Gohar Sargsyan Founder, web design firm; Robert Avagyan, Director, legal database company; Nune Arazyan, Manager, graphics design firm; Marine Ghahramanyan Director, computer software design firm; Marine Karapetyan, Manager, business consulting company; and Gegham Petrosyan, Consultant. They were the winners of an open competition, chosen by an independent committee based on merit, accomplishments, and potential for benefiting from the Community Connections program. The participants engaged in two workshops. One at Bentley University in Waltham, MA, was organized by the Dean of the Management School, Dr. Allan Nurick and facilitated by Dr. Gregory Adamian, Chancellor of Bentley University and included marketing and management presentations by Bentley faculty. Another workshop, "Hye Achievers" was held on May 8, at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel, Woburn, MA. Organized by Harry Alexanian, and sponsored by the Armenian Network, and the Knights of Vartan Arakadz Lodge, it featured prominent area businessmen.
CYSCA also organized a public forum following the CYSCA Annual Meeting featuring the participants from Armenia. It was moderated by Noubar Afeyan, a Boston venture capitalist. The group left on May 15th to return to Yerevan.