FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Birthright Armenia
Contact: Linda Yepoyan
August 19, 2009
Phone: 610-642-6633
info@birthrightarmenia.org

HOUSTONI AN VOLUNTEERS PAVE WAY FOR OTHERS

There are no official sister-city or exchange programs that bring the
youth from Texas and Armenia together. However, this didn’t stop three
enterprising young Armenians, who through community word of mouth and
outreach by former volunteers, connected with rewarding professional
internships half-way across the world. Birthright Armenia, their
sponsoring organization, is making sure their experiences are all about
immersion, allowing them to serve the homeland in their fields of interest
while sharpening their resumes and strengthening their Armenian identities.

Adrik Grigorian, Melania Melikian, and Sofia Mnjoyan are proud to be
trail blazing for other young Armenians like themselves in Houston, to
ensure this personally enriching opportunity they are living will be
experienced by many more for years to come. In fact, these three new
ambassadors agree one hundred percent participation by all 20-32 year old
Houston-Armenians should be the goal for their small, tight-knit Armenian
community. They will team up with community leaders, local media outlets
and their churches to cast a wide net and get the word out to others.
In the northern regional hub of Gyumri, which is Armenia’s second
largest city, Grigorian and Melikian, both 21, are finding their community
service assignments extremely rewarding. They are volunteers signed onto
the Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC), a non-profit organization modeled after
the U.S. Peace Corps, and both are receiving full sponsorship of their
airfare and homestay living expenses, provided by Birthright Armenia, in
exchange for their two months of volunteerism.
With a business degree and years of computer work as a hobby under his
belt, Grigorian is working at the Gyumri IT Center (GITC). `I was asked to
teach computer courses in Web design, Search Engine Optimization, and PHP,
but there is a larger problem at hand,’ Grigorian explains. `After students
would finish their two years at GITC, a large percentage of them were not
able find work. So I am teaching a class on how to find work, where to
look, and how to present and package themselves. This was the most
rewarding work, since the graduates are eager to find work and are
successful. It is definitely a moral boost for the past and future
graduates,’ he adds.
Melikian is glad to have two very different kinds of volunteer work
placements at the Houys Orphanage as well as the Shirak Competitiveness
Center (SCC). `My key responsibilities at Houys are to interact with the
children, ages 6-19, whether it be playing games with them or organizing
different activities, and at SCC, I do market research and act as a sort of
`marketing consultant.’ The work is incredibly rewarding, especially at
Houys. While SCC gives me the opportunity to see how the business sector
functions in Gyumri, working with the kids at Houys gives me a chance to
really make connections with the new generation here,’ she explains.
Mnjoyan, 23, is part of the Armenian Assembly of America’s internship
program, volunteering her services at Hoffman La Roche and Armen-Pharm, two
pharmaceutical companies in Yerevan, as well as with the Ministry of
Diaspora’s `Ari Doon’ program. She was born in Armenia, but moved to
Houston, Texas with her family as a young teen. `At Hoffman La Roche, I
help translate material from Russian and Armenian to English, and also help
edit their English correspondence. RecentlyActemra, Roche’s new drug for
rheumatoid arthritis, wasbrought to Armenia and I am working on the Russian
language brochurefor it. With the help of one of the other volunteers, we
published an informative article about Hoffman La Roche in Armenia, which
explains this new medication and howArmenians who have financial
difficulties can get help by contacting a free hotline for Hepatitis, and
how they can havefree blood work done,’ says Mnjoyan.
In addition to their busy, 30-hour work week, the volunteers attend
weekly seminars lead by historians, economists, architects and other subject
matter experts who talk current events, they learn about Armenia’s history
and culture via guided educational excursions and hook-up with Armenian
youth at every chance they get so they can better understand how their
counterpart peers live. `The weekly forums Birthright Armenia setup for us
enlightened and inspired me to form a business of some kind in the future,
anything from production to service,’ admits Grigorian. `To me Armenia is
untouched land, there is so much to expand upon. There are great and
resourceful people currently in Armenia, but it is up to us volunteers from
the Diaspora to help and show leadership,’ he continues.
Grigorian and Melikian are part of a larger group of 20 diasporan
volunteers in Gyumri, who all refer to the tremendous `southern’ hospitality
of the Gyumri residents, as well as the admirable resilience of the city
despite its tragedy and resulting hardships. `I always knew I wanted to
come to Armenia for an extended period of time and truly integrate with its
people, so doing the combination of Birthright Armenia and AVC was the
perfect fit, says Melikian. `Everywhere feels like home here in Gyumri, and
everyone treats you as if you’re family. Coming to Armenia, living in
Gyumri, traveling around the country, meeting Armenian youth just like me
from around the world, all in two months, is something I can honestly say I
am never, in my entire life, ever going to forget. I have made lifelong
friends and incredible memories that will shape my life from this point
forward. Not to mention, my experience here would be inconceivably
different if I wasn’t living in a homestay. My Gyumri family has made this
entire immersion experience one that I can set apart from those of many
others who have come to Armenia to visit or even to work. I have connected
with my family more than I ever thought possible and I know, upon returning
to Armenia in the future, they will always receive me as their daughter and
sister,’ she adds.
Grigorian seconds her sentiments about the living arrangements in
Gyumri. `My homestay family enhanced my overall experience greatly. It only
took a day after I went from a guest to a member of the family. I refer to
the members of the family as Mom, Dad, Brother and Sister. It basically all
comes down to that, we are family. My host Mom always says I am her lost
son, we look out for each other and help each other in whatever way we can.
The family I stayed with will always be in my memory and my heart. They are
people who I have gained more than just trust and respect for – they are truly
family.
That these three Houston-based young adults chose Armenia over many
other opportunities or options for the summer is admirable, but should not
be seen as sacrifice by any means. In the majority of cases, these
internships in Armenia carry far more importance in terms of their future
careers and opening of doors. Mnjoyan explains, `As a student at the
University of Texas College of Pharmacy, I had an option to do an internship
at a hospital or a pharmacy to strengthen my knowledge of the medications
and provide some necessary experience in the field of hospital or retail
pharmacy. However, I decided that it would be very exciting and interesting
to intern in pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies in Armenia, as I also
wanted to see if I could ever live and work in Armenia. Even if I became a
pharmacist in the U.S., my knowledge of Russian and Armenian would come in
handy. If I have Russian or Armenian patients, I need to have an idea about
medications used in Russia, Armenia and Europe. So my experience was not
only exciting, but also very useful for me in the future. Participating in
the program has given me hope that Armenia is in the period of its rebirth
and as a future pharmacist, and as an Armenian who loves her land and
people, I know that I will be able to play a role in the future of Armenia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress