AGBU Arménie Terre de Vie Initiative Raises 30,000 € for Development Projects

France Youth Group Provides Funding and On the Ground Support in Armenia

As winter settles in across Armenia, a brand-new heating system will keep the AGBU Malatya Children’s Center warm, made possible by the Arménie Terre de Vie (Armenia Land of Life) humanitarian aid mission. Arménie Terre de Vie, a biennial initiative led by the AGBU France District’s UGAB Jeunes (AGBU Youth), raised over 30,000 euros this year for the Center, as well as for environmental and healthcare projects.

Building on the success of its inaugural 2011 trip, the Arménie Terre de Vie group brought even more funds, supplies and positive change to Armenia in 2013. The 26 volunteers, among them several students who are not Armenian, were led by longtime AGBU members Diane Der Agopian and Alexia Kazandjian. Der Agopian commented on their inspiration, stating, “Alexia and I loved travelling to Armenia with Arménie Terre de Vie two years ago and wanted to motivate young people around the world to do the same. We are both completing our degrees in business and overseeing this mission allowed us to put what we are learning as students into practice as advocates.”

Der Agopian and Kazandjian managed every phase of the project, beginning with fundraising. For two years, the group collected donations from family and friends, drew countless supporters through online crowdfunding, and secured grants from the Bullukian Foundation and the Conseil Général des Hauts-de-Seine. At an AGBU Paris benefit dinner last spring, the group raised a record-breaking 10,000 euros. Many donations were also made in kind: when the volunteers arrived in Yerevan in August, they had with them over 200 pounds of clothing, toothbrushes, toys and school supplies provided by companies and carried as special cargo by Czech Airlines, an Arménie Terre de Vie sponsor.

Throughout their month-long stay in Armenia, the volunteers distributed books at a Karabakh school, led an oral hygiene workshop for dozens of Yerevan youth, and organized a cleanup of Lake Sevan. Along with removing trash from the lake, they mounted two boards that are translated in four languages to discourage visitors from polluting. The boards were the result of the group’s meetings with Sevan’s elected officials.

The students spent the majority of their time, though, renovating a wing of the AGBU Malatya Children’s Center—sanding, painting and priming walls; installing new sinks and toilets; and transporting furniture. The remainder of the work, putting in place new gas and water lines, was completed by the AGBU Yerevan office just in time for the winter season. Kazandjian commented, “Our goal was not just to donate money, but to actively participate in the projects and to see, firsthand, how we could make a difference.”

The Children’s Center director, Karine Janoyan, welcomed the new additions, remarking, “On behalf of the AGBU Malatya Children’s Center students, teachers and staff, I would like to thank AGBU France for carrying out such a humanitarian, patriotic and educational program here. The Arménie Terre de Vie group spared no effort or expense to complete the work, for which we are all so grateful.”

The highest praise came from the children themselves. Anahit Sukiassian, 14, who has been studying English and theater at the Center since 2008, shared, “When I first found out volunteers would be renovating our Center’s classrooms, I was very happy, because we really need the support. Once I met the members of Arménie Terre de Vie and spent some time with them, they felt like old friends. Now, we continue to keep in touch and I hope they will come back soon!”

This fall, Arménie Terre de Vie hosted a photo exhibit at the AGBU Cultural Center in Paris, with highlights from their trip. To view some of those photographs, and to learn more about Arménie Terre de Vie, please visit www.ugab-jeunes.fr.