Background
Armenian educational system is very much based on the Soviet education that focuses on knowledge rather than current market economy skills. Many students learn history, geography, maths but few of the school graduates say that whatever they study at school is 100% important for them in their life or they at least remember half of what they studied. .
Challenge
Modern society requires skill sets of entrepreneurship, social skills to be competent in the market and unfortunately not many schools are capable of providing those skills to students through their strict curriculum of formal education.
SBB Intervention
We promote social and financial education among children. The interactive program is implemented by locally trained teachers. Volunteers bring their international expertise to make the classes more student-oriented and boost the creativity of the students through innovative approaches, sharing skills and ideas.
Main tasks of the volunteers:
- Plan interactive games and sessions based on the manual and the topics of the program (inclusion, social equality, people with disabilities, respect & friendship, what is privacy, budgeting and planning)
- Organize sessions on entrepreneurship and give tasks to students to develop their entrepreneurial ideas within the premises of their village and nearby areas.
- Prepare movie-watching session, article discussion or video discussion with the help of the translators
- If the program is in the phase of project implementation then assist groups of students with idea generation and implementation
- Mentor specific students for their talent discovery and professional orientation
- Program Base: Armenia
- Project duration: 1 week-month
- Joining dates: Throughout the year
- Arrival date: Saturday or Sunday are preferable, if not weekdays will be managed
- Arrival airport : Zvartnots International Airport
- Drop to Hostel in Yerevan for two night to take rest and then be shifted to the
project location - Working days: Monday to Friday, Weekends are off
- Weekends: Free to do sightseeing or travel
- Requirements: Basic English
- Pre-arrival assistance
- Detailed pre-arrival orientation and cultural awareness info
- Pick-up from Zvartnots International Airport
- A detailed orientation about Armenia, project, cultural responsibility and things to remember in India, SIM card assistance
- Accommodation with host family (single or dual occupancy) or volunteer house
- All meals (Authentic Armenian meals) Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Resource materials to use on project
- Weekly market visit to shop for your necessities
- Cultural workshops
- Airport drop at Zvartnots International Airport
- Logistics & program assistance if required
- Emergency support
Host family: Armenian local family which is ready to receive you like a family member, share food and space with you is considered host family. Chances of having single or dual occupancy are there as we don’t keep more than 3 people in one room in host families. Host family accommodation is best to discover the local culture and to enjoy home-made Armenian food. Food includes breakfast, lunch and dinner made by the host and includes vegetarian authentic dishes and from time to time non-veg food. Each family is carefully chosen to ensure the family has the basic standards of living required for our participants. All participants need to know that in rural Armenia living standards are lower and chances of now having a shower but a bucket of hot water are there. Similarly in rural Armenia toilets are not always within the house but outside and it’s more a squat rather than a toilet with seat. As each village is different and we send volunteers based on the demand of the specific time, we inform our participants in advance which village they will visit and if there is western bathroom standard available or no. It’s important to mention your readiness to cooperate with the rural conditions as based on that we can select the village you will work with. We work in more than 50 villages of Armenia and we usually don’t send more than 2 volunteers at a time to the same village as we want more villages to benefit of the volunteering program.
Facilities include:
- Shared bedroom (max 3 people-chances of single room available)
- Western or rural toilet (if you are not ready for a squat which is most common toilet type in the villages out of the house, then this may not fit you as a volunteer option)
- Drinking water
- Hot & cold water (possibly heated on gas)
- Common Fridge
- Common washing machine
- Kitchen access to cook food if wished so
- Family environment
- Comfortable & safe stay option
- Celebration of festivals together
MEALS:
During the program we provide breakfast, lunch and dinner in the village (in Yerevan you are free to choose your food as there are so many restaurants and cafes). All the volunteers in the villages will have Armenian meals as we believe food is a part of cultural immersion. Armenian food is not spicy but it will definitely be different from what you may be used to. Breakfast is usually tea or coffee, bread, cheese, jam, egg, etc. Lunch and Dinner are similar as it may include one vegetable fried or cooked, some lentils or rice, some Armenian soup or salad. We realize that from time to time participants would like to eat non-Armenian food so it is possible to cook your preferred food in host family upon availability of the ingredients. You may need to know that rural Armenian dishes are simple so you can’t expect mushroom, avocado or any similar ingredient to be available. Besides, many vegetables are seasonal so you may discuss the food details with our coordinator staff prior or during your stay. We will do our best to accommodate vegetarian diet (Armenians are mostly non-vegetarian and it’s sometimes even culturally difficult for rural Armenians to understand how it’s possible to survive without meat).
- Air fare
- Visa
- Insurance
- Local transportation (mostly on walking distance or support from coordinators)
- Personal expenses
For costs and further details please contact us on info@stepbeyondborders.org