PRESS RELEASE
BIRTHRIGHT ARMENIA
November 20, 2006
Contact: Linda Yepoyan
Phone: 610-642-6633
info@birthrightarmenia.org

BIRTHRIGHT ARMENIA NOW THRIVING YEAR-ROUND

Yerevan, Armenia – With three years of successful volunteer program
sponsorship under its belt, Birthright Armenia has proven successful once
again in bringing new volunteers to participate in the progress of the
Homeland. This year an increasing amount of diasporans are recognizing
volunteerism as more than something to fill in the summer gap and are
choosing longer stays in the colder months. The proof is in the numbers.
With fall and winter enrollments up by more than 300% from 2004, the
2006/2007 volunteer program is proving to be one of the strongest yet.

So, why are these volunteers braving the cold and putting their current
professional lives on hold to volunteer in the Homeland?
Twenty-five-year-old Armenian Volunteer Corp (AVC) volunteer Laura T. states
that she chose a year-long volunteer program because she wanted to allow
enough time to make a genuine effort to contribute to Armenia. `One of the
main factors in committing to a long-term stay in Armenia is the
understanding that building relationships and trust within a community takes
time to develop. Personally, I anticipated many significant cultural
challenges and dramatic language improvements necessary before beginning to
understand how and where to contribute.’

Recognizing that longer-term stays enhance a volunteer’s connection through
total immersion, Birthright Armenia has made a significant push this season
to attract volunteers for community service programs outside the summer
months. All signs show that their efforts are working as the group is
currently partnering with more than 15 service organizations, bringing in
volunteers from more than 12 different countries. University of Maryland
Business School graduate and AVC volunteer Sevan Ohanian says that because
he wanted the experience of living and working in Armenia for a longer
period of time, the AVC fall program allowed him the flexibility to fulfill
his goals. Both Laura and Sevan felt that volunteering after the summer
busy season when most of the short-term volunteers had already left would
actually help them achieve more stability in a new environment.

As with the summer program, volunteers participating in the fall and winter
programs are dedicating at least 30 hours per week to volunteer activities
ranging from English instruction to governmental work to environmental
preservation. In addition, they are all engaged in the supplementary
services offered by Birthright Armenia to fully immerse participants in
Armenian culture, including weekly educational forums, Eastern Armenian
language instruction, excursions to the various regions of Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabagh, and social `havaks’ that bring together diasporan
volunteers and Armenian youth. Many of the volunteers are also living with
Armenian host families for either all or part of their stay as part of
Birthright Armenia’s homestay program.

Finally fulfilling a four-year dream of visiting Armenia, Laura points out
that living in the Diaspora often portrays a skewed vision of Armenia’s
current reality based on a `collection of historical myths.’ Although Laura
feels that even a year may not be long enough, she aims to `understand the
source and necessity of the myths and differentiate between the ones that
stunt our growth and the ones that inspire us to move forward.’

Sevan also used this sort of sentiment to propel him to the Homeland. He
notes that people are often quick to criticize Armenia instead of
recognizing it as a young country just barely out of communist reign.
`Instead of criticizing Armenia, we in the Diaspora need to do everything we
can to ensure its prosperity,’ Sevan asserts.

Volunteers and working professionals such as Laura and Sevan embody exactly
the ideals Birthright Armenia is striving to instill in all diasporans – the
idea that true service to the Homeland continues even after leaving Armenia.
Laura, who is currently working with the Women’s Center at Yerevan State
University and World Vision Armenia in the Building Sustainable Livelihood
Program, says she hopes to gain insight into Armenia’s current political
situation so that she can work in the future to `support community
re-empowerment and education to influence decision-makers, locally and
nationally.’

Sevan, who is aiming to return to the U.S. fluent in Eastern Armenia, feels
that since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union, the idea of a
dedicated Motherland has become an increasing influence in the lives of all
Armenians.  `It has given us a home and a country to call our own after all
that we have been through as a nation.’ Sevan is optimistic that his time
in Armenia will help him to spread the Homeland to other diasporans.

Hopefully volunteers such as Laura and Sevan are only the beginning of a new
wave of dedication and participation in the future of Armenia. As Laura so
aptly noted, Armenia must become more than a `collection of myths’ in order
to truly bridge the gap. `Armenia has been a very vague yet ever present
state of being in our family and in my life – you just are Armenian with no
special criteria and no questions asked. I hope that my visit will bridge a
history and build a new vision of where our family has come from.’

Birthright Armenia’s mission is to strengthen ties between the homeland and
diasporan youth by affording them an opportunity to be a part of Armenia’s
daily life and to contribute to Armenia’s development through work, study
and volunteer experiences, while developing a renewed sense of Armenian
identity. Visit for more information.