AAA Interns meet with AYWA president Lilit Asatryan

On the 16^th of August the Assembly’s Summer Internship in Armenia Class of 2011 had a meeting with Lilit Asatryan, the president of Armenian Young Women’s Association (AYWA), as well as with the staff and volunteers of the association. The meeting took place at AAA’s Yerevan Office.

Mrs. Asatryan presented the main activities, goals of AYWA. She also shared with her experience of working with young women in rural areas of Armenia, encouraging them to play a more active part in the society, raising their awareness on different social issues, strengthening their role in all the aspects of the Armenian society, empowering them, etc.

AYWA is a non-profit, non-governmental organization comprised of young people united in their determination to improve the status of women in Armenia. AYWA's mission is to lead social change and to achieve equality of opportunity and reward for all Armenian women, achieving a just and productive society for all.

A lively discussion followed between the AAA Yerevan interns and the members of AYWA on the role of the Armenian women in the Armenian society, the difference between the women in the US and in Armenia, women’s role in the political field, gender equality and so on. 

"Peace Exhibition" at AAA Yerevan Office

On the 8th of July the AAA Yerevan Office in the frameworks of the AAA Youth Club hosted a "Peace Art" Exhibition, which showcased artworks by local young artists.

The exhibition was initiated by a YC member Gohar Mkoyan in frameworks of “Youth Leaders for Peace” project. The project is a part of CMI (Crisis Management Initiative), “The European Partnership for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict over Nagorno Karabakh” (EPNK) which was launched in November of last year.
EPNK is a partnership of European NGOs working to enact initiatives which will cumulatively contribute to the peaceful settlement over Nagorno Karabakh.

Live classical music was also played by local young musicians.

The AAA SIP interns Tatevik Babayan and Angela Babayan also attended the event. They enjoyed live classical music and the interesting youth artworks, which were also on the topics of peace and understanding.

Trip to Echmiadzin

On the 27 of June, the AAA staff and the interns visited Echmiadzin, the holy center of Armenia and the city where the Catholicos of all Armenians sits.

The interns visited several churches: the church of St. Hripsime, the church of St. Gayane and the Mayr Ator.

The interns also had the opportunity to meet his Holiness Garegin the Second and take the tour of the museum.
They had the unique chance of seeing the golden alphabet and the golden cross.

Interns meet with HENQ

Yesterday, on the 22nd of June, the interns participated at a presentation by Henq, a youth organization. The presentation, entitled "The Virtual Citizen", was about civil awareness and how citizen activity can be expressed and developed in the virtual world. It raised a friendly debate among the youth and some adults present at the meeting, since the adults didn't really approve the idea of using the internet for engaging civilians in public awareness. The interns shared their ideas about the topic and got engaged in the debate.
After the presentation, HENQ presented their vision and mission.
Since the interns found the meeting with Henq very interesting and useful, we came to a mutual agreement to hold another meeting with HENQ in the near future.

In the caption below- interns Aram Kavoukjian and Diana Oganesyan with the HENQ team.

Welcome Party

We had our welcome party for the interns at "Parvana" yesterday, the 21st of June.

Dances, laughter, chatter, toasting, dances, laughter, chatter, toasting, dances, laughter, chatter, toasting... the whole evening.

(from left to right: Gaya Baloyan, Aram Bedrosian, Anush Petrosyan, Katia Hairapetian, Aram Kavoukjian, Diana Oganesyan, Alisa Darbinian, Ani Boghossian)

 (dancing)

(group photo)

Past and Present Interns Meet

Yesterday two interns from the Internship Programs in 2008 and 2009 had a visit to AAA Yerevan Office. They were Zaven Sargsian from the 2008 Internship Program and Sarkis Karapetyan from the 2009 Internship Program. Zaven, who is from Utah, was visiting Armenia for summer and Sarkis, who is also from Utah, now lives here with his fiancee. They shared their experiences and impressions as interns with the current AAA interns in Armenia. The meeting was really fun and motivating. Their discussed topics ranged from politics to the World Cup Championships.

Below is a picture taken at the AAA Yerevan Office during the meeting.

 (from left to right: Zaven Sargsian, Sarkis Karapetyan, Vram Karakeshishyants, Armina Darbinian, Aram Bedrosian) 

Aram Bedrosian, Diana Oganesyan, Aram Kavoukjian arrive

On Sunday, around 6 AM the airplane which carried Aram Bedrosian, landed at Zvartnots Airport, Yerevan. Five minutes before boarding Aram wrote in his Facebook page "Boarding in 5min". Yep, Aram was counting the days, the hours and the minutes till his arrival to Armenia... "7 days" "5 days" "ready set hayastan!" :)Now he is here.
Diana Oganesyan and Aram Kavoukjian arrived this morning. Now they are probably asleep in their rooms, or maybe awake... who knows. But they're here, at home.:)
Both, according to their FB statuses, are very excited.
Diana had previously written in her essay "I have been dreaming of a summer as an intern in Armenia for as long as I could remember. Many roadblocks have emerged each summer, such as no passport, and age limits. All obstacles have been lifted this year..."
And Aram..."During my last visit to Armenia, summer of 2008, we visited an Armenian day care for underprivileged children and the elderly named Orran. Here after spending a few hours with some of the kids we were making a collage with, hearing their stories and seeing these kids very happy was one of the best parts of my visit to Armenia. That day was one of the first days that I can truly say I volunteered my time to help out my Armenian brothers and sisters, and I enjoyed every part of it. After that experience at Orran I was trying to find another opportunity to go back to Armenia and work as a volunteer or an intern for my homeland."

Me and Katia are very excited to meet them this afternoon.
I will later send them co-author invitations so that they themselves can write about their arrivals, their anticipations and thoughts.