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My path since my time in Armenia
by Karinne' Andonian (Hovnanian)
http://www.reporter.am/index.cfm?objectid=8A129B70-8ECD-11E0-81220003FF3452C2
Published: Saturday June 04, 2011
Karinne' Hovnanian (on left) in Armenia in summer 2006.
Since that life inspiring summer of 2006 when I was privileged enough
to be a Birthright Armenia volunteer, I have experienced and been a
part of some of the most beautiful moments in my life.
My time at Birthright Armenia energized me, both personally and
professionally, as I completed my Bachelors degrees in Music and
Psychology, and then my Master's degree in Music Therapy. Part of my
time as a volunteer was working at Orran, a benevolent NGO based in
Yerevan, and I made a promise to myself that when I had bettered my
tools of helping children, I would return to assist the child
psychologist who worked with the 60 or more children there.
Now, almost five years later, I have yet to return to Armenia and
fulfill that promise. But in thinking about it every day since then, I
have found other ways to touch the children of Armenia. I am a part of
the US-based organization, Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief
(SOAR), a beautiful non-profit organization that works directly with
the orphaned children of Armenia, providing whatever is necessary to
give the children a better chance to a childhood and to life. My time
at Orran also inspired me in my professional endeavors, as I wrote my
Master's thesis on Children from Trauma and Violence, a study which
has changed my life and my approach to working with children.
After I completed my Master's in 2010, I got married and became an
Andonian! I currently am working as a music therapist with adolescents
in foster care, who have come from trauma, abuse, and other sorts of
domestic corruption. I often think of my time in Armenia and what
those children taught me. I enjoy my work very much, and I carry with
me a lesson that I learned from the Mental Health Foundation, another
job placement site in Armenia where I spent my internship in 2006,
which is: no matter the circumstances, music has the ability to
transcend situations, language barriers, and illness and to connect
each one of us to our fellow brothers and sisters.
This lesson touched me even more deeply on my last day in Armenia,
when I said goodbye to a friend I had met the year before in my
travels to our Motherland. A woman, named Kohar, who sells sunflower
seeds on the corner of Abovian and Aram Streets, became a dear friend
of mine. And when I had gone to give her a note to say thank you and
farewell, we sat on the curb and sang "Bari Aragil" as people,
strangers, walked on past us. Some stopped to listen to us as we sang
this heart-touching song with tears in our eyes and our hands clasped
together, and it was at this moment my life was changed.
Since then, I have continuously used music to connect to and help
others. And each time I do so, I think of my time in Armenia, and the
time I spent with my people.
by Karinne' Andonian (Hovnanian)
http://www.reporter.am/index.cfm?objectid=8A129B70-8ECD-11E0-81220003FF3452C2
Published: Saturday June 04, 2011
Karinne' Hovnanian (on left) in Armenia in summer 2006.
Since that life inspiring summer of 2006 when I was privileged enough
to be a Birthright Armenia volunteer, I have experienced and been a
part of some of the most beautiful moments in my life.
My time at Birthright Armenia energized me, both personally and
professionally, as I completed my Bachelors degrees in Music and
Psychology, and then my Master's degree in Music Therapy. Part of my
time as a volunteer was working at Orran, a benevolent NGO based in
Yerevan, and I made a promise to myself that when I had bettered my
tools of helping children, I would return to assist the child
psychologist who worked with the 60 or more children there.
Now, almost five years later, I have yet to return to Armenia and
fulfill that promise. But in thinking about it every day since then, I
have found other ways to touch the children of Armenia. I am a part of
the US-based organization, Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief
(SOAR), a beautiful non-profit organization that works directly with
the orphaned children of Armenia, providing whatever is necessary to
give the children a better chance to a childhood and to life. My time
at Orran also inspired me in my professional endeavors, as I wrote my
Master's thesis on Children from Trauma and Violence, a study which
has changed my life and my approach to working with children.
After I completed my Master's in 2010, I got married and became an
Andonian! I currently am working as a music therapist with adolescents
in foster care, who have come from trauma, abuse, and other sorts of
domestic corruption. I often think of my time in Armenia and what
those children taught me. I enjoy my work very much, and I carry with
me a lesson that I learned from the Mental Health Foundation, another
job placement site in Armenia where I spent my internship in 2006,
which is: no matter the circumstances, music has the ability to
transcend situations, language barriers, and illness and to connect
each one of us to our fellow brothers and sisters.
This lesson touched me even more deeply on my last day in Armenia,
when I said goodbye to a friend I had met the year before in my
travels to our Motherland. A woman, named Kohar, who sells sunflower
seeds on the corner of Abovian and Aram Streets, became a dear friend
of mine. And when I had gone to give her a note to say thank you and
farewell, we sat on the curb and sang "Bari Aragil" as people,
strangers, walked on past us. Some stopped to listen to us as we sang
this heart-touching song with tears in our eyes and our hands clasped
together, and it was at this moment my life was changed.
Since then, I have continuously used music to connect to and help
others. And each time I do so, I think of my time in Armenia, and the
time I spent with my people.