When I first came to Armenia almost two years ago many thing seemed surprisingly familiar. Having grown up in the Midwest in the 50’s, I felt a little like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future. But it was also very clear this was not a Hollywood movie and my role would have very little impact on anyone's future.
My work site for the two years had many similarities to the city of my birth: tree-lined streets, hard-working neighbors and very traditional values. And from my background reading before arrival, I knew I was about the experience my first winter in 30 years since moving to California. My mind was not dancing with sugar plum fairies but more like six foot snowdrifts on frozen tundra with bone-chilling winds. Fortunately my imagination was more intense than the weather which proved to be milder than my Midwest experience. The only real challenges were the occasional times in winter when the pipes froze and you had to wait a day for water.
Probably the most difficult thing about my new country was the language with its own unique alphabet and sounds. There are six letters that look like “n” in English and another half-dozen that are variations of our “u.” And then there were the sounds of the words. Six letter words that had five consonants are still difficult for me to pronounce. I knew I was in trouble when I asked for an "onion" and he handed me a bottle of Fanta. For many of the 20-something Volunteers recently out of college, it was just another challenge for their agile brains. But for my 60-something year old brain, what I learned on Monday was not always there when I looked for it on Tuesday. The eleven weeks of PST (Pre-Service Training) are considered by many to be one of the real hurdles of our service, similar to boot camp in the Army. When our four hours-a-day of language training was complete, I was greatly relieved and happy to be assigned to a work site. My ability to speak the language was minimal but I also knew that communication between people is as much a matter of intention as it is vocabulary.
Fast-forwarding ahead to last weekend, I was assisting at a Youth Leadership Conference in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. During one of the breaks, a young Armenian college student whom I had worked with before asked me a rather direct question: “What don’t you like about Armenia?” Obviously noticing the shock on my face, she clarified that this is a question she often asks visitors to get a different perspective on her homeland which she has never been outside of. I was still feeling a little cautious. It’s like when a female friend asks you: “Do these pants make my butt look fat?” It’s at this moment you understand the old adage that “caution is the better part of valor.”
The next week I received an email from a young Armenian college student in California who had read my blog. She posed hypothetical question: What would say to young college students in California who have never lived in Armenia? So what follows is my attempt to answer both of these questions, based on the obvious limitations of my time in the country.
When I thought about my response I realized that there were several different aspects of Armenia one could discuss. One is the cultural legacy that goes back many centuries. There are the medieval churches that I have seen throughout my region as well as the poets, composers and musicians that I only know through the statues populating the capital and the parks of major cities. And of course there is the proud legacy of military leaders who have given their lives in the cause of Armenian independence. It is their photos that tend to populate the walls of the schools and government buildings rather than any notable Armenians from the 20th century.
Then there are the people of Armenia themselves. Looking at the faces of the older members of society, you can easily see the difficulties they had to endure during the last 50 years. One publication I read before coming to Armenia spoke of the widespread depression that affects the citizens. After my first couple months in country, it seemed more accurate to describe it as a sense of resignation. In the 20th century alone, there were many tragic events from the Genocide of 1915, to the earthquake of 1988, and finally the economic collapse that resulted from the dissolution of the Soviet Union. These were circumstances beyond their control, their fate that they have been asked to endure. The one bright spot seems to be their children. While all societies take delight in their young, it seemed especially important for Armenians to usher in the next generation.
Which leads me to my major concern for Armenia: What is the future of the coming generation? Having worked with the young people of the country for the past two years, my major concern is for their future. What opportunities will they have? On my trips to the capital, one cannot help but notice the thousands of students who attend college there. The same question always crosses my mind: Where are all these graduates going to find jobs? Will they be happy as taxi drivers and sales clerks? Do they really need a degree in International Business to run their family convenience store? The only companies of any presence in the country seem to be the cell phone providers. I was told that Armentel had a monopoly on the phone business until Viva Cell arrived. And now recently the French based corporation Orange has made it a three way fight for their share of the very lucrative cell phone revenues. But even this thriving sector of the economy, I don't see any career opportunities but only a few salaries for the sales clerks at the retail outlets.
At my work site the fathers with technical skills in engineering or construction are often required to work in Moscow or other cities in Russia to find decent salaries. Their children that I have spoken with see their fathers only during the Christmas season and some less often than that. And in the meantime where is the economic activity in Armenia? The most visible sector of the economy is the construction of new high rise office buildings and apartments in the capital. One would like to believe that such activity is an indicator of an economic resurgence in Armenia but the reality that many of these buildings stand vacant would suggest otherwise. An actual developer would need a return on his financial investment that a vacant building does not provide. Some have suggested that these projects are often a convenient place to launder money from less than reputable businesses in Russia. For Armenia to recover economically, much more is needed than for Yerevan to become a showcase of new buildings. Unfortunately this reflects the former Soviet system that was more concerned about the appearances of success than the actual quality of life for their citizens.
The United States has made a concerted effort during the past eighteen years of Armenia independence to stimulate the economy with aid. Almost $2 billion has been invested here during that time, the highest per capita amount given to any of the 12 former soviet states. Some programs have specific targets, like the Millennium Challenge that is seeking to strengthen the agricultural economy by improving the water delivery system throughout the country. This program has worked hard to establish a new level of transparency in the use of the funds in a former soviet system where corruption was a way of life.
Other programs have attempted to improve the quality of life by funding a myriad of social programs. These are always more difficult if the money has been well-spent. In the United States, a welfare program was established during the Depression in the 30’s and then expanded during the 60’s. The goal of the program was to assist families in serious need to “get back on their feet.” But finally during the mid 90’s it became necessary to re-evaluate if was actually working as a transition to future self-sufficiency. For many it had actually become a way of life that encouraged greater dependency. So it was re-designed around “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity” that required job-training and eventual self-sufficiency. I see a similar pattern in Armenia where thousands of people created NGO's (called Non-Profits in the US) so they could tap into this large revenue stream coming into the country. And unfortunately many of these organizations have become more skilled in writing the grants than in creating social programs that are self-sustaining. And this problem is not unique to Armenia. Many aid programs around the world today from Africa to South America are being criticized for their failure to foster self-sufficiency.
The final aspect of the Armenian society that concerns me is the educational system. As a former high school teacher in the States, I am not naive as to the problems with our own educational system. Yet the system that I have witnessed makes very little efforts made to develop the minds of the students. As other volunteers in schools have noted, it is as if the information in the books is sacrosanct and the highest form of learning is memorization. This must be a hold over from the Soviet days when loyal citizens were expected to adhere to the information provided by the State. To solve the problems of the future, Armenia's future leaders will need to have the abilities to analyze and evaluate information and then develop creative solutions. Today's educational system is not encouraging students to question and reflect on the material they are reading. Instead their heads are being filled with information they have little interest in. A Roman philosopher once said: “Education is not about filling a vessel but lighting a fire.” The fire of interest and curiosity is surely not being lit.
And while today's youth puts in their time in today's classrooms, the Oligarchs tighten their grip on the Armenian economy that they took over when they purchased the State-run businesses eighteen years ago. There is little that those of us who are volunteers can do about these harsh realities except provide today's youth with some new skills and experiences in Summer Camps and other trainings. Armenians have demonstrated their ability to excel on the world stage in both sports and music as individuals. But to create a society where opportunity and democracy are a reality, the country needs many more who have developed skills in the in the areas of leadership and teamwork. One young man tried to explain to me that chess in Armenia was really a team sport because they rode together in a van. For Armenians who have been fiercely independent for centuries, this might seem like teamwork. But a much greater level of collaboration will be required to create a society where real opportunities are available for the next generation.
