A Weekend in Berd
By Nessuna
Taking a bus to Berd in the early hours of Saturday morning was more of an adventure than anything else. One of my friends, John, is a Peace Corps volunteer and mentioned that I was welcome to visit so I jumped at the chance. After all, it’s not everyday you take a five hour trip to a town in North-East of Armenia, located on the border with Azerbaijan.
“Is it long till we get to Berd,” I impatiently asked the woman next to me after the fourth hour on the road. “Yes, quite a while,” she responded, although I could hardly understand her strong accent. “Are you from Berd?” she asked in return.
I was surprised by the question because she should have known better if only because of my speech. Later, when I mentioned this to John, he seemed to have an explanation for the woman’s assumption. “It is just that nobody else goes to Berd,” he said.
The town of Berd has water three days a week and there are no street lights so you need to always have a flashlight in order to find your way in darkness. Basic things that I took for granted in Yerevan seemed almost a luxury here. And then there was the mud.
Because it was everywhere, any attempt to escape it seemed futile. The next best thing to avoiding it was ignoring it altogether.
“Are you sure you’re Armenian?” asked John as we climbed all the way up to the ancient Berd fortress dating from the 10-11th Century. For all that he knows, I am supposed to be like most Armenian girls by wearing high heels shoes and above all else, in being preoccupied only with keeping them clean.
It’s a gray day, but nonetheless beautiful. A little fog that settled on top of the cliffs made the landscape look like a scene from a fairy-tale.
Berd Fortress © Raffi Kojian / Armeniapedia 2005 (Used with permission)
Later we go for a walk. I am curious as to what would make a young American leave his home in upstate New York and spend two years in the middle of nowhere. Honestly, I am not even sure I would go for it myself. Of course, the perspective of changing the living conditions of people anywhere in the world is very appealing, but the everyday reality can be quite daunting, if not to say depressing.
We do seem to agree that one has to be a little crazy to become a Peace Corps Volunteer.
to be continued…
PCV John Kolb has a blog from Berd at http://unfocusedwanderer.blogspot.com/.
Hi Nessuna, thanks for the post. Look forward to reading more. Also, well done on respecting copyright issues regarding the use of photos on a blog and in fact, any web site or in any publication. This is a huge issue in Armenia where people violate intellectual property rights on an almost daily basis. Unfortunately, they don’t know that what they’re doing is actually stealing. For blogs I suppose a simple copyright notice and link to the source should suffice, but I’m pleased to see that it looks as though you went a stage further and actually sought permission. Great!
Comment by Onnik — March 22, 2006 @ 3:23 pm
During my peace corps service in Armenia, we had a marrie couple who lived in Berd. They would tell us the stories of long marchutney rides along rough terrain. It is worth the time and effort to get to Berd. There is some great hiking in the area.
Comment by Jeff Dunaway — March 23, 2006 @ 7:47 am
Just wanted to say that although it’s great a peace corp volunteer is in Berd, I am questioning what he will actually be able to do there just judging from your description regarding the harsh conditions there and perhaps a lack of proper education. The economic boom of Yerevan is probably decades away from reaching that area of Armenia, and it may never be much more developed than its current state. I assume he is making some kind of difference, but I am unsure as to how viable it may be. I met him briefly and he mentioned that one of the peace corps’ goals was to spread American culture around the world. Since that culture is comprised of McDonalds, baseball, American football, and materialism, I don’t understand how the people of Berd would profit from learning about that.
The only thing that will help that area as well as other rural areas is huge amounts of financial assistance, chiefly from the government and from the Armenian diaspora. Unfortunately you can’t depend on either one of them. You also can’t depend on programs sponsored by the US State Department.
In any case, I hope I can one day visit Berd.
Comment by Christian Garbis — March 23, 2006 @ 11:36 am
Chris, I agree it’s hard to change things in Berd, especially when you do not have the neccessary finances and rely on grants. But it is worth trying, don’t you think? John is working at Business Center; his plan is create an Internet center in Berd. If he suceeds at that, it’s already a lot, considering the whole town of Berd has two-three computers with access to Internet. There are other volunteers, one of them teaches English at university, the other does some work for the health center, if I’m not mistaken. Come on now, those people dedicate two years of their lives trying to change something to better, they deserve more respect and credit than that.
Now, speaking of American culture, there are surely things that Armenians can learn. Take, individualism, for example. It might be the legacy of 70 years Soviet rule when individualism was severely punished, but even now it seems that we are tought to swim with the current, agree with each other, dress alike and regard everything slightly different as a threat.
Comment by Nessuna — March 23, 2006 @ 12:42 pm
Jeff, I might have heard about the couple , would you believe?
Comment by Nessuna — March 23, 2006 @ 12:52 pm
Firstly, there is good and bad in any culture, and America is no different. Regarding trash culture, however, this is not the fault of the US Embassy or the Peace Corps. After all, McDonalds and the rest of it will arrive here because the locals, including those Diaspora living here, regard it as progress.
After all, what is trash culture in the US perhaps is the equivalent of the rabiz you talk about here. Anyway, that someone is in Berd is a lot, especially as some young Americans have gone there to try to make a difference whereas I don’t see any young Diasporans interested in doing the same.
That says a lot in itself.
Comment by Onnik — March 23, 2006 @ 1:20 pm
There are 80 of us all over Armenia. Americans who are not Armenian who speak decent Armenian and are here to simply help. I would like for people such as Chris to come see the work that can be done. More importantly, the work we are doing is not about resources but about change. It is about throwing off the blanket of Soviet era thinking and being cheerleaders to help our communities improve themselves. Although I was successful in America and have marketable skills, my most valuable asset is being able to say to the people I work with my community, “You can do it! Go ahead and try and let’s see what comes of it.” Resources, although nice, are not required for change and improvement. Hard work, community and a vision for a brighter future is all that is needed to improve rural Armenia.
Come one, come all. Find a Peace Corps Volunteer in a rural area of Armenia and see the country as you would have never experienced it other wise regardless of your ethnic heritage.
Comment by Jason — March 23, 2006 @ 10:14 pm
I never thought I would have to defend the Peace Corps mission in Armenia to an Armenian but I was a bit disappointed by the comment regarding our presence in Berd. I was in Armenia from ‘02 to ‘04 and was stationed in Vanadzor. I can tell you first hand that it is extremely difficult for PCVs to accomplish a great deal of tangible work in sites like Berd, Alaverdi, Maralik, Vayk, or Tatev.
However, our work can not always be measured in numbers. One reason for our presence is to demonstrate to the Armenian community that not all Americans are devoted to McDonalds and Materialism. The first real contact some Armenians have with an American is because a PCV has been stationed in their village or small town.
We have coffee and tea with them and share in their culture. Two of Peace Corps goals are the cross cultural share of information that was alluded to before. Those are lofty goals that we work hard to achieve. There is something valuable achieved when an American can speak (in Armenian) to a village woman about something as serious as womens rights or as playful as the weather.
My two years had a tremendous impact on my life and I know that I left that country more enriched than when I arrived there. Our job is more important than just bringing in grant money. Please dont belittle our efforts.
Comment by Jeff Dunaway — March 24, 2006 @ 5:18 am
I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Gyumri, Armenia and I had the opportunity to visit Berd on more than one occasion. I taught yoga to young girls and women in Berd who, because of cultural barriers, never participated in any sport prior. Yoga not only taught them physical strength and motivation, but a sense of self-worth and empowerment. My second venture to Berd allowed me to witness the good the Peace Corps volunteers working there were doing for a young girl who was physically handicapped. The volunteers, working with the young girl’s family and local health officials, were able to acquire her a walker and convince her family to allow her to participate in school and her community, rather than treating her as if she was burden. Each volunteer who serves in the Peace Corps, regardless of the country, has a similar story to tell. A story that will not change the entire culture, but will help individuals have a richer and more fulfilling life.
To throw “financial assistance’ at the problem is nothing more than applying a band-aid to a significantly larger concern. These people need practical knowledge, skills, and self-esteem to better their lives, not money. Yes, money can aid their transition, but after living under a communist regime for 70+ years, the Armenian people need to learn skill-sets and the ability to believe in themselves.
You cannot train doctors solely with money, you cannot empower a woman to learn about her rights with money, nor can you give homeless children self-worth with money.
As for the Armenian diasporan assistance, I am sure the people in my city, the city of Gyumri, greatly appreciate the new 1.2 million dollar church built during my service. It allows the people still living in metal storage containers after 14 years something to look at out of their broken window.
Comment by Kim Bohince — March 24, 2006 @ 6:20 am
Kim, regarding Diasporan assistance in Gyumri and other places, for sure, but as has been said on this comments page, money is not enough, especially when there is a lack of accountability and transparency in how that money is spent. Anywyay, for many peopleliving outside of the center of Yerevan, they have yet to meet an ethnic Armenian from the Diaspora because most of the focus in terms of a visible presence is there and not int he suburbs or regions.
There are some exceptions to this, and I would particularly like to mention Knarik and Murad Meneshian who lived in Gyumri while serving with the Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC). They really achieved a lot, and not least in terms of writing about their experiences there. Anyway, in a sense, throwing money at a problem is the easy option. Being on the ground where it is administered or even where it is not, is something significantly more in my opinion.
Anyway, community empowerment — I’m all for it whoever is responsible…
Comment by Onnik — March 24, 2006 @ 11:21 am
Thanks for enlightening me, former and present PCVs. Basically I worded the comment in a way to incite reaction, and it seemed to have worked.
I also believe in community building and rural development as being the most important things that can be done in the regions, no matter where in Armenia. Some people–certainly not all–living in small towns and villages I believe may feel incapacitated due to limited resources as well as lack of understanding as to how to bring about change in their communities. I have heard first-hand accounts from people who expressed their frustrations, comparing their lives now with their Soviet lives. But people need to know the means first before they receive the tools to enact the means. Indeed, financial assistance is also needed to bring about that change in the villages where resources are limited or may not exist. Yet properly administrating the funding that comes in is a difficult task, especially when some of the funding is redirected to people’s pockets.
In terms of the Armenian Diaspora, they like to build churches, especially in places where they already exist. The Diaspora does not understand the importance of community building–there are of course exceptions but most of their investment is in Yerevan. Being a Diasporan living in Armenia, I know that a lot more must be done. But at least I am doing my part by writing about what I’m observing.
Comment by Christian Garbis — March 24, 2006 @ 1:27 pm
One of the schools in Vanadzor that was slightly damaged during the 1988 earthquake was demolished, and now a huge church is standing in its place. Every time I pass by it, it makes me sad. We have so many churches and monasteries–old and new. I wish those funds could have been used on building schools and libraries. Churches don’t develop a country, whereas schools might.
Comment by Nanul — March 24, 2006 @ 11:23 pm
First of all, thank you very much Onnik for remembering us in your piece. We are deeply touched. It is rare that we, as Armenians, appreciate or remember one another’s efforts, as well as the efforts of others. As for the Peace Corps Volunteers, and in our case, the ones we had the great honor of meeting, getting to know, and spending time with in Gyumri (also some from Spitak and Sisian), God Bless them, God Bless them all! They lived under the same harsh conditions as a great many of the locals, though at times under even more difficult and dangerous conditions, and each day they went to work helping our Armenian people, helping our country. They were there not only to help, but to give of themselves and as a result brought hope to people who have suffered so much and continue to do so. Despite what is thought and said sometimes, these courageous, selfless, and generous people known as the Peace Corps Volunteers are what America is truly all about.
As for McDonald’s, I cannot help but think of Ronald McDonald House and all the good it has done and continues to do for countless ailing children and their families, including four unfortunate children who had lost limbs in Armenia’s devastating 1988 earthquake, and so were brought to Chicago for treatment. Ronald McDonald House took such good care of them and the relatives that accompanied them for the months they spent in Chicago. Again, here is a good example of what America and its people are all about.
America has helped and continues to help Armenia. Diasporan Armenians have helped Armenia since the Genocide and the First Republic, and volunteers from the Diaspora went to help Armenia during those difficult days with some giving their lives for their people and country. We Diasporans continue to help our homeland in a variety of ways. The ARS, the AGBU, many other organizations, and countless individuals continue unceasingly to help.
With all of these examples, it is time that those locals in Armenia who can very easily help should join the efforts of their brothers and sisters in the Diaspora to help Armenia. After all, it is their country and their people too!
Knarik O. Meneshian
Comment by Knarik O. Meneshian — March 25, 2006 @ 10:45 am
Knarik, you make a good point about the need for locals to become involved, especially in the area of volunteering. It doesn’t really exist as you know. Everyone is just concerned with themselves, but maybe that’s because people are still interested in survival and accumulating wealth if they have that opportunity, or leaving the country if they don’t.
Comment by Onnik — March 25, 2006 @ 12:04 pm
We have so many churches and monasteries–old and new. I wish those funds could have been used on building schools and libraries. Churches don’t develop a country, whereas schools might.
WOW, finally met someone who shares the same view!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!
Comment by Freedom — March 25, 2006 @ 2:56 pm
Jeff at Voch Me Ban refers to this post and also includes a link to an article about how one African-Armenian PCV in Armenia is changing attitudes among the locals.
Comment by Onnik — March 27, 2006 @ 7:58 am