By Sanan Derbedrossian
TORONTO—On May 2, three young Canadian-Armenians arrived in Armenia to join the nearly 2,000 volunteers who monitored the municipal elections in Yerevan on May 5. Ararad Torosyan from Montreal, and Anoush Frankian and Rupen Janbazian from Toronto, participated in the first-ever election observation mission involving more than 100 Diasporan Armenians.
The volunteers from Canada will stay in Armenia for about a week. After going through intensive training sessions to prepare them for their monitoring role, each was assigned to a polling station where they spent Election Day from early in the morning until late at night.
Janbazian, a teacher at an Armenian community school in Toronto, has visited Armenia many times since he first set foot in his homeland during a family trip in 2000. Most recently, he volunteered at the Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation through the Birthright Armenia program. For Janbazian, volunteering for a monitoring mission in Armenia is important, as it “allows Diasporan Armenians to have a most direct impact on our homeland’s democratization process.”
Frankian too has been to Armenia multiple times as a volunteer. In the past, her work had focused on programs within the health services sector. Frankian believes that assisting the monitoring mission is a valuable contribution to Armenia’s development.
Like many others, Torosyan took time off from work to participate in the monitoring mission. He has been to Armenia twice before, in both instances volunteering for youth camps. “This time around, I am volunteering because I would like to see a prosperous and strong Armenia, and the only way to get there will be to give power to the people through free and fair elections,” he said.
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