Red Cross Blogs

Guest post from Armenia

By Katrina Crew
November 16, 2009 at 3:25 pm

Karen Young is a 23-year-old volunteer from Scotland. She’s spending a year in Armenia as part of the British Red Cross’ international youth volunteering programme.

Throughout the year, she’ll be sending us updates about what it’s like to volunteer in Armenia. This is her first post.

“Where on earth is Armenia?” That was the first question that most of my friends and family asked when I told them I was going to volunteer with the Armenian Red Cross for a year.

The second was usually “Will you have to wear a headscarf?” Now I’m here, I’m shocked by how little people in the UK (myself included) know about this area of the world. When I told people where Armenia is in the world, they all assumed it was a Muslim country whereas, in actual fact, it was the first official Christian country and, although some women cover their heads in church, it is not usual for them to do so in everyday life.

But, in all honesty, before I applied for this placement, the only thing I knew about Armenia was that it’s near Turkey – not exactly what you’d call an extensive pool of knowledge!

This whole thing started with an email sent round young Red Cross volunteers in the UK asking for volunteers who wanted to go to Armenia. I’m not entirely sure what prompted me to apply, but I did, and five months later here I am – a fully fledged member of the Armenian Red Cross youth department.

Mainly I’m helping with existing programmes, but we also get to set up some new ones, which is all very exciting! The main projects are the Smiley Club (for refugee children), HIV prevention, and a psycho-social care programme supporting elderly refugees. However, I’m also getting involved in fundraising, international humanitarian law education, and setting up a human trafficking awareness campaign. Check out all the activities of the Armenian Red Cross on the website - there isn’t room to list them all here!

I’m also really becoming part of the community here – one of the best things about international volunteering! The office is always buzzing with volunteers; everyone is young and enthusiastic, and extremely dedicated to their projects. It’s inspiring to be around people who are so willing to help – there isn’t enough money at the moment to give them transport money to go to the dormitories where the refugees live, but they still go every week, as well as coming into the office for meetings and training. To be honest, I am having severe guilt attacks about every time I claimed back my £1.20 bus fare in Glasgow!

I love it here, and am looking forward to getting more and more involved with the work of the youth department and the Armenian Red Cross more generally. If anyone has any tips on how to get the most out of my volunteering experience then let me know – I appreciate any advice I can get!

It’s also really interesting to learn so much about a culture I didn’t have a clue about before we came here. I’m learning Armenian (barev dzez! Duq vontc eq?) and have spent the weekends visiting historical sites and the beautiful Lake Sevan with my new friends. I think that this is the best bit about an opportunity like this – five months ago I knew one fact about this country, now I’ve lived here two months and feel like I am really getting to know Armenia and Armenian culture from the inside.

Karen is funded to be in Armenia through the Youth In Action programme ‘European Voluntary Service’. To find out more, please click on http://www.britishcouncil.org/connectyouth-programmes-european-voluntary-service-young-people.htm or email InternationalYouth@redcross.org.uk

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Comments (6) »

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Tags: Armenia, International, international youth volunteering, refugees, volunteer, young refugees

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