SERVICE Armenia 2023

Last summer, a group of young Armenian diasporans participated in the Paros Foundation’s SERVICE Armenia program, engaging with Armenia through volunteer work and service projects. Nineteen participants and two coordinators traveled to Armenia from various regions throughout the United States, including northern and southern California, Texas and Tennessee.

During their time in Armenia, the volunteers’ efforts included taking orphans and youth with disabilities from Yerevan Children’s Home and Kharpert Home for Special Children to amusement park excursions, working on renovations to the Talin School of Music, teaching kids at the Debi Arach Children’s Center how to play lacrosse, packing and distributing groceries through our Groceries for Gyumri initiative, and cleaning one of the Paros Foundation’s new projects, Paros Housing, After-School and Vocational Center.

One participant and one coordinator from the program offered their firsthand accounts. Participant Nicole Timour is a high school senior from Southern California, and 2023 was her first year as a SERVICE Armenia participant. Coordinator Renée Deramerian is a sophomore in college from Southern California, and 2023 is her fifth year involved with SERVICE Armenia.

SERVICE Armenia 2023 in front of Mount Ararat

“Living in the diaspora community, there is only so much you can do to give back to your homeland from 7,193 miles away. A month ago, SERVICE Armenia gave me the opportunity to

return to Armenia on their three-week volunteering trip. Although I had previously visited, this trip allowed me to return with the intention of giving back. Our main purpose was to contribute and improve Armenia. However, we still toured and saw all the historical sights we had been educated on throughout the trip.

The first week we arrived, our program coordinator Marina took us to the Erebuni Fortress, Amberd Fortress, and multiple museums that educated us on our ancestors and culture. Looking back, these early trips allowed us volunteers to connect and form close bonds, no matter our age differences.

The first act of service we completed was handing out bags of groceries in Gyumri. When walking through their city, I noticed scattered shipping containers converted into homes. The families we met still welcomed us into their homes and were extremely thankful for the necessities donated to them. Although a small act of service, every member of the trip felt like their eyes were opened to the true extent of the Gyumri housing crisis. What was the most touching was how selfless each family truly was, handing us volunteers chocolates and fruits as a token of their appreciation.

As the trip continued, our agenda began to fill up. We renovated classrooms at Talin Music School, taught students from the Debi Arach Children’s Center how to play lacrosse, spent time with the Kharpert Home for Special Children, and participated in many more acts of service.

Finally, traveling with SERVICE Armenia allowed me to not only connect with Armenians from all over the world, but also create a second family I will never forget. Being with individuals instilled with the same values and purpose as me allowed us all to truly connect and make the experience a lot more meaningful. When first embarking on this trip, I thought I would only be giving back a small percentage to my community. I hope traveling to Armenia with the purpose of service showed the citizens of Armenia that the Armenian diaspora holds an unbreakable bond with them.” — Nicole Timour

SERVICE Armenia participants delivering groceries to impoverished families in Gyumri

“2018 was the first year I visited Armenia with my family. Of course, my brother and I would hear stories of it growing up, but we never actually visited to experience it ourselves. My parents planned a three-week-long trip. Initially, the thought of a trip that long sounded like overkill, but as soon as we began touring the country, the stories we were told did not come close to describing the beauty of it all – intricate monasteries built thousands of years ago, beautiful nature, and people equally as beautiful in spirit and warmth.

Towards the end of the trip, my parents had planned for us to broaden our horizons by joining the Paros Foundation for a couple of days. In those two final days, we helped renovate Talin Music School and packed groceries for locals in Gyumri living in less-than-ideal housing situations as part of the Groceries for Gyumri project. If you ask my brother and I today what we remembered from that first trip in 2018, we could only tell you stories of the last two days we were there in vivid detail, with smiles on our faces and fondness in our hearts.

Since then, we have gone back to Armenia almost every year with the Paros Foundation in some capacity. In 2019 and 2022, we went as “honorary participants,” meaning we did everything but stay with the program in the SERVICE house. 2020 of course was a hard year for everyone, both in terms of COVID-19 and the political tensions that led to war in Armenia, and we did not go back that year.

The following year, I went back as an official participant and truly felt as though I was a part of the group as I had wanted to be for so long. The experience was unique in itself. To add to it, my father had other aspirations for his trip. He took charge of a Paros medical mission called MedAid Armenia, in which he provides checkups to kids in different parts of the country, and we all tagged along, adding yet again another layer of depth to the experience and making it all the more fulfilling.

In 2023, my brother joined as a participant, and I joined as a coordinator, meaning I was in charge of watching the participants when we were not participating in a tour or a service day. This year, it was different. My brother and I had urged our friends to join the program, and join they did. There were 21 kids (including the two coordinators), which was more than I had ever seen participate in the program. I was intimidated by the number initially, but as time went on I was pleasantly surprised. There was not a day on the trip that didn’t go by with laughter and positive energy. The days we worked the hardest, we had the most fun. We celebrated birthdays, went to soccer games, went to amusement parks, laughed, cried…words cannot describe how much fun we had together.

I plan on going back again next year with the program. After all of that, I should be able to say that I am an expert of the experience, but that would not even begin to be true, because each year is so wildly different from the years before. The city grows, the people change and you learn to see everything in a new way that is gratifying in the deepest sense of the word. I cannot recommend it enough. See you next year!” — Renée Deramerian

For more information, contact Executive Director Peter Abajian at (310) 400-9061 or via email, peter@parosfoundation.org.