QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

Autumn 2012, Issue 10

Benevolent

NGO

Long-term Partnership with EED Continues

EED will Continue Supporting Development Program in Vayots Dzor, South Armenia, 2012-2015
The programme addresses vulnerable groups, especially children and youth in South Armenia. Over time the target group has become wider, now covering all school children, students, women and any community member in need of legal and health consultancy. The program began by offering a number of activities in social service centers aiming at youth and the stabilization and improvement of basic education in general. Among the key activities were coaching courses for orphans and other vulnerable children to allow them access higher education, as well as English and computer courses to provide new key skills in a more western oriented economy. Lots of people have benefited directly or indirectly from the program phases. The program has contributed not only to individual and community development, but has also contributed to Syunik NGOs development into a stronger organization. Over the last program phase, Syunik NGO has worked on its organizational and personnel capacities. The ensuing program will take up the ideas developed and make them more systematic to build a strong and sustainable personnel base.

EED (German Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst) is one of our long-term partners since 2000. Our 12year partnership will continue through a new development programme in Vayots Dzor, South Armenia. The three-year program, which was submitted recently, is a continuation of a series of programmes supported by EED to assist the people of South Armenia in developing their capability to address the challenges and to shape their future. The programme was approved and is already in the implementation phase.

German Delegation Visited Syunik NGO

On 16th of November a German delegation paid a lik University. The delegation was impressed with the visit to Southern Armenia with the purpose of getting diversity of initiatives implemented by Syunik NGO. to know Syunik NGO, one of the largest NGOs in Vayots Dzor region. A number of high ranking officers were part of the delegation such as Mr. Andreas Gies (Deputy Director of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), Mrs. Silke Kloever (Counselor-Head of Development Cooperation, German Embassy in Georgia), and others. After visiting Syunik NGOs headquarters and learning about accomplishments and developments of the organization, guests had a meeting with students and staff of Gite-

Raising Environmental Awareness In Vayots Dzor

Aghajanyan to promote environmental awareness in the Vayots Dzor region. The project was entitled Agent for Changes and used theater methods to illustrate environmental issues like pollution. This method was new for the community and the young people found it entertaining and interesting. Overall, the project had a good impact among the beneficiaries as it increased their interest in protecting the environment and to be closer to the culture at the same time. All the participants developed a strong team and created a network with each other. The team organized discussions, online forums and meetings. The project methods and tools (which Marine learned while in a training in Georgia through Through the Joint Civic Education program, a project the Peace Dialogue NGO) will be used in different was developed by Syunik NGO staff member Marine youth projects of Syunik NGO.

Planting Peace Seeds Across the Region

or neighboring communities. A detailed curriculum and schedule for these sessions was developed during a workshop attended jointly by Armenian, Azeri and Georgian leaders, project staff and trainers. Sessions were conducted in October and November. Similar to the camp sessions, these sessions gave new community participants an opportunity to obtain skills and knowledge on the topics and provided them with a platform for self-expression and experience sharing. In total 6 sessions were organized in the three rural and three urban Community centers of Syunik NGO. Camps for Peace in South Caucasus project is financed by HEKS, one of Syuniks long-term partners.

Leaders of the Camps for Peace in South Caucasus project conducted interactive sessions on Conflict Mediation and Transformation in their home countries for community teenagers and youth. These sessions were follow-ups to the trainings held within the camp. The aim of these sessions was to multiply the effects of knowledge and skills gained by the camp leaders and participants within each community. During the sessions, various games and role plays were used to ease the knowledge transfer. Each leader, with support from Syunik NGO, organized sessions in his/her community with the help of camp participants from the same

Training Courses at Vayk Community Center

On October 4th and 5th, 2012, a two-day training course was held at the Vayk Community Center Job Club on the topic of Knowledge and Rights. The course was organized by the Public Information and Need of Knowledge NGO, which aims to unite youth around such values as cultural diversity, respect towards different groups in the society, tolerance, equality, human rights, democracy, civil society, etc. Participants not only gained knowledge about the aforementioned values discussed with other interested and active young people but also met new acquaintances and gained new opportunities for cooperation, as well as created a foundation for their own civil initiatives. Each participant received a certificate of participation. The most active attendees were offered an opportunity to take part in the annual GATE Gender, Activism, Tolerance, Equality youth camp project for free.

Painting and Chess Courses in Getap Community Center

Within the JCE (Joint Civic Education) program, painting and chess courses were developed in Getap Community Center by Hasmik Sargsyan, one of Syunik NGOs staff members. The project was entitled Be Clever and Active and aimed to develop the participants knowledge, skills and talent. The project also helped enrich the participants cultural life and improve their interaction with the community. The project lunched in September and lasted until the 16th of November. During the implementation process a team was formulated which included the project coordinator and some students from Gitelik University. Within the project, discussions on Human rights, environmental issues and education were also organized. The participants had a chance to visit Gitelik University where they learned about student life. The closing ceremony of the project was 16th of November

Seminar in the New Community Center

On 10th of October, a seminar was held in our newly established Taratumb Community Center. The seminar was held within the Community Development project financed by HEKS/EPER and was conducted by Syuniks agricultural specialist. During the seminar a variety of topics were discussed including farm planning activities, marketing and garden harvest. An interactive discussion following the seminar provided an opportunity for participants to ask questions on agricultural planning and marketing issues and receive guidance from the trainer.

Syunik Donates a Mobile Dental Clinic

Syunik NGO recently donated a mobile dental clinic to den- benevolent and will be used to provide free dental services tist Karen Grigoryan, the representative of Denta Grik in to Berdzor and surrounding communities in the region. the community of Berdzor. This donation is aimed to be

Promoting Sport Among Rural Youth

Gevorg Matevosyan, one of Syunik NGOs staff being a volleyball player, came up with such initiative members, applied for an OSF (Open Society Founda- and made sure that his village team is ready for regional tion) Youth Action Fund grant earlier this year. The competitions. project proposal entitled, Supporting the only volleyball team in Taratumb village was approved and activities were launched in June. Indoor and outdoor volleyball courts were renovated in Taratumb so that the village team could train all year for regional competitions. The renovation work of the volleyball courts was carried out by the young people from the village and Syunik NGO local volunteers. Within the project proper sportswear was obtained for the team members as well. Taratumbs young peoples gratitude goes not only to OSF for providing such an opportunity, but also to Gevorg who,

Joint Civic Educations Reflecting Seminar: Evaluating Outcomes and Planning For the Future
From November 18 to 24, Joint Civic Educations Reflection seminar took place in Yerevan, Armenia. It was the logical continuation of the Introductory and Practice seminars which took place earlier this year. Participants who implemented projects were invited to take part. The various projects covered education, culture, art, orphanages, children with special needs, theater, Hispanic week and so on. Project evaluation consisted of several phases such as general presentations, the impact of the project on society through group discussions. Besides the evaluation process, discussions were organized for designing the next program of Joint Civic Education 2013 according to participants suggestions. Mentors, representatives of partner organizations and other alumni participants of MitOst and Joint Civic Education also joined the discussions and made suggestions for the upcoming year. Syunik NGO is among local partners for Joint Civic Education. This year two staff members participated in Joint Civic Education and implemented small community projects afterwards. The cooperation will continue and will implement other youth development initiatives in the future.

Staff and Volunteers Develop Professionally

From 2nd to 10th of October, Marine Aghajanyan participated in an exchange project organized by the Youth in Action Program. The project took place in Sumy, Ukraine. The project gave youth participants the possibility to gain new experiences abroad, discover in comparison with others their own identity as well as to learn and practice social skills like intercultural understanding, various forms of communication and team work. Ed Buckingham, Syunik NGOs United States Peace Corps volunteer, recently attended a two-day seminar on Project Design and Management in Tsaghkadzor. The seminar was provided as part of his Peace Corps service and covered topics relating to project design, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, and post-project sustainability. Ed has developed a shortened version of this seminar and will present it to the Syunik NGO staff in December.
Tel/Fax: +374 (0281) 24009 Email: oipa.syunikngo@yahoo.com www.syunikngo.am

Nara Martirosyan Office of International & Public Affairs Syunik Benevolent NGO
Benevolent NGO

Momiki St. 5, 3601 Yeghegnadzor, Vayots Dzor Province, Republic of Armenia