On Aug. 4, Alexan Bayanduryan, 34, made the strenuous climb to the summit of Mt. Ararat on one leg and a pair of crutches as part of an international expedition. Armenian American Varuzhan Amirhanian from the Pyunic Union for the Disabled joined and assisted Bayanduryan, whose climb up Mt. Ararat came after three years of [...]

YEREVAN, Armenia—Sponsoring diasporan youth to Armenia in exchange for community service commitments is a large part of what Birthright Armenia does and has been doing for the past six years. The connections young volunteers make here in the homeland while volunteering occur on so many different levels, that you soon realize it is these newly [...]

By Adrineh Der-Boghossian
Thirty-nine-year-old Vatchakan Tsakanyan remembers coming to Aygut Village in 1989 as a young man—a common experience since just about all the residents came here from Chardakhlu and other villages in Azerbaijan when the two states swapped non-nationals during the Karabagh conflict.
Vatchakan lives with his sister and her two kids, as well as his [...]

YEREVAN (A.W.)—The 17th Hamazkayin Forum was held in Yerevan from July 18-31, with the participation of more than 30 students from the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Great Britain, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Armenia, and Australia. Most of the participants, like Garin Habeshian from Massachusetts, were on their first trip to Armenia.
The Hamazkayin Forum students during a lecture.
“I [...]

YEREVAN (A.W.)–On Aug. 4, Gallup published the results from a 2009 poll showing that over a third of participating Armenians wanted to leave Armenia permanently—a staggering 39 percent, to be exact. The percentage was highest in Armenia out of the 10 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as the former CIS member Georgia and [...]

NEW YORK—Since 2009, several infrastructure- and community-development projects have significantly improved the quality of life of the Ditavan community, a village in Armenia’s Tavush region. With an opening ceremony held on July 26, the Armenia Fund unveiled still another measure undertaken on behalf of Ditavan inhabitants: a newly built potable-water system. Sponsored by Mr. and [...]

For the first five years, Birthright Armenia ran its Yerevan operations from a downtown apartment it had converted into an office space. But as its volunteer and alumni base was growing exponentially, it knew it was only a matter of time that it would outgrow its current space. And just in time, new office space was made available [...]

By Michelle Metchikian
Metchikian is a summer intern with the AYF Internship Program, working at the Hrayr Mahroukhian Foundation at the ARF Bureau office in Yerevan. She is from Los Angeles.
4 a.m.: The airbus was nearing Zvartnots International Airport. My 21-hour journey from LAX was about to come to an end. The fellow Armenian sitting next [...]

His Holiness Karekin II undergoing a simple medical test before he joined the ABMDR as a potential bone marrow donor. Photo courtesy of ABMDR.
LOS ANGELES—His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, became the latest potential stem cell donor to join the ranks of the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR).
The pontiff’s [...]

By Narine Esmaeili
The first time I visited Armenia, I wanted to sightsee and enjoy a vacation away from school with my graduating class.
This summer, I decided to have a different experience in Armenia.
This summer, I decided to have a different experience in Armenia. By signing up for the AYF Internship Program, I have been [...]