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October 28, 2011
AGBU Youth France Carries Out Student Mission in Armenia
From August 1-30, 2011, AGBU Youth France (UGAB Jeunes) visited Armenia to implement a program entitled "Armenia, Land of Life." Thirty-two young volunteers of Armenian and French origin, ages 18-26, undertook a number of humanitarian, environmental, construction, healthcare, and educational programs in different regions of Armenia and Karabakh. The group was led by AGBU Youth France head Raffi Der Agopian, an active AGBU member and a 2010 New York Summer Intern Program (NYSIP) participant.
The volunteers spent 10 days in Karabakh, where they renovated the two-floor youth center of Berdzor in the Kashatagh region. Originally built in 1999 by the Armenian Church, the center was later given to the youth of the region to serve as a cultural center. The AGBU youth also visited the region's only French-speaking club, situated in the Charles Aznavour School in the capital city of Stepanakert. During their visit to the school, the group donated more than 250 books in French, including dictionaries, textbooks, and classics of French literature. The group also donated school stationery and paper to the children of the Haykavan Village School.
To raise awareness of environmental issues, AGBU Youth France, together with ACBA Credit-Agricole Bank, organized a cleanup of a Lake Sevan beach and the area around the medieval Armenian church on the shores of the lake. The young volunteers also distributed dental hygiene products to the children of Huys Orphanage in Gyumri.
While in Armenia, the group also had the opportunity to meet with high-profile individuals who gave them a full picture of Armenia and its cultural and civic life, including His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, Armenian Parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamian, and Hayk Demoyan, director of the Armenian Genocide Museum.
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