Welcome to the first issue of Syunik NGO’s quarterly newsletter in honor of the orga-nization’s 15th anniversary. In an effort to provide up-to-date information regarding our activities, information about upcoming events and NGO news we are pleased to provide you with our newsletter. The newsletter will help us to keep in touch with you and present you all exciting developments that happen at our organization.

Syunik NGO is one of the biggest non-governmental organization in southern Arme-nia. Since our foundation we have implemented various educational, social, cultural, youth and community development projects in cooperation with our partner organizations from around the world. We started from charitable work (soup kitchens, construction, provision of clothes and medicine) and continued in socio-economic work (education, health care, youth activities and camps, trainings, agricultural support, a wood workshop and a hydro power station) which is crucial to the development of local communities in southern Armenia. Our goal is to strengthen our local communities in order to ensure a dignified life for all people.

Sincerely,Garik ShahgaldyanPresident

quarterly Newsletter

Summer 2010, Issue 1

15th anniversary summer Fair

a note from the President

On June 26th, 2010 Syunik NGO held a summer fair to celebrate its 15th anniversary at our Social Service Center in Yeghegnadzor. The local and foreign staff members of Syunik NGO with the help of our Youth Bank members organized the fair. Representatives from part-ner organizations, local and national governmental and nongovernmental entities and media were invited to the celebration. In his greet-ing speech, Bishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, the chairman of Syunik NGO’s Board, welcomed everyone and briefly talked about the mission of the organization, as well as about the activities and projects implemented during the 15 year his-tory of the organization. He congratulated everyone on our 15th anniversary and talked about the organization’s per-spectives on how to further develop local communities and

ensure that people in remote regions have a dignified life.

Nara Harutyunyan, a management staff member presented the history and current projects of Syunik NGO. She specifically talk-ed about the organization’s projects, target communi-ties, and current partner organizations such as EED, EPER/HEKS, U.S. Peace Corps-Armenia, HEIFER, International Armenian Dentists Association, Eur-asia Foundation, ACCRC Armenia, Fund for Arme-

nian Relief, GTZ, CIM, US Embassy to Armenia, FPWC, Union of Ethnic Minorities, Union of Azeri Women, La-zarus NGO, Jinishian Memorial Foundation. The role of donor organizations was emphasized and a special gratitude was extended to them for their continuous support and co-operation.

the Vayk dancing club performs a traditional armenian dance.

Benevolent NGO

Different groups from our SSCs in Jermuk, Vayk, and Yeghegnadzor performed various dance, songs, and po-etry. Students and children were given the chance to show what they have learned during their time at our SSCs. The celebration also included an exhibition, providing visitors with an opportunity to see handicrafts, pictures and other creative works developed by students of the SSCs. Students competed with their peers from other communities in a chess competition, which was also a good way of develop-ing a network.

At the end of the ceremony summer fair participants en-joyed refreshments provided by the Yeghegnadzor Youth Bank branch and had an opportunity to meet NGO staff members and share comments. Overall, the summer fair was a success. It brought the community together and high-lighted not only the importance of the projects implement-ed by Syunik NGO, but also the need of such projects in local communities.

Chess club members compete against one another at the chess competition that was held at the summer Fair.

Vayots Dzor’s new governor, German ambassador visit

On August 5th Syunik NGO had an honor to host Sergey Bagratyan, the Vayots Dzor Governor and Hans-Jochen Schmidt, the German Ambassador to Armenia. They were accompanied with Christoph Breunig, German Deputy Ambassador to Armenia and Vanik Khudaverdyan, Deputy Chief of Staff. The Summer Academy was in progress at the time of their visit. The Summer Academy is one of our new initiatives that is funded by EED and implemented in co-operation with Gitelik University, the Branch of Economic University in Yeghegnadzor, ethnic minorities of Armenia and the Educational and Employment Center from Georgia. During their visit our guests also met Syunik NGO’s staff members and consultants, which gave them an additional opportunity to learn more about our projects.

Vanik Khudaverdyan, sergey Bagratyan and Bishop abraham. Jens engely and Nara Harutyunyan

HeKs representatives visit

On July 30-31, Jens Engely, Desk Officer to the Caucasus and Nana Topuridze, Regional Director, from HEKS, one of our partner organizations, visited our office. They had meetings with staff members, as well as visited our summer camp.

During their meeting with staff members, representatives discussed the new agricultural project that was approved for funding by HEKS. They also talked about the Summer Camps for Socially Vulnerable Children, which is another project funded by HEKS. At the children’s camp guests ob-served various activities including presentations prepared by camp participants. We are fortunate to have worked so closely with HEKS for the last several years as they are a major supporter of some of our most successful projects.

Since its foundation in 1995 Syunik NGO has been imple-menting various youth development projects in the Syunik and Vayots Dzor regions. Organizing summer camps are one such project that has already become an integral part of the NGO’s youth development initiatives. Summer camps are a unique opportunity for Armenian, Georgian, Azeri and children from national mi-nority groups to spend their summer vacation in a friendly atmosphere, learn about the im-portance of diversity and gain knowledge and skills about the environment. These camps are also a way of promoting con-flict awareness and effective peace-seeking behavior among children coming from different nationalities in order to develop tolerance and create friendships between them.

On July 8th, 2010 it was again

time for an opening ceremony of the summer camp for chil-dren from socially vulnerable families. The opening ceremo-ny was organized by the leaders and participants of the camp who prepared various activities. Attendees enjoyed perfor-mances, music and the campfire, which is traditionally a part of the grand opening of the camp. Children’s happy faces

were signs of appreciation of our summer camps. It was obvious that summer camps indeed make a difference in many children’s lives.

Summer camps are spon-sored by HEKS and imple-mented in cooperation with Lazarus Charitable fund of Georgian Patriarchate, Union of Azeri Women of Georgia, The Armenian Dentist Asso-ciation of California and the Armenian Government.

On July 10, 2010 representatives from the Ministry of Ed-ucation and Science of the Republic of Armenia and from the Resource Center for Russian Language visited our camp. They extended greetings to camp participants and spent some time with them. The NGO closely collaborates with both entities and as a result of the cooperation the Rus-sian Resource Center for Russian Language offers Russian language courses to those camp participants whose oral lan-guage skills need improvement. Sessions are free of charge and participation in sessions are voluntarily. At the end of the first shitf of our summer camp chil-

dren received gifts provided by Syunik NGO, the Armenian Dentist Association of Californa and the Resource Center for Russian Language. Giving presents to children at the end of each shift is another way of motivating and sup-porting children from socially vulnerable families. Syunik NGO’s gratitude goes to the administrative staff of the Re-source Center for Rus-sian Language for their contributions to the camp, as well as to those individuals and organizations whose donations make it possible to provide children with gifts.

Our camps provide participants with an opportunity to get a dental checkup and treatment free of charge while in camp. There is a dental clinic and a di-agnostic center at the camp established by the Armenian Den-tists Association of California, one of our longterm partners. All participants get a checkup and treat-

ment in the diagnostic center. Armenian and American doc-tors work at the clinic. The ADAoC provides supplies for the clinic. Providing dental care to children from socially vulnerable families is one of our priorities because the cost of dental care is very high and it is not affordable for many families.

Making a difference through summer camps

Officials visit summer camp

Gifts for the children

Camp participants recieve dental care

a group of camp participants and leaders perform a song for the opening ceremony.

GtZ provides manuals for summer academy

German summer academy

summer academy, our new initiative

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenar-beit (GTZ), one of Syunik NGO’s partner organizations, recently published its Manual for the Training of Teachers on Biodiversity of Rivers and Streamlets in Armenia. The organiza-tion donated 70 (50 Armenian and 20 English) copies of the manual. We distributed copies to our Summer Academy par-ticipants who explored various environmental issues within the courses. Syunik NGO’s gratitude goes to GTZ for its valuable contribution and continuous collaboration.

This year DAAD Summer Academy for students of Ger-man language in Armenia was organized in Syunik’s Syr-anush camp facilities. DAAD, the German Academic Ex-change Service which conducts summer camps every year, partnered with Syunik NGO to implement its 2010 Sum-mer Academy for university students from all over Armenia. The academy consisted of five workshops that aimed to im-prove participants German language skills. The collabora-tion was initiated by Franziska Neumann-Lehmann, who is an independent German volunteer at Gitelik University in Yeghegnadzor. The project was also supported by the Rob-ert Bosch Foundation and Gitelik University.

Our new initiative, a Summer Academy called Our Future is in Sustainable Environmental Devel-opment, was launched in sum-mer 2010 in Syunik’s Siranuysh camp facilities.

University students from Ar-menia, Georgia and ethnic mi-norities came together to reflect on the issue of global warming and climate change through theoretical and practical activi-ties. During their 21 days to-gether, students had training on the relevant topics, conducted research and presented their findings in the form of articles and presentations. A trainer from Arahus Environmental Center conducted training ses-sions and leaders from the Acopian Center for the Environ-

ment in Yerevan worked with the students during the summer acad-emy. Participants received certifi-cates at the end of the project. A web page for the Summer Acad-emy is under development, which will provide more information on this project and a forum for stu-dents all over the world to share their ideas, opinions and concerns regarding environmental issues.

The Summer Academy is fund-ed by EED and implemented by Syunik NGO in cooperation with Gitelik University, the Branch of Economic University in Yegheg-

nadzor, ethnic minorities of Armenia and the Educational and Employment Center from Georgia.

lusik Karapetyan and ani Harutyunyan collaboarate on a presentation.

In August we started a new agricultural project titled Em-powered and self-sustained communities. The project is funded by HEKS-EPER and is being implemented in seven rural communities in the Vayots Dzor region, Getap, Chiva, Qaraglukh, Taratumb, Rind, Areni, and Her-mon.

The main purpose of the proj-ect is to empower the target com-munities and enable them to be-come self-sustainable so as to provide a dignified life for their citizens. Within this project a nursery, mini-park for agricultural machinery, bio humus production and agricultural consultancy cen-

ters will be established. The project is currently in its preparation phase, which

includes recruiting personnel, assisting farmers in forming an informal group, purchasing agricultural machinery and ini-tiating collaboration with po-tential partners. The first train-ing of farmers has already been conducted. Several topics were covered in the training such as team work, project planning and management, nursery plan-ning, seedling and cutting se-lection, seed purveyance and post-harvest seed maturation and seed disinfection.

In recent years gender equality has gained more and more attention in former Soviet Union countries including Arme-nia. Many organizations promote gender equality in Armenia by implementing various initiatives. One of such initiatives was the Women in Armenia exhibition held by the GTZ Ar-menia office in cooperation with Syunik NGO. The opening of the exhibition was held at the GTZ office in Yerevan on July 19th, 2010. The exhibition consisted of portraits and stories of inspirational Armenian women from the Vayots Dzor region and Yerevan. The majority of portraits were taken and stories were written by our American and German volunteers who are actively involved in various community development projects implemented by Syunik NGO.

The Women in Armenia exhibition aimed to stimulate a dis-cussion on gender equality and women’s rights in Armenia. Members of the Armenian government, NGOs, media rep-

resentatives and the international community in Armenia in-cluding ambassadors, foreign staff members and volunteers attended the opening. GTZ-Armenia country director James Macbeth welcomed the attendees and briefly introduced the background of the exhibition and how volunteers Hendrikje Alpermann, Emily Haas, and Paige Prince initiated the proj-ect in the Vayots Dzor region. Hans-Jochen Schmidt, Ger-man ambassador to Armenia, extended his greetings to at-tendees and expressed his appreciation of Syunik NGO’s contributions to the exhibition. Representatives from the Armenian government also congratulated GTZ and Syunik NGO for the opening of the exhibition and briefly shared their perspectives on gender equality in Armenia. At the end of the opening ceremony attendees enjoyed refreshments and had an opportunity to look at the portraits and read the stories of Armenian women included in the exhibition.

Promoting gender equality in armenia

From the left, emily Haas, Paige Prince, Hans-Jochen schmidt, Hendrikje alpermann, Gayane yenogyan, Vanessa Boas, James

Macbeth and alla aghabekyan.

siranush soromonyan, 85 years old, Village areni. Photo by emily Haas

Mamikon Hovhanisyan conducts the first round of seminars for farmers.

syunik NGO starts a new agricultural project

Professional development for staff members

syunik NGO welcomes new personnelMeaghan Tessmann

Nara Martirosyan

SebastianMüllner

Syunik NGO recognizes the importance of profes-sional development activities for its staff members. The organization ensures that its staff members are involved in continuous professional development activities either internally or externally in or-der to be informed about best practices and trends in development, have an op-portunity to reflect on their experiences and improve fu-ture steps.

In August, Ingo Müller, Syunik NGO’s senior con-sultant, was invited to conduct a three-day workshop for our staff members. The Workshop for Conceptual Reflection and Development consisted of three major topics, develop-ment work, community development and conflict. In the first day of the workshop participants discussed some trends in

development work, made con-clusions, learned about the dif-ferences between result-based and impact-based evaluation and tried to find out ways of measuring impact and custom-er satisfaction. The second day participants were given an op-portunity to discuss urban and rural community development concepts, what an ideal com-munity could be, what are some lessons learned so far and some ideas for a community develop-ment program. The last day of the workshop conflict related topics were addressed, as well

as follow up and future activities. The three-day workshop was an excellent opportunity for our staff members to come together and reflect on their experiences, current activities and discuss the future direction of the NGO.

In June 2010 Nara Martirosyan re-sumed her career at Syunik NGO after finishing her graduate studies (both masters and doctoral) in Education in the United States. In addition to her studies she worked in various capaci-ties at the university where she stud-ied, which allowed her to obtain ad-ditional knowledge and skills that will be utilized at Syunik NGO. Currently Nara is in charge of international and public relations at Syunik NGO.

In August 2010 a new Peace Corps volunteer joined the Syunik NGO team. Meaghan is a Community Busi-ness Development IT volunteer. She has strong educational and profession-al background in IT and web design. Meaghan will particularly assist in up-dating our web site. She will conduct web design and will enhance young staff members’ computer skills.

In August 2010 Sebastian Müllner, our new EED volunteer joined the Syunik NGO team. Sebastian will work with us for one year. He is interested in IT and the social services offered by Syunik NGO. Sebastian will provide assistance to staff members in various projects, as well as will be directly in-volved in various activities.

Ingo Müller

Nara MartirosyanOffice of International & Public Affairssyunik Benevolent NGO

Momiki St. 5, 3601 Yeghegnadzor, Vayots Dzor Province, Republic of Armenia

syunik NGO’s ongoing projects

Development Program of South Armenia

Empowered and self-sustained communities

Youth Bank

Summer Holidays for Socially Vulnerable Children

Summer Academy

Youth Information Centers

Job Club

Beekeeping to support education

The main purpose of this project is to allow the people of the Vayots Dzor region to participate actively in social development in their communities and to have access to basic social services. Within the project our Social Service Centers have already been established in Yeghegnadzor, Vayk and Jermuk.Duration - Three years, 2009-2012 Donor - EED

See the article Syunik NGO starts a new agricultural project for more information about this project.Duration - Two and a half years, July 2010 – December 2012Donor - HEKS-EPER

The goal of this project is to increase youth participation in community development by building their practical project implementation skills, as well as applying these skills in real-life situations to produce tangible change in their communities.Duration - Ongoing project, 2009 - presentDonor - The Eurasia Partnership Foundation , Community Foundation of Northern Ireland, Jinishian Memorial Foundation and USAID

See the article Making a difference through summer camps for more inforamtion about the project. Duration - Three years, 2009-2011Donor - HEKS EPER

See the article Summer Academy, our new initiative for more inforamtion about the project. Duration - Summer 2010Donor - EED

The main objective of this project is to improve young people’s access to information and communication and pro-vide a positive environment for young people. We have established YICs in Yeghegnadzor, Vayk and Jermuk. Duration - One year, 2009-2010Donor - U.S. Democracy Fund

This projects aims to contribute to poverty reduction in the Vayots Dzor region by supporting local unemployed indi-viduals in job seeking activities and promoting gender equality. Duration - One year, 2010-2011Partner - GTZ

The main objective of this project is to assist families from the Vayots Dzor region to raise their income in order to be able to pay their children’s university tuition fees. These families must be Gitelik University’s students’ families who experience financial hardship. Duration - One year, 2010-2011Donor - HEIFER International

Benevolent NGO

tel/Fax: +374 (0281) 24009email: oipa.syunikngo@yahoo.comwww.syunikngo.am

Newsletter design by emily Haas, logo design by Meag tessmann, u.s. Peace Corps Volunteers.