September October 2012 #3

Upcoming Clubs

Mondays:

14:00 – International Club

(Sona Sahakyan)

16:00 – English for beginners

(Volodya Khachatryan)

17:30 – Conversational English

(Kimberly VanKirk)

Tuesdays:

15:00 – Spanish Club

(Anna Harutyunyan)

16:00 – English for beginners

(Volodya Khachatryan)

Wednesdays:

15:00 – Turkish Club

(Yeranuhi Hovhannisyan)

Thursdays:

16:30 – Farsi Club

(Galya Hovhannisyan)

More info on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/

groups/yic.members.group/

with

As part of YIC’s mission to develop and promote active citizenship and

participation among youth, the organization offers youth a variety of opportunities to

become involved in events, activities, and trainings happening in Armenia and across

Europe.

One of the latest opportunities was the training course “Peace Initiatives - Conflict

Management Skills - Youth Participation in Conflict Transformation,” that took place

in Tbilisi, Georgia from September 18th – 26th. The training brought 28 European

youth workers- representing over 10 different countries- together in order to foster a

cross-cultural dialogue and allow the participants to share and exchange approaches

to youth participation in conflict regions. YIC members Armine Khachatryan and

Suzan Muradyan attended from Armenia.

Using a variety of non-formal education methods - including simulation exercises,

group work, debates, theatre, and evaluation - the training focused on how to

strengthen the role of young people in peace-building activities in regions of conflict.

The training also provided participants with the opportunity to visit some local

historical places and learn about the culture and history of Georgia, as well as to

introduce their own countries and cultures to each other during an Intercultural

Night.

The training was implemented by the Slovak-Georgian Society in cooperation with

the Academy for Peace and Development in Georgia.

Armine Khachatryan and Suzan Muradyan

Training Course in Georgia

Conflict Transformation

During the month of September, YIC was busy preparing

for the arrival of the new European Voluntary Service

volunteers- five of them, all from different countries. This

time, YIC will be hosting volunteers from Denmark, Poland,

Austria, Romania, and Portugal.

The volunteers will work on projects to raise European

awareness and encourage cultural exchange in Gyumri. The

project is a response to a strong interest in- and the need to

facilitate access to- European culture, particularly for young

people from disadvantaged backgrounds, which will largely be

done through the framework of “European Corner” at YIC.

Additionally, during their service in Gyumri, the volunteers

will organize language and cultural clubs at YIC to teach

members about their respective cultures and languages.

The project also aims to enlarge the scope of knowledge of

local youth about European citizenship, to inform youth

about other cultures, and to help others recognize that what is

different is not necessarily wrong; rather, it is an opportunity

to acquire new knowledge and understanding. The project will

actively involve local youth in creating their own future

through developing their personal lives and contributing to

the community in which they live.

Besides the activities and information from “European

Corner,” the volunteers will work at local secondary schools

and universities, where they will interact directly with local

students. The project will also be part of a wider campaign

aimed at promoting youth activity and volunteerism in

Armenia. Nelli Minasyan

EVS Hosting

Mixture of Cultures in Gyumri

Above: YIC’s five EVS-volunteers (from left to right): Kristoffer

from Denmark, Luís from Portugal, Aleksandra from Poland,

Victoria from Austria and Iustina from Romania.

Left: The EVS-volunteers are hosting European Club every

Thursday at 15.00, starting from Thursday 1st November. Watch

the video commercial here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-2H_p26zQs

Let the SUN shine brighter for EVERYONE

Since April 2012, YIC volunteer Syuzanna Galstyan has

been participating in the Joint Civic Education (JCE) country

program. Within the framework of this program, which

included training in project management, Syuzanna and

Karine Mkhitaryan (another program participant) designed

and implemented a project at the F. Nansen boarding school

in Gyumri. The project was called “Let the SUN shine

brighter for EVERONE,” with the idea that all children are

born with equal rights and the sun must shine “equally

bright” for everyone.

There are not many boarding schools in Gyumri, but within

the few that do exist many of the children do not have the

opportunity to work or cooperate with people outside of the

boarding school, which can cause many of them to feel cut

off from society. The project therefore aimed at providing the

opportunity for children at the boarding schools to cooperate

with other children in a way which- to some extent – would

help facilitate and smooth the process of social integration.

Through encouraging this cooperation, the project also aimed

at developing the children’s communication and team-work

skills.

The project consisted of the following stages:

• getting to know each other through juggling activities and

interactive games

• teaching stencil art

• exhibition of the children’s artwork

• presentation of the project at Youth Initiative Centre

Originally only 15 children were scheduled to take part in

the project, but due to the children’s strong interest and

desire to participate, more than 15 children were involved. In

the weeks since the workshop, some of the participants have

continued to keep in touch with each other, which

demonstrates the success of the workshop in achieving it’s

aims.

The project also sparked the enthusiasm of some youth and

provided motivation for them to become more active. Several

local and international YIC volunteers were involved in the

project, and many of the local volunteers showed great

interest in taking part in the JCE program. Due to the level of

interest, Syzanna Galstyan led a follow-up workshop at the

YIC office to provide information about JCE, the available

country and cross-border programs, project management

training, and information about her own project.

Syuzanna Galstyan

Near the end of September, residents of Gyumri had a

unique opportunity to see the city from a new perspective -

through art. Flavie Laporte, a French EVS volunteer working

at YIC, wanted to organize a project during her voluntary

service that combined artwork and cultural exchange. To do

that, she arranged an art residency project for three French

artists from the Pas Vu Pas Pris Association in Allevard,

France. From September 20th - 29th, these artists stayed in

Gyumri and worked with three Armenian artists from the 5th

Floor Cultural Group.

The project was designed to encourage art awareness and

understanding, and aimed to increase accessibility to art and

culture. During the first few days of the project, one of the

visiting artists- a French sculptor named Sophie Dody -

invited local youth to learn about visual art through an

interactive, four-day workshop. Together, participants

designed an original, life-sized statue of a woman made only

from wire and coloured paper. For participant and YIC

member Gagik Grigoryan, the workshop was a new

experience, unlike anything he had done before. Afterward,

the youth participants presented their artwork at a local

exhibition at the Berlin Art Hotel.

Meanwhile, the French and Armenian artists also created

their own artistic pieces, each designed to show the

contrasting landscapes of Gyumri. During this process, the

artists visited the district of Mush, where they collected

various discarded objects and materials – including pieces of

cement, metal scraps, and trash to be recycled for use in their

artwork. The final exhibition of the artists’ work, entitled

“Building Ruins,” included live performance, installation art,

photography, and video. It was open to the public from

September 28th through October 4th at the Style Gallery in

Gyumri.

Kim VanKirk

Art Residency in Gyumri

We caught the member of July, Arthur Yessayan, for an interview:

How did you find YIC?

My friend Anna told me about it.

What is the best thing about YIC?

YIC manages to bring together open-minded young people

with a new way of thinking, and I really like to communicate

and cooperate with them. YIC joined together young people

with a non-standard way of thinking and free mentality, who

are different from the majority of society and the standard

way of thinking; and I like to communicate and work with

these people.

What is the most important thing you have learnt at

YIC?

I think YIC has taught me to identify stereotypes and apply

a comprehensive approach to resist those stereotypes that

could have detrimental effects on society.

What do you like the least at YIC?

YIC has many members, and many of them don’t know

each other. I am sure that if we could become acquainted with

each other and put together our efforts, it would greatly

facilitate YIC in achieving its intended goals.

What future plans do you have connected with YIC?

I would like to become more actively involved in the

projects.

What hobbies do you have?

I am always trying to do things that I really enjoy, and when

it is possible I am also trying not to do things that I don’t like.

In this sense, it is pertinent to say that my job is, at the same

time, one of my hobbies. Apart from my job, there are things

that can be considered hobbies. As my job is very closely

related to computers and technology, my hobby also has tight

connections to those things. I am fond of surfing the Internet

and finding all that is beautiful and noteworthy, and storing all

that stuff in my computer.

What is your profession and where do you work?

I work at Shirak Technologies in Gyumri as a Hardware

Design Engineer and Programmer. I graduated from the

faculty of Radio-Physics at Yerevan State University, with a

major in Microelectronics. Then I studied programming and

electronics for two years, specializing in Hardware

Description Languages at the Gyumri Information

Technologies Center.

Is there anything at YIC you would like to change?

First of all, YIC implements a great number of projects

which can have a very positive impact on society in general,

and young people in particular. But these programs typically

involve YIC members and other young people who don’t

need to change their way of thinking. So I think it is very

important to involve young people in these projects who

really do need to change their mentality.

The profile of a volunteer should have a positive character

for the society. In this regard I can offer you to create the

internet video-blog and to

promote it through different

types of media. The second issue

I would like to speak about is that

sometimes successful models are

not followed. YIC has many

international volunteers and YIC

can achieve its goals with their

help.

I would like to emphasize two points which, from my

viewpoint, YIC could give some consideration. First, I think

YIC has an aim to make positive strides toward a better

society with more young people involved in volunteering.

Though YIC implements many youth projects in which its

members can participate, young people who are not YIC

members are often quite unaware of them. So the first point is

to raise the awareness of other young people about the

opportunities through YIC. I would suggest organizing a

video blog where all the YIC activity could be shown.

Additionally, there could be TV and radio programs which

could inform about the activities of YIC.

The second point I would like to mention, again from my

subjective point of view, is the fact that YIC doesn’t always

follow the best practices of, for example, foreign NGO’s in

solving common problems, though it hosts many international

volunteers from different NGO’s around the world. At least

in resolving some technical, managerial, and development

tasks that are common across the globe, such an approach is

ubiquitous.

Why should people be aware of YIC?

The importance of being aware of YIC, in my deep

persuasion, rests on the possibility that young people who are

not YIC members could imitate YIC members in their style of

acting and living. Interviewed by Nune Minasyan

Interview with the member of July - Arthur Yessayan

Contacts

Address: Shirakatsi 177a, apt.2, Gyumri 3118, Armenia

E-mail: yic_ngo@yahoo.com

Website: www.yic.am

Tel/Fax: +374 312 4-94-97

EVS Sending

Vanuhi volunteering in Spain

Hi! I am Vanuhi, and I am doing my European Voluntary Service in Santander, Spain. I began my EVS in August 2012 and will

complete it in January 2013. Santander is very nice, and a comfortable place for EVS. I work with blind people here as part of my

volunteering service. I often accompany them and help with their daily tasks. Sometimes we just go for walks and spend nice

time together. It´s very interesting to work with blind people, and to see how independent and creative they are. I am happy to

.

have such friends! Working

with them also helps me

learn more about the

traditional and modern

lifestyles of Spanish people in

the region of Cantabria.

Soon, I will also start art-

therapy workshops for

Spanish people in Armenian

language.

The first weeks of my

service were difficult, but

with the help of local people

and other volunteers I

overcame all the difficulties

and now I enjoy my

volunteering. EVS has given

me an opportunity to

develop myself both

personally and professionally.

“EVS es fantabulosa”

(fantastic & fabulous)!!!!!

Vanuhi Shushanyan