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CAMBRIDGE SISTER CITY PROJECT RECEIVES GRANT
Cambridge Chronicle
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/new s/x303481200/Cambridge-sister-city-project-receive s-grant
April 28 2009
Cambridge -- The Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association (CYSCA)
announces receipt of a grant for the training of 10 social workers
from the 11 regions of Armenia.
The grant is sponsored and funded by the USAID under its Community
Connections program. The professionals from Armenia will arrive in
Boston June 11for an intensive three-week social worker training
program developed by CYSCA.
The participants will be professional social workers selected
competitively from government agencies, NGOs and academic institutions
in Armenia. Social work in Armenia is relatively new, having emerged
as a public need since independence in 1991. Although there is
adequate conceptual training, there is a lack of practical knowledge
and experience in social services. The objectives of this project
include exposure to public/private partnerships; development of needs
assessment, accountability, feedback, and monitoring and evaluation
techniques. The main goal is to give the participants an understanding
of how social services are done in the United States and to share ideas
and methodologies they may then adapt in Armenia. Another important
part of the training is assisting them develop action plans they can
implement in Armenia.
The training program organized by CYSCA will be its 18th Community
Connections project for Armenian professionals since 1997. Previous
programs have focused on a range of essential subjects: business,
public health, environment, tourism, historic preservation, public
health, and museum and theater management. Participants have returned
to Armenia and acted on their newly acquired knowledge by developing
programs organized by Community Connections alumni assisted by
CYSCA. They have gone on to create tourist and investment guides;
a statistical survey of businesses in Armenia, a business skills
training program, an export marketing seminar, an environmental
education seminar, environmental games for children, and museum
management conferences.
"We are honored that the USAID has again chosen CYSCA to host a
Community Connections training project for Armenia," said Jack
Medzorian, CYSCA program director. "We know that our programs are
successful when we visit Armenia and observe firsthand that the
knowledge and ideas that our alumni take home are implemented in
their own native country. At the same time, we also learn from them,
so it is truly a two-way street."
In addition to conducting a training program for the social workers,
CYSCA will recruit host families to furnish home stays to expose the
participants to everyday home life in the USA. Anyone interested in
volunteering to host or assist with the training can contact CYSCA
staff at the email addresses below. Also, CYSCA will include in its
program an "Experience America" sightseeing component to acquaint the
participants with the culture, history and values of American society.
The Community Connections program is sponsored by the U. S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) and administered by its programming
agent, World Learning Inc. It is designed to promote public diplomacy
through the exchange of cultural ideas and values among participants,
U. S. families and local community host organizations. It seeks to
establish and strengthen links between U. S. communities, Armenia
and other former Soviet republics.
The program is directed by Jack Medzorian, CYSCA vice president,
assisted by Alisa Stepanian, project manager, and Taya Battelle,
project administrator.
Cambridge Chronicle
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/new s/x303481200/Cambridge-sister-city-project-receive s-grant
April 28 2009
Cambridge -- The Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association (CYSCA)
announces receipt of a grant for the training of 10 social workers
from the 11 regions of Armenia.
The grant is sponsored and funded by the USAID under its Community
Connections program. The professionals from Armenia will arrive in
Boston June 11for an intensive three-week social worker training
program developed by CYSCA.
The participants will be professional social workers selected
competitively from government agencies, NGOs and academic institutions
in Armenia. Social work in Armenia is relatively new, having emerged
as a public need since independence in 1991. Although there is
adequate conceptual training, there is a lack of practical knowledge
and experience in social services. The objectives of this project
include exposure to public/private partnerships; development of needs
assessment, accountability, feedback, and monitoring and evaluation
techniques. The main goal is to give the participants an understanding
of how social services are done in the United States and to share ideas
and methodologies they may then adapt in Armenia. Another important
part of the training is assisting them develop action plans they can
implement in Armenia.
The training program organized by CYSCA will be its 18th Community
Connections project for Armenian professionals since 1997. Previous
programs have focused on a range of essential subjects: business,
public health, environment, tourism, historic preservation, public
health, and museum and theater management. Participants have returned
to Armenia and acted on their newly acquired knowledge by developing
programs organized by Community Connections alumni assisted by
CYSCA. They have gone on to create tourist and investment guides;
a statistical survey of businesses in Armenia, a business skills
training program, an export marketing seminar, an environmental
education seminar, environmental games for children, and museum
management conferences.
"We are honored that the USAID has again chosen CYSCA to host a
Community Connections training project for Armenia," said Jack
Medzorian, CYSCA program director. "We know that our programs are
successful when we visit Armenia and observe firsthand that the
knowledge and ideas that our alumni take home are implemented in
their own native country. At the same time, we also learn from them,
so it is truly a two-way street."
In addition to conducting a training program for the social workers,
CYSCA will recruit host families to furnish home stays to expose the
participants to everyday home life in the USA. Anyone interested in
volunteering to host or assist with the training can contact CYSCA
staff at the email addresses below. Also, CYSCA will include in its
program an "Experience America" sightseeing component to acquaint the
participants with the culture, history and values of American society.
The Community Connections program is sponsored by the U. S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) and administered by its programming
agent, World Learning Inc. It is designed to promote public diplomacy
through the exchange of cultural ideas and values among participants,
U. S. families and local community host organizations. It seeks to
establish and strengthen links between U. S. communities, Armenia
and other former Soviet republics.
The program is directed by Jack Medzorian, CYSCA vice president,
assisted by Alisa Stepanian, project manager, and Taya Battelle,
project administrator.