ARMENIA DIARY

Armenia is a small landlocked country on the south eastern edge of Europe and at the gateway to the Middle East and all of Asia. It is surrounded by Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran.   Everyone seems to have heard of it, but very few know where it is situated….least of all myself…so it is with some trepidation that I board the plane on Sunday afternoon from Heathrow and set off in the Easterly direction for 5 hours arriving just past midnight on Monday morning into a city and country that has gained independence from Russia in 1991.

Regional fighting with Azerbaijan over land control finally reached a ceasefire in 1994 but the local economy still suffers from the war, the Azerbaijan fuel blockade and a severe earthquake in 1988 that destroyed much if its infrastructure and killed over 55,000 citizens.

Monday 28th July:  

Good morning….well here is my first view of Yerevan from the hotel room.   I arrived last night.  This trip has been funded courtesy of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (www.cba.org.uk) as part of its  programme development Fund.    I am being hosted by FPWC (www.fpwc.org), the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets in the Republic of Armenia.  By organising environmental educational activities, festivals, and other projects, such as the production of documentaries about endangered nature and wildlife in Armenia, they raise public awareness to the environmental problems in Armenia.  They have also established SunChild Eco clubs throughout Armenia in order to bring up a new generation who will be able to perceive environmental issues and find ways of solving them through photos and film.

Barbara Siebert, from the FPWC, comes to collect me at 09.00 and we are off.  We rendezvous with other personnel at a street corner and approximately 14 of us climb on board a bus and head for the mountain.  The FPWC are organising a summer camp in Dilijan for 60 young people - they will learn about environmental issues in Armenia, filming, environmental law, English, German and cultural classes.It is with these children, who will be coming from all over Armenia, that I shall be devising another story for the Ragdoll Foundation ‘what makes me happy’ series.

On the journey Barbara gives me my first lesson about Armenia….about Armenian independence,  the defunct industries, the derelict buildings and factories, the Armenian way of life.   About the gold mines and cyanide poising, about the future Canadanian companies…..she tells me about the illegal logging and the black and white money marketing, about Armenian corruption and, of course about the FPWC’s hope for the education of children’s understanding of the environment.

 Eventually after approximately 2 hours we reach our destination, after stopping for a quick look at Lake Sevan

Lake Sevan is 1900m above sea level and measures 80km x 30km

So….here we are…

I get down from the bus and take a look around.  The Summer camp is taking place at  the “Cinematographers House”   This is a huge building which in Soviet times must have been magnificent with its ballrooms, cinema, conference areas, libraries and restaurants, but now resembles something out of a horror film, with plaster falling constantly from the ceilings, windows too dirty to look through, rooms with dilapidated bathrooms and chandeliers with no light bulbs.  The whole building is covered with grime, dirt, dust and years of neglect.   It is damp and pretty dirty and HUGE!  But set in the most beautiful mountain and woodland landscape.

During Soviet times Dilijan was the retreat for cinematographers, composers, artists and writers to come and be creative….let’s hope it weaves its magic for me.   One of the most terrifying responsibilities of travelling to these countries, is the thought that I must return with at least two possible stories and I very often sacrifice any hint of tourism with the thought that first I must discover a story that represents best the country.  One day these stories might emerge early on in my visit, and give me some free time, but always, it is at the end -  a day or two before my departure.   May be this visit to Armenia will be the exception especially as I am certain to draw some creative expertise from the Soviet ghosts.

Dilijan also offered rehabilitation and expertise for Russian Soviets who had respiratory diseases.  Smoking, drinking and debauchery no doubt had parts to play.    The beautiful mountains covered in forestation are spotted with the most dilapidated, but once opulent mansions befitting of such a creative era.

Cinematographers House

So, this is where the workshop will be held….the children arrive on Thursday and until that time Barbara and her colleagues have a lot to organise, clean and prepare. We travel to our hotel a 10 minute drive away and I am relieved to see a clean airy mountain room, for once I am going to enjoy a certain amount of luxury.   I am sharing the room with Barbara….by the time I leave I expect we will know each other rather well! 

In the evening, we return to the camp where we have discussions about pollution and the environment and then celebrate Rubin’s birthday with a huge cake and cognac!   Rubin is the creator of SunChild and the SunChild Festival. 

And so to sleep….extremely worried that my restless night time snoring might disturb Barbara

Tuesday 29th July

I travel into Dilijan to observe the way of life.   This is after a breakfast education in the Armenian way of life before and since its independence from Russia with  two ladies:  one a physicist and one the Educational Minister who are part of the training taking place for the teachers at the summer camp and they talk about their thoughts and feelings and how life has changed for them over the last decade and I discover that the country suffers mostly from huge corruption, which seems to be rife on a large and small level.   These ladies, however, have benefited from a good Russian education and after feasting on bread, locally made jam, home made yoghurt, a rather softly hard boiled egg we make our way, they to the Cinematographers House to pass on their copious knowledge, and I to Dilijan.

I sit for a couple of hours just observing people. There is no drinking water in the homes, so the comings and goings to the water fountain give me a good picture of the people

In the afternoon I go to a nearby village.  As soon as we arrive a local family invite us in for coffee and communication.   Of course, I cant speak any Armenian, and they cant speak any English, but we smile at each other a lot and it is obvious I am enjoying their hospitality of coffee, water melon and sweets.  

I hear how the governor of the village keeps the donated money, and how he pays them for their vote.   They are poor and money is important, a matter of food or no food.   There is no such thing as ethics for many people in Armenia who have a daily struggle to survive.  All their men folk have gone to Russia for work and these women survive together by picking mushrooms in the forest, collecting firewood, preserving fruit off the trees.   Their basement was full of storage jars and they were desperate to open some for their British guest…..I declined….strange that when people have so little they are so very generous with the little they have.

Wednesday 30th July:  

I walk 6 kilometers to a nearby lake and back, 12 kilometers in all.    I am exhausted.  

A beautiful mountain lake which is just about to be ruined by tourism…although building was once forbidden, money has found a way in this beautiful nature reserve and a rather hideous restaurant now exists alongside a car park.

Although exhausted, with the promise of a car drive, in the afternoon I struggle to my feet to go and view an even more beautiful lake!!  Never one to turn anything down just in case a story emerges, I strap into a 4 x 4 and start the ascent.   Only to discover that the vehicle will never make it and with the promise that its only 2 kilometres away, the lure of the lake puts me back on my feet and the climb begins.   Some 2 hours later, there is no sign of a lake, my feet are waterlogged, the terrain is rocky, wet, mosquito filled and barely passable. My guide suggests I sit down while he goes to see how much further we have to trek.   Although exhausted I cant help but wonder whether he will come back, or whether in fact I will now be marooned in this beautiful, but deserted forest.    I sit on a log and wonder what would happen if I got lost….erm….probably not a good thought.   I hear footsteps and Munuk is back with the news that there is still a long way to go, he had met some mushroom pickers who advised we return to the vehicle.   A treacherous, wet and tiring descent.   My energy levels flagging I cant even bear to think of possible stories.   I hear the roar  of a vehicle and an old green truck packed with local men/farmers/loggers/wife escapers pulls up and before I know it, I am climbing in the back of the truck to head off towards the lake.  This time in some sort of style….anything rather than walking.

After a walk around it, a few pictures, listening to a choral song from millions of frogs – something I had never heard before -  a slug of vodka and a mouthful of bread courtesy of our new found friends, I am back on the truck and heading heomeward.  So with frog song singing in my ears, I am no nearer finding a story, and although shattered I realise that you would never make these sort of acquaintances on a package tour, and I cant help smiling for my fortune!

Thursday 31st July: 

Nothing……so frustrating……I need to look and find a story, but I am unable to leave the area….The children, I am told, are not arriving today, but tomorrow.  What shall I do…..although it would be nice to sit on a bench and soak up the mountain air, the fear of my return with no story is almost too much to bear!

In the afternoon I secure a taxi to Ijevan.   I get given two pieces of paper, one with the name of the town marked ‘Go’ and one with the name of where I am staying marked ‘come’.  With these two bits of paper I confidently head off.   After all that walking I am absolutely shattered, but walk around Ijevan for a couple of hours.   Armenia seems to be full of Russian extravagant buildings with a dominant presence, which are falling down, half built buildings, roads and bridges, which have never been completed since independence and new buildings in an uninhabitable stage.  

However, the market and the Aghstev river running through the centre were impressive and it all goes to add specifics to the storyline….once I have one

My taxi driver on my return just keeps quoting lists of  English football clubs as a way of cutting through the language barrier and when he has run out he just repeats.   I look at him smiling…any communication is better than none I think as he gleefully shouts “David Beckham”.

Friday 1st August: 

Awaiting the  arrival of 60 young people from Garni, Goght, Urtsadzor, Gyumri, Yerevan and Dilijan.   A few are here when we arrive in the morning….a group of boys with enthusiastic smiles and a look as if  they have finally ‘escaped’ their homes!    I hope it goes well today.

The Cinematographer’s House takes on a new energy once it is full of so many young people.  For some it is their first time away from their village or town, for others it is the renewal of friendships made the previous year’s summer camp, but to all it is the start of a week of education, learning, laughter, games and above all of friendship and companionship.    There is nothing more rewarding than seeing their faces, watching their actions, and listening to their laughter.

This afternoon I carry out my first workshop.   It lasts for only an hour, but starts off with some positive thoughts.   I ask the young people, what they feel they are good at and what they do that makes them feel good.   Their answers are variable from swimming in the river to dancing and fighting and a wealth of ‘feel good’ stories from fetching water for an elderly next door neighbour to giving a teacher a bunch of flowers and receiving a kiss….from giving an old sad woman a flower from her hair to helping his friend write an essay for school.   When working with young people you are immediately whisked into a world you long forgot with age, and one look at their enthusiastic faces and awkward giggling and slight reservation reassures you that whatever are said about the young they hold a wealth of knowledge and sensitivity that we often forget.

So….after just one hour we have the makings of a story…a girl that feels good and happy with herself when she makes other people happy…..mmmmm could be a possibility.

This afternoon I travel to Urtsadzor with Ruben as he secures a piece of land for the Eco Club to cultivate.   We pass a National Park which has a varied amount of rare species with hunting prohibited …..except of course by the Park’s owners!

I meet a delightful bunch of kids who proceed to show me how they could make me happy!

Saturday 2nd August:  

Today, again, I only have a short workshop.   I think I am going to have to suggest that I have a little longer with the kids.  There is such a tight schedule that this may be difficult, but the days are beginning to diminish – I go early on Wednesday, which leaves me very little time.
These kids are harder to get to know and it is important that I break down their barrier.   There is a feeling that they are at school and that to speak without thought or from the heart, is not something they are encouraged to do.   I put them into groups.   The idea is that each group gives one true story and one made up and we have to guess which is which.    Harder than you would imagine

The resulting stories were so disturbing it was hard to know fact from fiction….stories about blowing up frogs and squashing them on the road, baby sparrows being killed, friends with broken bones, driving a car, killing a chicken with a brick.   Do you think these children are playing with me?

We continue on a more positive note, by building on the ‘happy’ story.  This one, at least, is beginning to work I think. 

At all meal times there is a strict discipline.   No one can eat until after prayers have been said and voices are kept to a minimum.   I find this hard, for those that know me even at a whisper my voice carries across continents!

Sunday 3rd August: 

I’m not a teacher, but I suspect there is a time, when some sort of mental discipline is required…so armed with my wonderful interpreter, who was as horrified as I was with the stories from yesterday, I gave them my first real lecture….about their responsibility to the Armenian children to give them a voice and to give them the opportunity to be part of the ‘what makes me happy’ series.   And it worked.   Today I had two hours of productive interaction with the children and some wonderful thoughts and stories emerged. And suddenly I know, we are all sitting on the same side of the fence, or may be the fence has been broken down.   We are laughing and joking and teasing and I feel we have the makings of a good team.   Hooray!  Story 2 is beginning to take shape.

It’s raining.

Monday 4th August:  

I continue talking with the kids and developing the ‘happy’ story.   In the afternoon I manage to get extra time to take them into Dilijan to do some filming.  They have instructions to shoot anything that is relevant to either of the stories.   They enjoy the change of scene and love the filming and of course can take me to places I would not have found on my own.  

Tuesday 5th August:  

My last day and we begin to develop the second story about a kitten.   In the afternoon I take  the second group to a nearby village with again the instructions to film whatever is relevant or would fit into either story.  Remember communication with each other  is difficult, in fact impossible, but they do a good job, and I think get some good reference pictures and they enjoy filming.

In the evening we show two films from the series:   Hashie’s Film, Sri Lanka and Amran’s Film, Ethiopia, on the large  screen.   The audience are all enthusiastic and afterwards ask me a lot of  questions about the children and the making of the films.    There is a lot of applause and then a lovely presentation to me of the SunChild pendant and summer camp T-shirt and a few speeches thrown in.  

I sadly return to my hotel to pack and get to sleep as my plane leaves early in the morning..    It is obviously a country in crisis, with poverty, and corruption so high on the list.   The people who outwardly appear  serious, have a soft and humorous inside and a generosity to match.   The children, have softened, our team has been built and their stories and experiences became entertaining and revealing, I go to sleep marvelling at the experience, but as always excited to be returning home.

Wednesday 6th August:  

Rubin takes me to the airport.   This young man has had to shoulder so much responsibility over the last few days and he still has four to go…he seems to be involved in everything from sick children, prayers, evening entertainment, daily outings to internet communications, hospitality and finally to driving me to the airport.   Barbara has got out of bed to wave me a fond farewell, her patience,  has been remarkable and also her hospitality.   Like the children at the end of the summer camp, our lives have been changed with the experience and new friendships and relationships formed.   It is always sad to say goodbye.

My plane takes off  on time and I cover the transition between there and here, with a happy smile  on my face…  What a job, what a life, what a joy.

Annie Gibbs