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AGBU Yerevan Summer Intern Program's Second Season a Grand Success

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  • AGBU Yerevan Summer Intern Program's Second Season a Grand Success

    AGBU Press Office
    55 East 59th Street
    New York, NY 10022-1112
    Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
    Fax: 212.319.6507
    Email: [email protected]
    Website: www.agbu.org

    PRESS RELEASE

    Tuesday, November 11, 2008

    Yerevan Summer Intern Program's Second Season a Grand Success;
    Applications for 2009 Now Available

    On Saturday, August 2, 2008, the second year of the AGBU Yerevan Summer
    Intern Program (YSIP) concluded when the last of 18 students returned
    home to their respective countries, enriched with memories and armed
    with new knowledge and a bond with the heritage of their motherland.

    During the five-week program, the participating students, hailing from
    six countries (United States, Canada, Russia, Australia, Syria and
    Switzerland), worked as interns in some of Armenia's premier
    institutions and corporations, like Converse Bank, Cafesjian Foundation,
    Gevorgyan Gallery, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), TUMO
    Design Studio, the American University of Armenia (AUA), The Future is
    Yours charity, the Philharmonic Orchestra, Shoghakat TV Channel and a
    range of leading medical institutions.

    While summer internships are common in the Western world, they have only
    recently become more prevalent in Armenia. Thus, it is no surprise that
    YSIP supervisors also found the experience equally educational and
    rewarding.

    Founded in 2007, YSIP is AGBU's third summer intern program, joining the
    New York and Paris programs, which offer college-age students a complete
    mix of professional and cultural, as well as personal experiences,
    leading to lifelong friendships. The Yerevan program is unique in that
    it gives Armenians studying in different educational institutions all
    over the world a chance to increase their work experience while directly
    reconnecting them to their heritage. This year's program coordinators
    were Viktoria Grigorian from the AGBU New York office and Hasmik
    Khalapyan, AGBU Armenian Representation Educational Projects Coordinator
    in Yerevan.

    While workdays were mostly spent gaining hands-on professional
    experience, in the evenings and weekends YSIP participants were given
    the opportunity to explore Armenia and Karabakh. Interns enjoyed weekend
    trips to Ashtarak, Dilijan, Etchmiadzin, Garni, Geghard, Khor Virap,
    Lake Sevan, Noravank, and Oshakan.

    They also visited the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, where they met with
    the Karabakh's Parliamentary Speaker Ashot Ghulyan and visited the
    statue of Alex Manoogian in Stepanakert. The interns visited Gandzasar
    and Shushi, and, accompanied by AGBU Artsakh Projects Coordinator
    Sassoun Baghdassarian, got acquainted with the AGBU projects carried out
    in Karabakh.

    In addition to these excursions, YSIP students also participated in
    evening and weekend activities in Yerevan, including Armenian dance
    lessons at the Nork Children's Center, language courses at the American
    University of Armenia (AUA), cooking classes and a tour of the city's
    museums. The group also enjoyed the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra's
    performance of Madame Butterfly at the Yerevan Opera House.

    Program participants were treated to several lectures presented by a
    wide range of professionals, including Ashot Ghulyan, Chairman of
    National Assembly of Karabakh; Dr. Armen Aivazyan, Director of the
    Ararat Strategic Research Center and an expert on Armenian history; and
    Hayk Demoyan, Director of the Genocide Museum. The interns also visited
    the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to pay homage to the victims of the
    Armenian Genocide, after getting acquainted with the materials of the
    Genocide Museum presented by Demoyan.

    The final reception took place at the Yerevan Museum of Folk Art, which
    was attended by the program participants, their immediate supervisors,
    coordinators, AGBU Armenian Representation officials, and other guests.
    The supervisors were familiarized with AGBU's programs in Armenia and
    abroad, and highly praised the work of their interns. The Republic of
    Armenia's Ombudsman Armen Harutyunian mentioned Russian-Armenian Gor
    Sahakian's and Anna Kalashian's high sense of responsibility. Director
    of the "Future is Yours" NGO Narine Sarkissian, in turn, praised the
    devotion of Ani Demirjian and Seda Bayramian in teaching English to the
    orphans. As a result, now, after a month's course, the orphans are
    greeting the foreign guests of the orphanage.

    To keep friends and family informed about their homeland experiences,
    YSIP interns posted items from their time in Armenia and Karabakh on a
    specially prepared Facebook page. The interns now use this site to keep
    in touch with each other throughout the year.

    Armenia's H1 Public Television and Shoghakat TV Company also shot
    different episodes of the interns' activities, including the
    supervisors' reception, with the goal of preparing a film in the future.


    "It was an unforgettable experience that no doubt makes me prouder to be
    Armenian. I think that the program meets its mission in developing and
    instilling a sense of heritage in diasporan Armenians," said Andrew
    Batmanian of Australia.

    The interns enjoyed a farewell dinner with live music at Monte Christo
    restaurant before returning home with the summer experience of a
    lifetime.

    Most of the expenses of this second YSIP session were subsidized by Mr.
    and Mrs. Nazar and Artemis Nazarian of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Mr.
    Nazarian formerly served as Vice President and Treasurer of the AGBU
    Central Board of Directors; presently he is a member of the AGBU Council
    of Trustees.

    The AGBU Yerevan Summer Intern Program (www.agbu.org/ysip) places young,
    aspiring Armenians in five-week internships at leading institutions,
    organizations and corporations in Yerevan, Armenia, while providing a
    well-rounded program of Armenian cultural, educational and community
    service activities. To obtain an application or information about the
    2009 program, please email [email protected].

    For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please visit
    www.agbu.org.
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