Goris Camp

So about 2 weeks ago i did a camp in a town 45 min south of where i live. The camp was amazing, and I think it was one of the best programs I have been able to be apart of, if not the best. Enjoy!

In August 2011, Partnership and Teaching NGO implemented a five-day leadership camp entitled “We Are Our Future” in the town of Goris of Armenia’s Syunik marz. Designed by the organization’s Peace Corps Volunteer, Austin Sherwindt, the goal of the camp was to increase the level of understanding and mutual respect between students of the Goris community, irrespective of physical, mental, or socioeconomic differences, while simultaneously promoting the ideas of cooperation and leadership. Held in Goris’ School No. 6, 36 children (ages 11 – 14) participated in the weeklong camp, of which 12 of the children were disabled and/or disadvantaged. The theme of the camp was relating our own structure to that of the earth, working from the inside out.

Using interactive lessons and informational seminars, the first two days of the camp focused on our personal health (knowledge, ideas, and physical health) and the proceeding two on our roles as citizens, both in our communities and the world. Each day, the children participated in a variety of leadership and teambuilding exercises, arts and crafts, and informational seminars presented by guest speakers from local organizations such as the Goris Women’s Resource Center and Goris’ Human Rights NGO. Topics covered included Leadership, Group Dynamics, Healthy Lifestyles (Nutrition, Exercise, Anti-Smoking, Anti-Drinking), HIV / AIDS Awareness, Civil Society, Project Design and Management, Environmental Problems in Armenia, Diplomacy, and Human Rights and Discrimination.

On the final day of the camp, the three teams of participants implemented the civil service projects that had designed throughout the camp. Team “Sphinx” went on an anti-smoking campaign throughout Goris, talking to local shop owners and community members about the dangers of smoking cigarettes. Team “Eagles” cleaned up a local tourist attraction and posted anti-littering information. Team “Smilers” (which was my team! and we won the week for the most points! whoop whoop) traveled to two kindergartens to teach 85 children about basic hand washing and teeth-brushing.

Heghineh Hovsepyan, one of the camp counselors, stated, “I am very happy for this experience. In the five-day period, the children learned to love and respect one another and how to work as a team in different situations. Most importantly, the children learned that they are responsible for building their future and, in doing so, that each one of them can be a leader.”

In May 2011, Partnership and Teaching NGO (P&T NGO) with the cooperation of World Vision’s Sisian ADP concluded their “Building DPO Outreach for Greater Disability Inclusiveness” project, which was designed to promote inclusive education in the Goris and Sisian regions. Coming off the heels of this initiative, the We Are Our Future summer camp was intended to foster an opportunity for disabled and disadvantaged children to work alongside student council representatives from those schools practicing inclusive education. This camp was done with the support of many different organizations, including representatives of P&T NGO, World Vision’s Sisian ADP, Peace Corps Volunteers, and Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States.

Summer Time in Armenia

Barev Reader,

So I know I havent blogged in a while. Sorry about that. It has been a busy summer. Had a surprise visit to America for 2 weeks, which was epic. The new training group of volunteers were swore in about a week ago, welcome to Armenia A-19's. Said goodbye to a lot of friends that were finishing their 2 years in Armenia, good luck A-17's. And helped out with 2 camps. One in Vanadzor which is about 6 hours north, and the other was in Goris, about 45 min south of Sisian. This post I will talk about the Vanadzor camp, and expect a post about the Goris camp within the week.

From August 8th to August 11th, Peace Corps volunteers, in collaboration with the Vanadzor YMCA, ran a hip-hop dance camps for all interested youth. 20 community members, ranging in age from 12 to18, participated. The camp was designed to promote healthylifestyles, individual self-expression, and confidence among the future leaders of Armenia, as well as increase the understanding of hip-hop culture, a widely misunderstood global phenomenon whose roots lie in America. Volunteers Maggie Woznicki (A-18, Sevan) and AlexLord (A-18, Sisian) choreographed and taught a hip-hop dance, and volunteer Matthew Crowley-Miano (A-18, Ijevan) ran sessions on b-boying, more commonly known as breakdancing. Micahel Zier (A-18,Vanadzor) provided rhythm demonstrations, and Kath Lestina (A-18,Vanadzor) facilitated. The camp originated from an expression of interest by the members of the Vanadzor YMCA during this summer’s Border2Border project, and culminated in a final presentation by the participants on the new skills they had developed during the camp.The community response was highly positive, and it is hoped that these camps will continue to run, both in Vanadzor and in other interested sites.

I had alot of fun teaching the YMCA children about dancing. The great part was that not only did we teach them a dance, which they rocked at, we also taught them the culture of Hip-Hop and the evolution of dance. Where it came from, the major influences, and where it is right now. The kids we so excited and interested, I hope we get to do this camp again. There is a video on FB of the kids doing there dance, hope you check it out! It was a long week, and our legs were tired, but the entire group enjoyed every minute of it, as well as all the PCV's. Hope to do it again soon!

READ!!!! Great Project in Armenia!

Thanks to Amanda Pascal at the YIC in Gyumri, Armenia. Got her project on CNN!

Click to Watch

Success Story, Here it is People

So i wrote this kind of as a report for our VAC committee in country as a success story, thats why its in 3rd person. I dont actually think im cool enough to talk in 3rd person about myself. Also, sorry it has been so long since i have written, and the quality (literal writing quality) is not good in this one. I pounded it out cause it was due the next morning.

On April 30 and May 1st, the Sport and Culture Progress of Sisian NGO organized the 1st "Kick The Habit" Anti-smoking/Importance of Exercising, Mini-Football Tournament in Sisian. This tournament was organized by PCV Alex Lord, with the help of Davit Hambardzumy

an, Director of the NGO and Alex's CP. It was for boys and girls, and they were divided into 2 age groups: 9-12, 13-15. We used a field that was constructed by the Armenian Football Federation in 2007, which they built for the Sisian Community. This field is a mini-football field, allowing each team to have 4 players on the field, and 3 substitutes waiting. The turn-out was great.

We advertised to all Sisian schools, as well as over a dozen Villages surrounding Sisian. The feedback was enormous, and we had over 20 teams participate in the event: 19 boys teams, and 3 girls teams. That is over 154 Sisian youth that played, participated, and was educated on the Anti-Smoking and Importance of Exercise information we were handing out. They were from multiple villages, as well as over a dozen different schools.

We also had an Armenia vs America game where PCV's Alex Lord, Tylor Dodge, Alex Schellhaus, Joel Gillen, and Bill Simonson all played against an Armenian team. The final score was a tie between the 2 nations: 11-11. The other PCV's were in attendance because they were helping organize, referee, hand out educational materials, and register teams. Also in Attendance was the Sisian Mayor, Sisian Football Coach, over a half a dozen local teachers, as well as over 150 spectating children, in addition to the 154 playing in the tournament. This event was so successful, we have been asked to repeat the event every year, and multiple times a year if possible.

"I think the best part for me was when I saw the girls teams playing. I think this was the first time in these girls' lives they have ever played an organized, real game of football with a referee, and most importantly without any boys on the field. They looked so happy, next time we are going to organize a tournament for only girls." Alex Lord

The winners of each division received a certificate of participation for each player, and each team received a trophy for winning their division.

Hope Floats

So being in the Peace Corps has made me realize alot about myself, and more importantly, what I want to do later in life. I work at an organization called the "Sport and Culture Progress of Sisian" Non-Governmental Organization, and I have officially changed me Peace Corps Assignment from Community Health Extension, to Community Outreach Generalist. This means that I am switching from a Health Sector Volunteer to a Community & Business Development Volunteer. This is because they stopped the Health Sector here in Armenia with Peace Corps.

This happening has made me branch out and do other things that I have never done. Luckily, my situation keeps me involved with sports, which I have always loved. And after doing a few different things, I realized Sports is what I want to do. And not just coaching or working, but Sports Development. And for this I would like to stay in the international setting and do International Sports Development. Maybe not living abroad forever, but maybe working with an Organization that is based in the US but travels abroad to do Sports Development. I really enjoy giving other people the opportunity to play organized sports, and get everything that I got out of it. I think it is very important what you can learn through sports: Teamwork, Confidence, Self-Worth, Decision Making Skills, the Obvious Physical Benefits, etc. These things cannot always be picked up in the classroom. Im excited about this because it feels good to know what I want to do.

As I was reading some Sports News on the Internet, I read an article called "Hope Floats." This article, posted here, is about a small fishing island in Thailand that the entire village is made of houses and walkways on stilts. They have no actual soil. And the local children watched soccer but had never played it. So they made a floating field out of old fishing boats, wood, and nails. They went on to become the champions of the Southern Thailand Soccer League in 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, and 2010. And they never got an actual field.

This is the type of stuff that motivates me, it shows me that sports can not only change an individual, but an entire community. The power of sports is generally not realized and not many see the potential it can have.

I'll post the article again. Click to Read the article, and watch the video.

Not The Normal Post, But A Must Read... and Listen

So my mother has been getting on to me about updating my blog. I know I have been quite slack about it lately, but you can take that as a good thing. Meaning that maybe I am so busy with spreading peace throughout the world... I dont have time to blog. Maybe my projects are going so well, and I am putting so much of my Western Education to work, that I dont have the mental stamina to blog.... So here is something a little different. You may never know....

I am a music dependant personality. Music can influence positively or negatively my mood. I love music. And when I hear albums like Esperanza Spalding's self-titled album... i know music loves me too. If you have never heard of Esperanza Spalding, click here and read, now you do.

I first fell in love with her about 5 months ago. Thanks to those geeks at the iTunes Genius Sidebar, she came up as an "Artist I should know" when I was listening to other music similar to hers. And i similar to hers and not the same as hers, because nothing compares. I listened to one song, and I was hooked. So i downloaded her album "Esperanza," and my early suspicions were confirmed, I had fallen for a girl from Portland.

Now one reason I am smitten over her is because of this...

Even if she didnt sing like a carmel covered angel and play that bass, I feel i still have good justification for my infatuation. Just look at that hair.

For you people that need proof of her entrance into the music scene... she just won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Click here and read. BAM, try that on for size.

The Basics. Ok, So, Here We Go.

She is a 26-year old, classically trained jazz/chamber music fusion musician, singer, and composer. Having attended the Berklee Academy of Music, where she immediately became a professor after graduating at 20, she began to travel with well known jazz musicians, and then the President.

These are my 2 favorite songs by her, but you should download everything she has. I celebrate her entire catalogue... (Meeting With The Bob's Reference if you are cultured enough) Click, Watch, but above all just Listen and Enjoy :)

Ponta De Areia

Precious

Armenia: Poor and Unhappy... They said it, not me

I saw an interesting post by a friend on Facebook, and decided to do some research about the subject. This comes from www.worldvaluessurvey.org. The title of the article is, "Development, Freedom, and Rising Happiness: A Global Perspective (1981–2007)."

The article challenges the current idea about how happiness is believed to be at a set level and revolving around a set point, and that individuals or societies can not change this. However, this article goes on to argue that through such changes like democratization, economic development, and increased social tolerance have increased the extent to which people perceive that they have free choice, which in turn has led to higher levels of happiness around the world.

Because the happiness levels of given societies do not seem to change over time, the idea that economic development brings rising happiness has been widely rejected. Although richer nations show that they have a higher subjective well-being than poorer countries, these differences may reflect cultural differences in what happiness means.

"The people of high-income countries are much happier and are more satisfied with life than are the people of low-income countries, and the differences are substantial. In Denmark, 52% of the public indicated that they were highly satisfied with their lives (placing themselves at 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale), and 45% said they were very happy. In Armenia, only 5% were highly satisfied with their lives, and just 6% were very happy. In contrast to the small income-linked differences usually found within most countries, the cross-national differences are extremely large."

It goes on to explain that this survey was not allowed into the ex-communist societies until after the collapse, so the long-term data can not be taken.

"But let us note that Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine all have shown much lower levels of Subjective Well-Being than their economic levels would predict... ...We suspect that these low levels reflect the traumatic experiences linked with the collapse of communism."

I havent asked an Armenia if they are happy, specifically. But I have always stated that they will always give you an answer of hardship. Whenever I ask certain community members how things are going, they always answer with, "Its cold... We have no work... It was a bad year for fruit, last year was better..." or some type of answer always on the negative point of view. This is kind of disconcerting, even when I explain that I came here to help, and that I think there is opportunity to do many things here, they always tell me that there is no hope for Sisian.

I dont write this to show how negative Armenians are, or to express that I think this country is hopeless. I write it to show what we are up against. This is the statistic my friend posted:

According to World Values Surveys from 1995 to 2007, the 10 unhappiest places on Earth are:
1. Zimbabwe, 2. Armenia, 3. Moldova, 4. Belarus, 5. Ukraine, 6. Albania, 7. Iraq, 8. Bulgaria, 9. Georgia, 10. Russia.

Do you notice how many of them are CIS countries? (Commonwealth of Independent States) ...Google it...

People talk about other places in the world that need help, and ask me why I was sent to an area that in Peace Corps is coded as "The Caucus Region of Eastern Europe." They say, how lucky to have been sent somewhere so nice as that. One friend, that shall remain nameless, said she heard that Peace Corps Volunteers in this region live in condo's and have wireless internet, and what's so hard about that she asked. Well, 8 of the unhappiest countries are in Eastern Europe, and out of 4 countries within the Caucus Region, 3 of them are on this list as well. And by the way, we dont live in condo's, nor do we have wireless internet.

Peace Corps is different in every country. You learn that very quickly. We may not live as physically hard as those volunteers that are on the Serengeti, or live with the Masai Tribes in Africa. You can get used to crapping in a hole, or not showering for weeks, or not having electricity. And I will dare to say that 95% of Volunteers around the world do not fall into what the general public believes is the regular stereotype for a Peace Corps life. But we have much harder things than that.The hard part, for me at least, is being in a country that breeds a depressive mood, and shows no interest in why you are here, or in helping you, let alone themselves. Perseverance and Determination are what drives all volunteers, especially on the worst days.

Food for thought...