Birthright Armenia Alums in Action: Armine Sargsyan, Areg Maghakian, and Lena Tashjian
When it comes to Armenia’s current-day challenges, many would agree that environmental protection ranks high amongst the priorities. At the forefront of that campaign are three young, dynamic professionals, Armine Sargsyan, Lena Tashjian, and Areg Maghakian, all of whom got a thorough introduction to Armenia’s needs while serving as Birthright Armenia volunteers. All three were able to envision a role for themselves by engaging in work on-the-ground to address these needs, and now serve as effective leaders of environmental organizations in Armenia, namely the Armenian Environmental Network (AEN), Go Green Armenia, and Armenia Tree Project (ATP).
The AEN is a relatively new organization focusing on connecting Armenians and others in the worldwide conservation community to facilitate environmentally sustainable development in Armenia. Armine Sargsyan’s AEN involvement dates back to 2010, when she was based in northern California. She was a Birthright Armenia volunteer in 2011, and when the offer for a Yerevan-based position with AEN was tabled, and when she learned that one of the organization’s main objectives was to find solutions for solid waste management, Sargsyan knew the position was a perfect match. This was an area that deeply interested her, so she moved to Armenia in 2013 to lead the charge as AEN’s Armenia office director.
Sargsyan explained the importance of size and power in numbers: “Armenia is a small country, so any environmental dysfunction will affect her entire territory. We need to be aware and vigilant, and we need to connect all those who are already involved in the sector as a force. Pooling worldwide and local resources is critical, and Armenia is small enough whereby the right solutions can be implemented throughout the country. There are proven international models that work well on a small scale, so we need to connect the dots of local government, resources, and technology to arrive at a winning solution in areas of Armenia that currently have no comprehensive waste management solutions.”
Areg Maghakian, originally from Southern California, volunteered with Birthright Armenia in 2007. After several months of volunteering, “It was simply a matter of the stars aligning,” he said, as he knew very early on during his volunteer service that he’d be based in Armenia for the long term. His prior involvement with ATP dated back over 10 years, when he was a supporter of the Watertown, Mass., and Yerevan based non-profit organization that works towards reforestation, sustainable development, and environmental education in Armenia. Fast forwarding to 2010, Maghakian was appointed as deputy director, and two and a half years later he was promoted to Armenia operations director for ATP. “We work on both the macro and micro scale, partnering with the smallest remote schools to planting large swaths of the countryside,” he explained. “Deforestation is a major challenge in Armenia, and dates back to when trees served as a substitute for heating fuel during the energy crisis in the early 90s. Our goal is to assist the Armenian people in using trees to improve their standard of living and protect the global environment.”
Currently Maghakian oversees a staff of several dozen employees, running nurseries and education programs in many regions. “The future of Armenia depends on the health of her environment. Our success will largely depend on having local communities understand the value of preservation and thinking green. I’m heartened by many that want to partner with us, and care about their environment. Despite our progress, there is still a long road ahead, with much work to do and a lot of ground to cover.”
Maghakian has been in Armenia since 2007 with his wife, Nyree Abrahamian, also a Birthright Armenia alum, and their 18 month old son, Arame.
Canadian-born Lena Tashjian volunteered with Birthright Armenia at Green Lane NGO in 2011, and extended her initial three-month stay to continue working with their fresh produce market project. She enjoyed listing the non-traditional items that farmers were growing and began creating nutritional profiles on them in order to help market them. The nutritional information was well received, and she was a natural fit to be doing this kind of work. Since becoming a vegetarian and then a vegan while living in Canada, she was researching the food she was eating to make sure she was getting all of the nutrients she needed. Realizing she had a strong interest in nutrition, Tashjian went to school to become a certified nutritionist.
“During my volunteer work with Birthright, I began to focus on farmer profiles, interviews, taking their pictures, listing what they grow on our item list, and again, that was well received. It encouraged me to continue creating links between the food we eat and the farmers who are producing the goods,” she explained. So as the Green Lane market project ended in June 2013, she clearly saw its potential and the benefits of having it thrive. Tashjian received permission to extend the project, but was told it needed to be separate from Green Lane—alas the impetus for a new entity to be created.
“Carolin Baghoomian from Boston and I co-founded Go Green Armenia in late July 2013, with the primary goal of supporting Armenian farmers by selling, marketing, and delivering their produce to people in Yerevan,” she said. “We focus on chemical-free agriculture and also support farmers who grow non-traditional items like kale. In addition to focusing on the sale of food items, we also sell other natural products as well, for example, a woman’s handmade, herb-based soaps with plants straight from her backyard. When we find interesting items like this that fit our general mandate, we make sure to include them in our item list to spread the word about these interesting projects and help them garner support.”
Tashjian and her partner also want to have an aspect of the business dedicated to agro-tourism. “Our vision for the future includes focusing more on events, including organizing farmer’s markets outside of the city center, monthly vegetable picking events for seasonal fruits or vegetables, and also events where people can come and watch how the natural soaps are made. We think it is wiser to focus on events and introduce people directly to those producing or making the food products or items, all the while keeping a market aspect to our business.”
Sargsyan, Maghakian, and Tashjian are just 3 of 60 Birthright Armenia alums who currently live in the Republic of Armenia. The solid waste management, reforestation, and produce to market projects highlighted in this story are just a few of the numerous success stories that encapsulate the long-term engagement our alums have with the Homeland, long after their volunteer service ends. To learn more about Birthright Armenia, visit www.birthrightarmenia.org.
Guest Contributor
Since 4 years I am living in Yerevan. As I am very much interested in Armenia´s future I am carefully regarding what is happening in the country. Reforestation is extremely important and as far as I know is
already pretty successful.But concerning to environmental problems I am
sure that the majority of Armenians absolutely don´t care for their surroundings. Wastepaper, bottles and all kind of plastics are thrown on the ground by almost everybody and everywhere. Going by car to the north or south of the country you have the chance to see millions of plastic bags wherever you look. That means the mentality of the Armenian population has to change. I of course know that´s not so easy. But a possibility of influencing a lot of people could be done by television. If on possibly ALL TV-
programs there would be shown short spots between the programs showing the people that it be preferable to use ashcans instead of throwing all waste on the ground. These spots could be so funny that the viewers are already waiting for them ! France, Germany and the Netherlands did that very successfully.