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QUARTERLY NEWSLETTERAutumn 2015, Issue 21

Peace Park in Yeghegnadzor “In current times, the two main threats to our planet are environmental issues and the dissolution of peace through war and terrorism. Each of us is responsible for working towards solutions for these problems. Our world begins from each person’s own motherland, home, and backyard. Together, the community of Yeghegnadzor established a Peace Park in our yard.

Let the ‘Peace’ sprouts of our trees cover the entire planet.” These are the words of the young people fromthe Vayots Dzor region who implemented the project, “Establishment of Peace Park,” on November 27th, 2015. The initiative was brought to life as part of the “Youth for Peace Project” implemented by Syunik NGO with the strong support of the mayor’s office of Yeghegnadzor. The trees were provided by Pfr. Karl-Heinz Scheide. Together with school children and kids from the local kindergarten, the idea to plant trees in the promotion of peace was created, conducted, and celebrated. Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, Head of the Vayots Dzor Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Mr. Vardan Avagyan, Deputy Mayor of Yeghegnadzor, Syunik NGO Staff, Syunik NGO Georgian partner Kristina Arakelova, and Peace Corps Volunteer Brooke Burrows, all joined together to make the initiative possible.Each tree of the Yeghegnadzor Peace Park carries a small peace message, ideas that will hopefully grow as strong and tall as the trees planted next to them.

Field Visit for Farmers “Being a farmer has been my occupation for the last few years. I don’t have a big farm now but I want to have a big farm which will help me earn more money later on,” noted one local farmer. Like during summer and spring, farmers remain very busy in autumn. In autumn, farmers are tasked with planting trees and pruning their gardens. But in order to do these jobs in the most effective way possible, farmers can benefit from the theoretical teachings and hands-on demonstrations of agriculature experts. Syunik NGO took five beneficiary farmers to a two day seminar organized in Yerevan by Shen NGO. The seminar aimed at providing appropriate technologies and equipment to the farmers across Armenia. Thirty seven farmers were introduced to the agricultural machines of SPECMASH Company and the agricultural tools and equipment of the My Garden store. During the Yerevan visit the farmers had a chance to tour the New Fruit dried plant facility and the Natali

Agro plant treatment shop. These educational seminars help to build the capacity of our local farmers, providing them with tools they can later use to create bigger, more productive farms.

Peaceful Change through Understanding Training Course

development, I also chose the path of social activism. I have founded a non-governmental organization (NGO) “Youth for Diplomatic Engagement” that focuses on youth involvement in public diplomacy and security issues in Georgia and in the South Caucasus” noted Kristina Arakelova.The project was attended by university students and young leaders actively involved in non-governmental organizations both in Armenia and Georgia. The support of Germany, one of the main driving forces in the European Union, for a project that would help lead to improved recognition and relationships between these two ancient countries of the Caucasus, indicates a welcoming of the countries into the larger European network. The final ceremony and cultural celebration of the training course was attended by many high ranked guests including Abraham Archbishop Mkrtchyan, head of the Vayots Dzor Diocese, representatives from the local government, Sveta Dovlatyan, editor of the regional newspaper Vartadzor, Kristina Arakelova, president of Youth for Diplomatic Engagement, partner NGO in Georgia, and Tilo Krausse, Syunik NGO’s German consultant. The project coordinator, as well as many of the guests, proclaimed their well wishes to the participants and highlighted the importance of sustainability of the peace-building partnership.

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“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9In current times the promotion and strengthening of a culture of peace has become an important and necessary condition all over the world. Syunik NGO’s youth programs and initiatives are guided by the goal of promoting a culture of peace and strengthening harmonious relationships locally, nationally, and internationally. 2010 was a new start for Syunik NGO to carry out summer academies on conflict analysis, conflict management, and conflict transformation for active Armenian and Georgian youth leaders as well as for ethnic minorities living in these countries. Due to the consistent work of Syunik NGO, the “Peaceful Change through Understanding” project was brought to life, and successfully promoted intercultural dialogue and peaceful conflict resolution. The training course was held in the Lucy Tour Hotel Resort in Hermon

Village, Vayots Dzor Region, from the 22nd to 28th of November with financial support from the German Foreign Office. The partner organization of the project was Youth for Diplomatic Engagement, Georgia. President of the organization, Kristina Arakelova, was our cross-border peace project alumni in 2011 who implemented the project with financial support from Ifa. “I got my first degree in a somewhat different area of social science and art history. In 2012 I participated in a cross-border ToT on peace by Syunik NGO. Syunik NGO was a great boost to proceeding with my professional development and career. It played fundamental role on my future professional education and in 2013 I did receive my Master in International Relations and Caucasian Studies. In all my activities I have demonstrated my ability to work hard under time pressure, in small and bigger teams, and in various cultural environments. Together with my professional

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Success Story: Peace Building Trainings Supported by BfdW For many years, Syunik-Development NGO has organized international, cross-border, and local trainings for people active in the field of youth development. This kind of initiative allows youth to become more actively involved in their societies. Syunik-Development NGO aims at building the capacities of young people who are the future of our countries. In the summer of 2012 in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia, a one-week training on peace building for young leaders and journalists from different regions of Armenia and Georgia was organized by Syunik in the frame of Social Development Programme with financial support of BfdW. Giorgi Tumasyan, an ethnic Armenian young leader from the capital of Georgia,

Tbilisi, was one of the many program participants. “The skills acquired during the training provided an opportunity for me to strengthen my efforts in the field of peace-building. Specifically, by using conflict-resolution and leadership skills obtained as a consequence of participation in the summer peace building trainings, I have organized a number of events related to promoting peace in Georgia and all the Caucasus” noted Giorgi Tumasyan.Building off the successes from his initial peace building training experience, Giorgi has been able to continue his work through ever-increasingly important career positions, becoming the representative of the international organization Universal Peace Federation to Georgia, which actively engages issues of peace and security worldwide. Besides this, Giorgi founded the Peace Foundation, a non-governmental organization operating in Georgia that plans to help contribute to the peaceful settlement of both internal and local conflicts.Like for Giorgi, the peace building trainings have helped other participants to become more involved in the process of building peace, allowing them to take part in international conferences in the USA, member countries of the European Union, Israel, and other countries across the entire world.

Syunik NGO Hosted its Moldavian Partners A three-year agricultural project entitled “Improvement of the Livelihood of Rural Households in Vayots Dzor and Gegharkunik Marzes through Horticulture Development” is currently funded by HEKS-EPER and has been implemented since January 2015. In relation to the development of this project, Syunik NGO hosted its Moldavian partners on October 12th, 2015. The aim of the visit was to exchange experiences and organize field visits for the interested work partners. The guests first visited Syunik NGO’s headquarter office where they were introduced to the programs and projects implemented by Syunik. After this meeting the guests visited Syunik NGO’s demonstration plot and had the opportunity to learn about the history of agriculture development in the Vayots Dzor region. The guests were introduced to Syunik NGO’s agricultural developing project as well as their

previously implemented projects and achievements. In the words of one beneficiary farmer, ”This kind of exchange is a good chance for us to get to know each other as well as to share experiences and learn from each other”.

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Bakery Vocational Center in Vayk Community Center In the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia, the small town of Vayk continues to struggle against unemployment, especially for women. The issue of high unemployment for women is correlated not only with an absence of job placements, but also with a lack of applied education and qualifications for women in the labor market, women’s social isolation in the business sphere, a conservative family mentality, and a lack of elder and child care services. In order to address this gap, Syunik NGO implemented a number of relevant trainings on cooking and baking for women aged 30-55 in the Vayk community. With financial support from Brot für die Welt, Syunik NGO brought to life a social enterprise based on baking in the Vayk Community Center in order to apply women’s skills gained during the trainings.

The bakery production consists of two objectives. The first objective is to provide a platform for young women to participate in practical training-courses on how to bake and the second is the creation of a new bakery capable of producing various baked goods (cakes, pies, sweets and etc.). It is worth mentioning that profits received from the bakery will be directed towards community development projects organized by Syunik NGO. This initiative will provide an opportunity for at least seven women to work at the bakery and have income which will help them support their families financially. This initiative is one of the main strategic components of Syunik NGO to empower women’s participation in social and economic development at a local level.This new bakery will help to decrease unemployment problems in the city of Vayk by employing local women.

The Beekeeper Club Recently, in the frame of Social Development programme, Syunik NGO announced a call for applications for people interested in beekeeping. The aim of the Beekeeper Club is to give information on beekeeping to people interested not only in the traditional but also new technologies of beekeeping. The club also aims to give necessary information about how to increase honey production as well as how to

develop different bee-breeds. In addition, the club will give information about the separate stages of honey production, the harvesting and processing of beeswax, and the ways in which the diseases of bees can be combatted. Finally, the best Beekeeper Club participants will be given a beehive from Syunik NGO in appreciation for their hard work.

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Bio Humus Production Training for Farmers

Each year Ecolab (Armenian country program of Joint Civic Education) announces its acceptance of applicants, selecting 25-30 bright young people to participate in three seminars on topics such as environmental issues, sustainable development, and project design and management. This year Hasmik Galstian, a Syunik NGO staff member, participated in the Ecolab program and developed a small project entitled Bio Humus. Using the Ecolab framework and in collaboration with Shen NGO, a one-day seminar was organized in the Vayots Dzor region for people

living in Yeghegnadzor and surrounding villages on November 18th. During the seminar, participants were introduced to the technologies needed to make bio humus and were instructed on how to use compost as an organic fertilizer for farming. After the theoretical part of the training, participants had a chance to visit the demonstration orchard of Syunik NGO and see the process of making compost. Participants were also given informational material to be used later on in their own processes of making bio humus and compost.

Syunik NGO Staff Trainings and Activitiesworking in the field of youth development. HEKS- EPER Head Office Switzerland in cooperation with HEKS- EPER South Caucasus conducted three days of training on Project Cycle Management in October 2015 for the staff of HEKS EPER South Caucasus’ partner organizations. Syunik NGO staff members Naira Harutyunyan, Arus Nersisyan and Hasmik Galstyan participated in the training course. The trainings were held by the representative of HEKS EPER Switzerland, Kimon Shneider and the Regional Director of HEKS-EPER South Caucasus, Nana Topuridze.

From November 5th to 11th, 2015 a seminar entitled “EmPOWERing YOUth” was held in Krakow, Poland. The seminar was organized around the Erasmus+ Program initiated by Stowarzyszenie WIOSNA Organization. The project gathered together 27 participants from nine countries including Poland, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania and Turkey. Syunik NGO staff members Tatevik Harutyunyan, Naira Harutyunyan and Gohar Karapetyan presented on behalf of Armenia during the seminar. The seminar aimed at building strategic partnership between organizations

Office of International & Public AffairsSyunik Development NGOMomiki St.5, 3601 YeghegnadzorVayots Dzor Province, Armenia

Tel/Fax:+374(281) 20409Email: oipa.syunikngo@yahoo.comEmail: gevorg.syunikngo@gmail.comwww.syunikngo.weebly.com

Syunik NGO PR Manager: Gevorg MatevosyanEditor-in-Chief: Nara Martirosyan, Sam Houston State University

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Theater Performance

Nowadays in addition to the traditional musical, dramatic and puppetry theater forms, new theater methods based on innovative technologies are also developing. One of these new methods is “Kropka Theater,” created in Sydney, Australia, by Polish actress Jolanta Juszkiewicz, which emphasizes an organic approach to text recitation and acting. With the help of different artists from different cultures, Jolanta developed new working methods for demonstrating the spontaneous and rhythmic qualities of the body. Kropka theater performances held in English have already been organized in Australia, Poland, Romania, France, Germany, Iran, Kosovo, Karabakh, Armenia and other countries. The Kropka theater’s main activity in Armenia was implemented in the city of Yeghegnadzor, Vayots Dzor Region. On October 8th, after a 20 day preparatory training period, the final performance entitled “The Identity Woven into the Carpet” was held in the Gitelik University of Yeghegnadzor.The performance was initiated and implemented by Jolanta Juskievichi with the support of the Ministry

of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, the Polish Embassy, and Syunik-Development NGO. Following the training period, four talented Armenian members of the Yeghegnadzor Community Center, Siran Vardanyan, Narek Babayan, Harut Hovhannisyan, Artak Babayan, as well as Arine Sukiasyan from Yerevan, presented the performance. Among the guests were Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, head of the Vayots Dzor Diocese, and Ara Harutyunyan, head of the Mim Studio Theater Group. After the performance, Mr. Harutyunyan donated his time to talk with the students, giving them necessary and important professional advice. Following their Yeghegnadzor performance, the group was also given a chance to perform in the Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinematography, later discussing their performance with current Institute students. Yeghegnadzor’s Kropka theater group was praised for their dedication and talent, having discovered and demonstrated their artistic abilities in such a short time period and without the help of a formal theater arts education.