Red Cross Blogs

HIV/AIDS awareness in Armenia

By Jamie
December 18, 2009 at 4:00 pm

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

Well the past couple of weeks have been very hectic here in the Youth Department office! As most of you will probably know, December 1st was World AIDS Day, and Red Cross societies all over the world put on activities and distribute information on the issue of HIV/AIDS. The Youth Department here in Yerevan was no exception, and we worked very hard to make the day a success.

In the week running up to the 1st, we prepared press releases, gathered information and worked out exactly what we were doing on the day. We also spent a LOT of time making red ribbons – something we don’t even really think about in the UK as, in my experience anyway, we buy them in ready-made in boxes. Now, however, I am an expert in making perfect AIDS awareness ribbons, with all the angles right – it is actually a very technical job, especially when you need about three thousand!

On the day itself, we started out by going to schools with some local celebrities to deliver sessions on HIV/AIDS to some of the older children. These were really successful, the kids were interested in what was being said, and the presence of some stars definitely helped to get the message across!

In the afternoon we went out flyering – wearing very fetching Red Cross Youth Department jumpers – and handed out condoms and ribbons in the main streets of Yerevan. It was a really good laugh and also very heartening as most people seemed interested in what we were doing. Also, quite a few people – generally wee old ladies – thanked us for what we were doing and for volunteering with the Red Cross which was really nice; it’s always good to feel appreciated.

On the 5th of December we celebrated International Volunteer Day with a party for all the volunteers. It was such a good afternoon – the most active volunteers were presented with small gifts, and all of us who had participated in a photography course as part of our awareness raising campaign also received certificates. Afterwards we had dancing and party games – great fun! I think it’s great to have a day where we volunteers can be reminded that the work we are doing is appreciated and can celebrate all of our hard work throughout the year; I’ve never celebrated it in the UK and didn’t even really know it existed before coming here. Most volunteer organisations celebrate it here, and I think maybe it should become more of a big deal in other countries too.

It seems a little quiet now after the excitement of the last couple of weeks – my main task at the moment is trying to learn my lines for the play we are performing for the refugee children and elderly people. It’s Snow White and I’m playing the evil queen – it’s in Armenian of course, so learning my lines is a little tricky. We’ve already had to change one word because I kept pronouncing it wrong and making it a rude one! But I’m getting there and I’m sure it will be very good fun, which is the important bit.

It’s getting very cold here now, we’ve had the first flurries of snow and everyone is going about wrapped up in big coats and scarves, although I’ve been told that this is only the beginning and it will get a lot worse. But, on the plus side, they’ve finally turned on the central heating to our office! I’m looking forward to experiencing my first Armenian new year’s celebrations, it’s the biggest festival here and traditionally you visit all your friends and eat a lot – sounds good to me!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Read Karen’s first post from Armenia here.

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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