Volunteering for Heifer in Getap Village
I recently spent 10 days (August 15-25) in Getap village to get acquainted with village life in Armenia and volunteer for the Heifer Armenia-established youth club. Getap is a 1.5-2 hour drive from Yerevan, located near the town of Yegheghnadzor in the region of Vayots Dzor. The landscape is arid and mountainous, dashed with lush green fertile enclaves around the region's treasured rivers.
I stayed with Rosa (left) and her daughter Astghik (middle), whose name I still have trouble pronouncing—but I love it because it means star. Rosa is one of the hardest working women I’ve ever seen. In all of my pictures of her, unless she is eating, she’s working, and this not by coincidence. I really never saw her idle for a single moment. Astghik, 32 years old, is a schoolteacher. She has lived in Getap her whole life (as with her mother and late grandparents) except for the 2 years she spent in Goris city (about 1.5hrs drive east of Getap) for school. Arevik (right), 25 years old, is also a schoolteacher. She considers herself fortunate because she was able to attend university for 4 years in Yerevan. I grew very close to all of them in only 10 days. I knew only 2.5 months worth of Armenian and they didn’t speak any English (as with all but one individual I encountered in the village), so we had to really work together to communicate. Astghik and Arevik taught me a lot. Their teaching background really came through as demonstrated by their patience, willingness to speak slowly and clearly, and clever techniques to help me learn. Here we are having our first meal together after Bella and Hayro, Heifer staff, dropped me off. Needless to say there was lots of chuckling due to our difficulty with communicating.
In the foreground on the left is Arevik’s father, Vrej and Mother, Mariam. They are carrying home fruits and vegetables that they collected from their strip of land near the river. The weather was hot, but comfortable in the evenings.
Mariam is a schoolteacher. Like Rosa, she is also a hard worker. The first time I met her she invited me to watch her milk their cow, which she does every morning and evening. She has big hands, as with most the women I encountered, from milking, kneading dough, washing clothes, carrying buckets of water, working in the soil, etc.
Vrej is the school principal. So the whole family is into education. Here he's picking a few apples from the tree next to their house.
Four days a week, 8 hours a day, Rosa makes lavash. The sweat on her chest is not indicative of a hot flash, rather it is because she works in what feels like a sauna. I was already perspiring from the heat outside. Stepping into this room was unbelievable!
This is the daughter of Astghik's neighboor and colleague. She was precious. We were on our way to the river, where the guys would fish and the gals would cool off.
The precious girl's father and brother slowly made their way up the river, throwing their big net every 10 feet or so, then collecting it after it rested on the bottom for 5 minutes. Two hours later they came back with 2 buckets full of fish.
In the meantime, we girls had thoroughly cooled off from sitting with our feet in the water. Astghik and Marion (the mother/wife we were with) chatted with each other and fiddled around in the garden, while I memorized the Armenian alphabet.
Since summer break was still underway, Astghik was able to go every morning to Yegheghnadzor to do physical therapy. Her trainer, who is also her distant cousin, is pictured below helping a little girl who has a structural birth defect in her collar bone. I was impressed by the high quality yoga mats and exercise balls. The trainer shared that a volunteer who was there a year or so ago donated them to the hospital. I accompanied Astghik everyday and took advantage of the equipment-- especially the yoga mats.
My assignment was to teach English. The kids in the village have the opportunity to learn French, German and Russian, but no one is qualified to teach English. It is unfortunate because they are eager to learn English. Their enthusiasm made it easy for me. Each day 15-20 members of the youth club showed up voluntarily to learn whatever they could. Andranik, pictured behind me, is the son of a schoolteacher. He just came one day to check things out.
The students ranged from 12-16 years old. They were eager to please and impress, but modest at the same time.
Each day either Astghik or Arevik accompanied me and helped me communicate with the students. It didn't take long for A&A to be able to read my mind. Astghik especially was amazing in this regard. She had an uncanny knack for knowing what word I was looking for or what I wanted to convey. The room was well decorated with all sorts of posters, mostly published by the United Nations, USAID, or other donor institutions.
Here they are in front of the school entrance.
The view on our walk home from school. Based on pictures I've seen and from what people have told me, this landscape is somewhat similar to that of Bitlis, from where my great grandparents Sophia and Ardashes fled.
Below is a photo of Bitlis today. I like the idea of being in the kind of landscape that was once home to them.
I was constantly writing down new Armenian vocabulary in my blue copy book. Once in a while Astghik would get studious and take the English versions of my words.
As I said, Rosa is always busy doing something...and it's always very productive. Here she is canning peaches for the winter. One of the major differences between village life and city life is in the village they harvest their own sustenance and make most things from scratch.
I'm helping.
She is placing the jars of peaches, mixed with sugar and water, into a pot of hot water that was heated over the fire.
And later that evening, on the living room floor, she sealed the jars. Rosa and her husband separated when Astghik was 1 year old. The father remarried and had a girl and a boy. In a city like Yerevan, a woman in Roza's situation would likely remarry again, but in a village like Getap the stigma of divorce and the shame that goes along with it still dictate people's lives. Rosa hasn't been with anyone since and she doesn't plan to. She raised Astghik on her own. Astghik's father has had nothing to do with his daughter, even though he lives nearby in Yegheghnadzor. However, this summer, his 26 year old son Robert (Astghik's half-brother) introduced himself to Astghik and they are developing a good brother-sister relationship.
Not too far from their home is a water source. Rosa hand carries all of the water they use for drinking, washing, bathing, etc.
Rosa and Astghik do not own a home because they've not had enough money to purchase one. They are living in a large room on the second floor of a preschool, pictured below. They've managed to make the room quite cozy, demarcating a bedroom/kitchen area with a lace curtain. Astghik makes $60/mo teaching at the village school. She earns an extra $15/mo as a youth club leader. Rosa makes about $2 a day making lavash. After covering rent and utilities expenses, they have enough to meet their basic daily needs, but not enough to save/invest. As is common among local Armenians, they shared with me their salaries, then asked what I made in my last job. I managed to not answer the question.
On our way home from physical therapy, Astghik and I stopped by the provincial municipality, where products produced in Vayots Dzor were on display.
We caught a ride back to the village with Astghik's neighboor, who had us in for coffee and fruit. I thought the son and grandma made for an interesting photo.
View from a nearby village, where we drove to see a summer camp and Astghik's cousin.
The next day, I was told that while Astghik and I were in Yegheghnadzor, my "barekam" had come looking for me. My dictionary said barekam= friend or relative. They said her name is Deeana, she is American, is also doing volunteer type work, is staying at the summer camp that we visited the previous night, and wants to see me. I figured another American volunteer got wind that I was in Getap and thought we should meet, but they insisted that I knew her. They seemed surprised when I didn't jump up and down at the idea of going to spend the night at the summer camp. I was so confused, and figured I was misunderstanding. Then Arevik came over and said, "Sophie, Diana was here and is looking for you!" The correct pronunciation of her name made all the difference and I realized that it was indeed my relative, Diana Blum! I exclaimed "Oh my gosh! She was HERE?!" and their faces all looked relieved that I finally got it. Diana came to Armenia as she does every year to disburse goods to people in need, particularly in orphanages. Of all the places in Armenia, she ended up right next to me, and what was even wierder was I had JUST been to the summer camp where she was working, but had no idea my cousin was inside! Having grown up hearing her stories about Armenia while sitting with Grammy and Papa, and wishing someday I could be like her and go, it was a dream come true to be here with her. When I said "if only Grammy and Papa knew," she replied, "they know, Sophie, they know." Since I associate her and her voice with Grammy and Papa, just seeing her unlocked something in my heart and the tears flowed.
Back in Getap, we were preparing for the one year birthday party of Rosa's great nephew.
Rosa's brother Yurik and his son-in-law prepared the khoravats. Yurik works as a driver in Russia, where he can make a decent salary unlike in Getap. He comes home for 1-2 months out of every year to be with his family. This trip was especially exciting because he purchased a car for the family.
The ladies prepared delicious pastries.
Yurik's house is quite huge. There's a lot of empty space. Here his daughter was attempting to make me look pretty for the party by fixing my hair.
We spent an entire day preparing. I say "we" but really they would hardly let me help. In her spare time, grandma mended some pants.
I couldn't get enough of the view from Yurik's house.
They barbequed the khoravats the best way possible.
I couldn't get enough of the view from Yurik's house.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...!
Twas quite a feast. Soon into it the dancing began. We ate, drank and danced until 1am.
Rosa made all her bread fresh, by hand.
Only 20 minutes from Getap is one of Armenia's most prized historical treasures, Noravank Monastery.
We all lit candles and said prayers, as customary.
On our way home we stopped by this cafe in a mountain just to look and on the other side of the road had watermelon and drinks.
Arevik's nephew, Yura.
The road that leads to Noravank...
August 22 was Astghik's 32nd birthday. The day before, we stopped by her neighbor's where they were making lavash to sell. They gave her an arm full of fresh lavash to use for her birthday feast.
We celebrated Astghik's birthday picnic dinner style, with fresh chicken khoravats, lavash, cheese, cucumber-tomato salad, and grilled eggplant, onion, green pepper. Her half brother Robert was in charge of the fire (which started out so big it was blackening the tree leaves above it) and bbq-ing the khoravats. His wife Sona and their daughter were there as well.
On the way to the picnic site, we stopped by this church.
The views around the church were beautiful.
On my last day I purchased some homemade apricot vodka and plum vodka from Astghik's neighbor below. She was so friendly. I wanted to support her little business. Her product is about 40% proof and lethal!
Mariam, Arevik's mother, makes lavash too. The lady with the cap, who is also a schoolteacher, has the toughest job apparently because of the intense heat coming from the pit.
See...
On my last day Rosa and Astghik were busy collecting things for me to take home with me (watermelon, honeydew melon, peaches, plums, pears, dried fruits, cucumbers, lavash, pastries, and more). Astghik even fried chicken and potatoes for me to take for the journey home (picture below). Their generosity and hospitality was amazing. I felt so at home and welcome there.
As I said, never an idle moment for Rosa...
Arevik's mother sent over a bottle of cognac, freshly made cheeze, and a bag of hazelnuts from their own hazelnut tree. And on top of everything, Astghik and Arevik insited on buying me a souvenir in Yegheghnadzor before I got on the bus to go home.
In just 10 days I made very special friends. It was a rich experience. I've since been calling Arevik's house, where there is a phone, and I'll be going back to visit in a couple days. I'll be seeing all the youth club kids. I'm thankful to Heifer for arranging for me to be hosted in such a special place
I stayed with Rosa (left) and her daughter Astghik (middle), whose name I still have trouble pronouncing—but I love it because it means star. Rosa is one of the hardest working women I’ve ever seen. In all of my pictures of her, unless she is eating, she’s working, and this not by coincidence. I really never saw her idle for a single moment. Astghik, 32 years old, is a schoolteacher. She has lived in Getap her whole life (as with her mother and late grandparents) except for the 2 years she spent in Goris city (about 1.5hrs drive east of Getap) for school. Arevik (right), 25 years old, is also a schoolteacher. She considers herself fortunate because she was able to attend university for 4 years in Yerevan. I grew very close to all of them in only 10 days. I knew only 2.5 months worth of Armenian and they didn’t speak any English (as with all but one individual I encountered in the village), so we had to really work together to communicate. Astghik and Arevik taught me a lot. Their teaching background really came through as demonstrated by their patience, willingness to speak slowly and clearly, and clever techniques to help me learn. Here we are having our first meal together after Bella and Hayro, Heifer staff, dropped me off. Needless to say there was lots of chuckling due to our difficulty with communicating.
In the foreground on the left is Arevik’s father, Vrej and Mother, Mariam. They are carrying home fruits and vegetables that they collected from their strip of land near the river. The weather was hot, but comfortable in the evenings.
Mariam is a schoolteacher. Like Rosa, she is also a hard worker. The first time I met her she invited me to watch her milk their cow, which she does every morning and evening. She has big hands, as with most the women I encountered, from milking, kneading dough, washing clothes, carrying buckets of water, working in the soil, etc.
Vrej is the school principal. So the whole family is into education. Here he's picking a few apples from the tree next to their house.
Four days a week, 8 hours a day, Rosa makes lavash. The sweat on her chest is not indicative of a hot flash, rather it is because she works in what feels like a sauna. I was already perspiring from the heat outside. Stepping into this room was unbelievable!
This is the daughter of Astghik's neighboor and colleague. She was precious. We were on our way to the river, where the guys would fish and the gals would cool off.
The precious girl's father and brother slowly made their way up the river, throwing their big net every 10 feet or so, then collecting it after it rested on the bottom for 5 minutes. Two hours later they came back with 2 buckets full of fish.
In the meantime, we girls had thoroughly cooled off from sitting with our feet in the water. Astghik and Marion (the mother/wife we were with) chatted with each other and fiddled around in the garden, while I memorized the Armenian alphabet.
Since summer break was still underway, Astghik was able to go every morning to Yegheghnadzor to do physical therapy. Her trainer, who is also her distant cousin, is pictured below helping a little girl who has a structural birth defect in her collar bone. I was impressed by the high quality yoga mats and exercise balls. The trainer shared that a volunteer who was there a year or so ago donated them to the hospital. I accompanied Astghik everyday and took advantage of the equipment-- especially the yoga mats.
My assignment was to teach English. The kids in the village have the opportunity to learn French, German and Russian, but no one is qualified to teach English. It is unfortunate because they are eager to learn English. Their enthusiasm made it easy for me. Each day 15-20 members of the youth club showed up voluntarily to learn whatever they could. Andranik, pictured behind me, is the son of a schoolteacher. He just came one day to check things out.
The students ranged from 12-16 years old. They were eager to please and impress, but modest at the same time.
Each day either Astghik or Arevik accompanied me and helped me communicate with the students. It didn't take long for A&A to be able to read my mind. Astghik especially was amazing in this regard. She had an uncanny knack for knowing what word I was looking for or what I wanted to convey. The room was well decorated with all sorts of posters, mostly published by the United Nations, USAID, or other donor institutions.
Here they are in front of the school entrance.
The view on our walk home from school. Based on pictures I've seen and from what people have told me, this landscape is somewhat similar to that of Bitlis, from where my great grandparents Sophia and Ardashes fled.
Below is a photo of Bitlis today. I like the idea of being in the kind of landscape that was once home to them.
I was constantly writing down new Armenian vocabulary in my blue copy book. Once in a while Astghik would get studious and take the English versions of my words.
As I said, Rosa is always busy doing something...and it's always very productive. Here she is canning peaches for the winter. One of the major differences between village life and city life is in the village they harvest their own sustenance and make most things from scratch.
I'm helping.
She is placing the jars of peaches, mixed with sugar and water, into a pot of hot water that was heated over the fire.
And later that evening, on the living room floor, she sealed the jars. Rosa and her husband separated when Astghik was 1 year old. The father remarried and had a girl and a boy. In a city like Yerevan, a woman in Roza's situation would likely remarry again, but in a village like Getap the stigma of divorce and the shame that goes along with it still dictate people's lives. Rosa hasn't been with anyone since and she doesn't plan to. She raised Astghik on her own. Astghik's father has had nothing to do with his daughter, even though he lives nearby in Yegheghnadzor. However, this summer, his 26 year old son Robert (Astghik's half-brother) introduced himself to Astghik and they are developing a good brother-sister relationship.
Not too far from their home is a water source. Rosa hand carries all of the water they use for drinking, washing, bathing, etc.
Rosa and Astghik do not own a home because they've not had enough money to purchase one. They are living in a large room on the second floor of a preschool, pictured below. They've managed to make the room quite cozy, demarcating a bedroom/kitchen area with a lace curtain. Astghik makes $60/mo teaching at the village school. She earns an extra $15/mo as a youth club leader. Rosa makes about $2 a day making lavash. After covering rent and utilities expenses, they have enough to meet their basic daily needs, but not enough to save/invest. As is common among local Armenians, they shared with me their salaries, then asked what I made in my last job. I managed to not answer the question.
On our way home from physical therapy, Astghik and I stopped by the provincial municipality, where products produced in Vayots Dzor were on display.
We caught a ride back to the village with Astghik's neighboor, who had us in for coffee and fruit. I thought the son and grandma made for an interesting photo.
View from a nearby village, where we drove to see a summer camp and Astghik's cousin.
The next day, I was told that while Astghik and I were in Yegheghnadzor, my "barekam" had come looking for me. My dictionary said barekam= friend or relative. They said her name is Deeana, she is American, is also doing volunteer type work, is staying at the summer camp that we visited the previous night, and wants to see me. I figured another American volunteer got wind that I was in Getap and thought we should meet, but they insisted that I knew her. They seemed surprised when I didn't jump up and down at the idea of going to spend the night at the summer camp. I was so confused, and figured I was misunderstanding. Then Arevik came over and said, "Sophie, Diana was here and is looking for you!" The correct pronunciation of her name made all the difference and I realized that it was indeed my relative, Diana Blum! I exclaimed "Oh my gosh! She was HERE?!" and their faces all looked relieved that I finally got it. Diana came to Armenia as she does every year to disburse goods to people in need, particularly in orphanages. Of all the places in Armenia, she ended up right next to me, and what was even wierder was I had JUST been to the summer camp where she was working, but had no idea my cousin was inside! Having grown up hearing her stories about Armenia while sitting with Grammy and Papa, and wishing someday I could be like her and go, it was a dream come true to be here with her. When I said "if only Grammy and Papa knew," she replied, "they know, Sophie, they know." Since I associate her and her voice with Grammy and Papa, just seeing her unlocked something in my heart and the tears flowed.
Back in Getap, we were preparing for the one year birthday party of Rosa's great nephew.
Rosa's brother Yurik and his son-in-law prepared the khoravats. Yurik works as a driver in Russia, where he can make a decent salary unlike in Getap. He comes home for 1-2 months out of every year to be with his family. This trip was especially exciting because he purchased a car for the family.
The ladies prepared delicious pastries.
Yurik's house is quite huge. There's a lot of empty space. Here his daughter was attempting to make me look pretty for the party by fixing my hair.
We spent an entire day preparing. I say "we" but really they would hardly let me help. In her spare time, grandma mended some pants.
I couldn't get enough of the view from Yurik's house.
They barbequed the khoravats the best way possible.
I couldn't get enough of the view from Yurik's house.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...!
Twas quite a feast. Soon into it the dancing began. We ate, drank and danced until 1am.
Rosa made all her bread fresh, by hand.
Only 20 minutes from Getap is one of Armenia's most prized historical treasures, Noravank Monastery.
We all lit candles and said prayers, as customary.
On our way home we stopped by this cafe in a mountain just to look and on the other side of the road had watermelon and drinks.
Arevik's nephew, Yura.
The road that leads to Noravank...
August 22 was Astghik's 32nd birthday. The day before, we stopped by her neighbor's where they were making lavash to sell. They gave her an arm full of fresh lavash to use for her birthday feast.
We celebrated Astghik's birthday picnic dinner style, with fresh chicken khoravats, lavash, cheese, cucumber-tomato salad, and grilled eggplant, onion, green pepper. Her half brother Robert was in charge of the fire (which started out so big it was blackening the tree leaves above it) and bbq-ing the khoravats. His wife Sona and their daughter were there as well.
On the way to the picnic site, we stopped by this church.
The views around the church were beautiful.
On my last day I purchased some homemade apricot vodka and plum vodka from Astghik's neighbor below. She was so friendly. I wanted to support her little business. Her product is about 40% proof and lethal!
Mariam, Arevik's mother, makes lavash too. The lady with the cap, who is also a schoolteacher, has the toughest job apparently because of the intense heat coming from the pit.
See...
On my last day Rosa and Astghik were busy collecting things for me to take home with me (watermelon, honeydew melon, peaches, plums, pears, dried fruits, cucumbers, lavash, pastries, and more). Astghik even fried chicken and potatoes for me to take for the journey home (picture below). Their generosity and hospitality was amazing. I felt so at home and welcome there.
As I said, never an idle moment for Rosa...
Arevik's mother sent over a bottle of cognac, freshly made cheeze, and a bag of hazelnuts from their own hazelnut tree. And on top of everything, Astghik and Arevik insited on buying me a souvenir in Yegheghnadzor before I got on the bus to go home.
In just 10 days I made very special friends. It was a rich experience. I've since been calling Arevik's house, where there is a phone, and I'll be going back to visit in a couple days. I'll be seeing all the youth club kids. I'm thankful to Heifer for arranging for me to be hosted in such a special place
posted by Sophia Malkasian at 5:35 AM
2 Comments:
Great journal Sophie - I really enjoyed the story. You may have posted this in a previous area of the blog which I haven't read yet, but what are 'khoravats'?? The food really looks delicious! Have fun! xoxo, Esther
Dear Sophie,
What a treat to read your comments and see your great pics. I'm living vicariously through you - you can't imagine how much I'm looking forward to going back to see it all again... :) have fun, take care, keep posting!
xo, Audrey
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