Birthright Armenia Participants Find Much Warmth In The Homeland

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Linda Yepoyan
February 28, 2008
Phone: 610-642-6633
info@birthrightarmenia.org

Yerevan, Armenia-Despite frigid temperatures, sidewalks covered in
ice, and multiple layers of outerwear that can make recognition of a
familiar face out in public quite challenging, there is a handful of
diasporan volunteers who are quite hot on the Homeland. The physical
conditions associated with harsh Armenian winters seem a mere blemish
in the larger scheme of what living in Armenia has to offer them.

It is true. January, February and March are traditionally not the
most popular months of the year to be living in Armenia. However, the
current winter group of Birthright Armenia participants hailing from
Aleppo, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Scarborough, Ontario
and Edmonds, WA is getting charged emotionally and spiritually, and
is reaping the unique benefits of the off-peak immersion experience.

Areg Maghakian, Mher Azezian, Nyree Abrahamian, Viktoria Simonyan,
James Keshgegian and Ryan Weber feel pretty fortunate. Most of them
were scheduled to return to their countries of residence months ago,
but each has decided to stay on in Armenia for varying, personal
reasons. There are different aspects of living in Armenia as a
volunteer that resonate loud and clear with them. Some like the
obvious benefits their valuable community service or professional
internship will bring to the resume building process. Others thrive
on their much improved language skills. Yet others find the newfound
friendships and other soul-searching relationships they build while
volunteering in Armenia to be the most noteworthy reason they continue
to stay. And for others still, they cannot bear the idea of not being
with their homestay families who have truly made them feel at "home".
In a way, they have discovered a new home. As one volunteer noted,
"what was once a place that I associated only with my grandfather’s
stories is now very much an integral part of my own life".

Areg Maghakian and Ryan Weber were June 2007 arrivals with the Armenia
Volunteer Corps (AVC). Ryan, a native of Milwaukee, came with the
initial intent of carrying out community service for three months and
returning to the US. He stayed on an extra six months because "I loved
my work, fellow volunteers, coworkers, host family, Birthright/AVC
staff and the city and country I was living in. The only question I
was faced with when I was considering extending was "why return?" As
for Maghakian, if he finds a job that pays for his living expenses,
his plans are to stay long-term and make Armenia his home.

Newtown Square, Pennsylvania is a long way from Yerevan, but Jimmy
Keshgegian was determined to return to Armenia this winter after
spending three weeks there with the ACYOA Armenia Service Program
this past summer. Aside from an interesting job placement in the music
industry working for Sharm, there were many other facets of Armenian
life that were enticing him back. He explains, "Something about my
summer stay was not complete. I wasn’t finished yet. I could tell
there was more to it."

Nyree Abrahamian of Ontario, packed her bags for a six-month
volunteer opportunity at the Armenian Tourist Development Agency,
ending in Feburary. Chances are slim that she will be returning in
February, however. She sought and was offered employment at her
internship site as a marketing specialist, and looks forward to
staying longer-term. Says Nyree, "I’ve decided to stay and work in
Armenia. I may not know exactly what is ahead of me, but I know that
I am on the right track. I’m in the right place at the right time, and
I’ve never felt so connected to something that I care so deeply about."

To get a much richer and truer sense of what life in Armenia
is like, Birthright Armenia, together with one of its sponsored
organizations, the Armenian Volunteer Corps, actively promotes and
sponsors volunteerism during the non-summer months. As one volunteer
recently stated, "If it weren’t for Birthright Armenia and AVC,
visiting Armenia would be comparable to seeing Paris in August – not
the most true picture of what that city and its people are all about ."

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. For more information, or to make an
online donation, please visit our web site at
<http://www.birthrigh tarmenia.org/> .

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