Peer education seminars in village Chinary

Satenik is a 16 year old girl from a remote village in Armenia. At the end of March 2012, she decided to organize mini-GLOW summer school for her peers. Over thirty high school students signed up to join the after-class seminars.

The topics of the first day of seminars on March 26^th were leadership and gender equality. I thoroughly planned the session and had a few energizers to warm up the group. As in our school we are not used to interactive activities to promote learning, my session was very different yet engaging and interesting for the participants. After each activity we were debriefing and taking the learning points. During leadership session we discussed what the qualities of a leader are and lots of opinions and characteristics came up.

We continued with gender equality. It was very good to have gender balance in the group. Boys were particularly active in this session. One of the activities was on what they consider suitable professions for men and women. A very heated and energetic discussion followed where we had lots of different opinions. This allowed everyone to see different perspectives on very simple topics.

Next day we continued with topics of trafficking and gender stereotypes. First I asked the participants what they know about trafficking. There was some response in the group. Then I shared what I learnt about the issue during GLOW and after it. We watched two videos on trafficking – one on trafficking as a phenomenon and various types of trafficking and second one was on child trafficking. The movies brought up lots of questions and we discussed them afterwards.

Gender stereotypes were the next session. We brainstormed what is a stereotype and then I read for them some of commonly spread stereotypes of our society. The opinions of the participants were very diverse, some of them brought examples of gender stereotypes, their influence and consequence on lives of individuals.

The last day of seminars we covered domestic violence and volunteerism. We watched a movie about domestic violence followed with opinion sharing in a circle. Some of the participants shared cases of domestic violence they knew and the approach and opinion of society to this phenomenon. I think our group was well aware of the issue and had strong understanding how important it is to fight against it in order to have a healthy society.

Volunteerism was the last topic. I wanted the participants to remember this topic and to get a better sense of what volunteerism is and be interested to be one. In our session some participants were skeptical saying that it is unappreciated work, that no one will do something without any expectations. However, we had quite many students who shared examples and hopefully influenced the others. I also told the students about different projects and organizations that could be useful for study abroad projects, shelter for domestic violence, etc. The most active 10 students got books on domestic violence.

I am very pleased with the results of the seminars. They not only increased knowledge on the topics among my peers, but also gave me confidence and satisfaction that I can independently organize seminars and share my knowledge.

Satenik Kalantaryan

Village of Chinary, Tavush region

THE HERO OF MY LIFE contest of essays

'We are greatly influenced by the people who surround us.' Peter Mayer

Early 2012 SYC announced a contest of essays for GLOW alumnae. It aimed to allow them think about people in their surroundings who have important role in their lives and have positively influenced them. The 3 winners of the contest got support to organize community projects and peer educational activities in their communities.

Here are extracts from essays:

People often look for their heroes somewhere far from themselves, in an unreachable world. My heroes are regular people with their strengths and weaknesses. Today I would like to talk about one of them – Megan, a Peace Corps volunteer who serves in my village. She is a sociable, honest, courageous and kind person. She is a great leader with very pleasant personality. She teaches English at my school but language skills are not the only thing we take from her. She serves as a great role model for all students with her purposefulness and ability to overcome challenges. Megan is a friend to me and has her particular place in my heart and life. I learnt from her to accept everyone the way they are and not to try to change them or be judgmental.  With her entry to my life, she brought lots of positive change. I have learnt to be more responsible and appreciate what I have, to set goals and try to reach them.

Satenik from village of Choratan

Arev (Sun in Armenian) is my dearest teacher. She is also my friend, my supporter and my kindest elf. She understands everyone, never judges people even the most sinful one. She is a great leader and good protector of children’s rights. I do not know anyone kinder than her. Arev changed my worldview making me more open minded and honest, responsible and friendly, humble and family-oriented.

Syuzanna from village of Khot

They say artists have deep inner world, are kind and forgiving, look at the world through the colors of their paintings and are a bit unusual. This is how my heroine is - Ms. Dovlatyan, my arts teacher at school. I was a small child when I first saw her. I immediately “fell in love” with her. Her kindest eyes attracted me then, but I know that it was her rich inner world that I loved. Spending more time with her, I started looking at the world with different eyes. She taught me how to and give soul and life to a painting. Ms. Dovlatyan has influenced me a lot. I have learnt from her to be humble, kind and a bit unusual.

Arpine from the town of Vayk

Each one of us has people in our lives who influence and shape who we are. I want to emphasis the role of my dearest mom in my life. She gave birth to me, has nurtured all my live and tried to install in me the wonderful qualities she possesses and values in life: kindness, responsibility, humbleness, thirst for knowledge and respect to everyone.

Kristine from town of Vanadzor