syunik ngo newsletter issue 5

8/13/2019 Syunik NGO Newsletter Issue 5

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/syunik-ngo-newsletter-issue-5 1/5

Our Summer Academy on conict-related topics was

launched on June 19 and lasted three weeks. Selected youngactivists from Armenia, Georgia and Austria took part. Lo-cal and international trainers led academic sessions that

focused on topics such as conict analysis, conict man-agement, conict transformation, mediation and conictresolution, providing participants with the knowledge andskills they need to become trainers and leaders to promote

peace in the region.In addition to their regular academic sessions led by Ar-

menian, Georgian and European trainers, participants hadan opportunity to hear local and foreign guest lecturers and

share their perspectives and experiences on peace-building. Two representatives from the German Embassy in Armenia,

Christoph Breunig and Nino Schramm, were invited to meetthe participants and the trainers at the Summer Academy. Alternative team-building activities, such as cultural toursand after-school activities, were included in the sessions.

The Summer Academy was funded by the Institute for

Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) through the German FederalForeign Ofce.

After completing their training at the Academy, the alumni

shared their knowledge and skills by holding peer-to-peer workshops in their communities in order to promote peacein their area. Several workshops took place during the

months of July and August. A joint workshop by Lusine

Safaryan and Arusyak Aharonyan was implemented in theEDUC Youth Educational Studio in Yerevan, while Lilit Ha-

kobyan, Ani Yengibaryan and Mary Nalbandyan conducted workshops with high school students in three different vil-lages of the Armavir Region. Youth in Vayk and Jermuk cit-

ies of Vayots Dzor region also beneted from workshopsorganized by alumni Gohar Hunanyan and Laura Gabriely-an. More workshops will be conducted by alumni in com-ing months which will signicantly impact on future peace

building in the region.

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

Summer, 2011, Issue 5

Leaders for peace are readyto take action

Benevolent NGO

Summer Academy Participants and Trainers

Academic session held by the Georgian trainer and observed bythe representatives from the German Embassy

Lilit Hakobyan (left) with participants of her follow up workshop



It is summer but our Social ServiceCenters are still active

On August 9, a literary evening dedicated to a famous Ar-menian poet and fairy tale writer, Hovhannes Tumanyan, was organized in Hermon Community Center. During the

evening, children from Hermon and neighboring communi-ties (Goghtanik, Vardahovit, Yeghegis and Artabuynk) per-formed poems and stories written by Hovhannes Tumanian,

as well as songs and dances. The presence of such a diverseaudience of children, parents, and young and senior com-munity members has encouraged the children, adults and

organizers of the event to plan more frequent events such asthis in future. Ina rural commu-nity like Hermon, where villagers

do not have manyente r t a inmentoppor tun i t i e s ,

similar evenings will bring life tothe community.

Photo Exhibition in Vayk Social

Service Center

Celebrating International Children’s

Day in Jermuk SSC

On June 1, an event dedicated to International Children’s

Day was organized in Jermuk. The event was initiated by the Youth Center in Jermuk and implemented in collaboration with the Jermuk SSC and the Mayor’s ofce. Approximately 40children marched in the main streets of the city with balloonsand Armenian ags in their hands. The celebration includ-

ed variousa c t i v i t i e s- sing-

ing, read-ing poetry,d a n c i n g with fairy

tale heroesand draw-ing withchalk. The

local priest extended greetings to the children and wishesfor a bright future for all of them. The event’s success wasevident in the enthusiastic participation of everyone in the

community, and the happy faces of the children were thebest reward for the organizers.

Literary evening in HermonCommunity Center

On August 1, a pho-

tographic exhibition was held in the JobClub located in VaykSSC. The exhibitionpresented works of

the photo club partici-pants, young job seek-ers from the Vayots

Dzor region. The club was conducted bySyunik’s EED volun-

teer, Sebastian Mü

llner.During the six month training period, participants learned

the principles of professional photography and gained boththeoretical and practical knowledge and skills. An audience,including community members from Vayk and neighboring

communities, attended the exhibition. The photos present-ed demonstrated the newly-attained prociency of all clubmembers in photography, which we hope will open new ca-reer opportunities for them in the future. The exhibition

marked not only the end of the photo club, but also the endof Sebastian’s one year volunteer service in Armenia.

Cleaning days in Jermuk andHermon

During thesummer months,several cleaning

activities were im-plemented in Jer-muk and Hermon,

initiated by groups

of both communi-ties’ social servicecenters and sup-

ported by SyunikNGO. Duringthe cleaning days,youth and adults came together to clean their streets and

neighborhoods. The initiative was well accepted and bothcommunities were proud of the results of their efforts:clean streets free of garbage – an issue that is important in

many rural communities.



From July 3 to July 31, Syunik NGO held its annual summercamps for children from Armenia, Georgia and ethnic mi-

norities living in Armenia and Georgia. The summer campsonce again provided unique opportunities for children tospend their summer vacation in a friendly environment and

promoted effective peace-building behavior among childrenfrom different nationalities. Various extracurricular activities were included in the program. While having fun in the camp,children also received free dental care that was provided by

Syunik in cooperation with the Armenian Dentists Associa-tion in California.

The camps’ closing ceremony took place on July 27th and was attended by many high ranking guests, including Bishop

Abraham Mkrtchyan, the Primate of Vayots Dzor Diocese,Hans-Jochen Schmidt, the German Ambassador to Arme-nia, Kalinin Mark Andreievich a representative from theRussian Embassy in Armenia, as well as Silvia Frei, Nana To-

puridze and Tamara Kandelaki representatives from HEKS,one of Syunik’s long term partners and the funding organi-zation for summer camps. Guests enjoyed the songs, dances

and performances prepared by children and they extendedtheir greetings to both the children and the organizers of thecamp. It was obvious that such a cross-border initiative has

a positive impact on children’s attitudes towards each other;such initiatives are one of the best ways to promote friendlyrelationships in the South Caucasus.

Youth Summer Camps

Syunik takes part in Joint CivicEducation initiative

From July 17 through July 24, the organizers of the JointCivic Education (JCE) initiative conducted the rst semi-nar in Georgia involving 24 participants from Armenia,

Azerbaijan and Georgia. The aim of JCE is to promoteactive citizenship education in South Caucasus by trainingyoung professionals in civic education and building a net- work among non-governmental organizations in the region.Syunik NGO was represented by Gevorg Matevosyan, who

currently works as a project assistant at the NGO. As followup to the seminar, fellows will complete a one-week intern-ship in a fellow colleague’s organization, as well as partici-

pate in a six-day training session that will summarize theresults of this initiative and discuss possibilities for futurejoint projects.

DAAD Summer

School This year the DAAD summer school for students of the

German language in Armenia and Georgia was organized

in Vayots Dzor region and it was held in Gitelik University. The summer school took place in June and consisted of ve workshops aimed at improving participants’ German lan-guage skills. Syunik NGO was a cooperating partner for the

initiative along with the Goethe Institute in Georgia and theRobert Bosch Foundation.

In July 2011, Syunik NGO opened the second Rural Com-munity Center in Vayots Dzor region in the village of Ge-tap. The center was established with the support of EED,

one of Syunik’s long-term partners. Like the Hermon Com-munity Center, which opened at the end of last year, thisCenter will also provide basic social services to communitymembers in order to solve issues that exist in the commu-nity. There is also an agricultural corner in both community

centers, which aims to provide agricultural consultancy andsupport to local farmers within the Rural Development inSeven Communities of Vayots Dzor Region initiative im-

plemented by Syunik and supported by HEKS/EPER.

The second rural communitycenter in Vayots Dzor region



Mr. Heldens (left) with farmers in the eld

From August 9-18, Mr. Frans Heldens, an advisorfrom the Netherland’s Senior Experts, was in Arme-

nia to provide consultancy to our staff members whoare involved in the Rural Development Project (RDP).

In addition to providing consultancy and advice, Mr.Heldens shared his practical and theoretical experienceand skills with the project staff and local farmers. Mr.Heldens went on several eld visits to learn about ouractivities and projects.

In the scope of the RDP, several initiatives were dis-cussed with Mr. Heldens. It was agreed that after hisreturn he would check opportunities to obtain and sendhybrid seedlings to be planted in the project nursery, as

well as organize an exchange visit of the project staff tothe Netherlands. He summed up his impression of our

NGO as follows: “I am very impressed with your orga-nization. You do a lot but there is still a lot to be done.”

A senior expert from the Netherlandsvisits Syunik NGO

In July two of our young staff members, Hasmik

Sargsyan and Marine Aghajanyan, were in Britain with

the Active Citizen initiative implemented by BritishCouncil. They visited different cities and they met theirpeer “Active Citizens” at Bradford University; they also went on a number of eld visits. The trip was an excel-lent opportunity to exchange experiences and to learnabout several local institutions in Britain.

Our young staff members’visit to Britain

Supporting other initiatives

In August Syunik hosted summer camps organizedby the Fund for Armenian Relief Armenia Ofce.Kids from socially vulnerable families and orphans

participated in a three week camp and had an opportu-nity to spend their summer vacation in a nice environ-ment full of interesting educational and extracurricularactivities.

Five different groups of dancers from Yerevan and Yeghegnadzor were hosted by Syunik in August. Theyspent a week in Syunik’s summer camp facilities andhad master classes on modern and Latino dances. Theorganizers of the initiative were pleased with the sup-

port they received from Syunik’s personnel during theirstay in the camp.

The “Hello Europe” book presentation took place in

Gitelik University on June 14. The event was organizedby Yeghegnadzor Youth Bank and Eurasia PartnershipFoundation. “Hello Europe” is a youth-oriented bookand is intended for use by high-school students in par-ticular. The event was supported by Syunik NGO staffmembers.

Summer camps

Dance trainings

Book presentation



Nara MartirosyanOfce of International & Public AffairsSyunik Benevolent NGO

Momiki St. 5, 3601 Yeghegnadzor, Vayots Dzor Province, Republic of ArmeniaBenevolent NGO

Tel/Fax: +374 (0281) 24009Email: [email protected]

Helen Lowman, Regional Director of Europe, Medi-terranean and Asia at the Peace Corps (PC) headquar-ter ofce in Washington DC, and David Lillie, CountryDirector for PC Armenia, visited Vayots Dzor regionto meet Bishop Abraham, the chairman of SyunikNGO Board. During their visit, PC ofcials were in-terested in learning about PC volunteers’ contributions

to the region and how to further develop collaborative

efforts between Peace Corps, Gitelik University andSyunik NGO, which have a long-standing relationship with each other.

In July, Syunik NGO’s senior consultant, Ingo Mül-ler, was in Armenia to conduct his regular consultancy workshop for Syunik’s staff members. The workshop

focused on external evaluation and included the analy-sis of impact indicators and a discussion of plans andstrategies for 2012-2015. The workshop provided anexcellent opportunity for our staff members to reecton current activities and to discuss the future directionof the NGO.

On July 27-28, Silvia Frei, a representative from HEKS

headquarter ofce, accompanied by Nana Topuridze and Tamara Kandelaki, representatives from the regional ofcein Georgia, visited Syunik NGO to attend the closing cer-

emony of the youth summer camps, a three-year projectfunded by HEKS. During her visit, Ms. Frei was taken on aeld trip to observe the activities being implemented withinthe Rural Development Project, another initiative support-

ed by HEKS. She visited the nursery and the demonstra-tion elds and she met with farmers involved in the project.Ms. Frei also toured the agricultural consultancy corners in

our rural community centers in Hermon and Getap. Futureplans and activities, as well as possibilities of starting a newyouth project were discussed during the visit.

Representatives from HEKS

visit Syunik NGOConsultancy workshop for Syunik

NGO staff members

Ofcials from Peace Corps meet

Bishop Abraham

Visit to Jewish cemetery

On August 30th, 2011, a group of archaeologists

from Saxony-Anhalt toured the Jewish cemetery in Yeghegis. They were very impressed with the site, bothfor its historical importance and the natural beauty of

the surrounding area. They made several suggestionsabout how to develop the site and promote tourismin the Yeghegis Valley. Their suggestions will be con-sidered as we move forward in developing the site andbecome involved in tourism promotion in the region.

Various highlights

syunik ngo newsletter issue 5

Documents