Memoirs of a 1A Intern: Suzy Kocharyan
I walked into the office on my first day feeling tense and a bit awkward. From the taxi drive to the office, to the silent elevator ride up to the 5th floor, whose button I would soon begin to press out of habit, all I kept thinking in my head is how lucky and nervous I am to be interning at ONEArmenia (1A). As I stepped out of the elevator, I remember equating the office to those in movies. Unlike offices in the movies where cell phone rings echo through the office and employees rush from room to room with lattes in hand, the Impact Hub was different, it was calm and quiet. When I found the 1A office, I was greeted by a smiling woman, Charlotte, who was even nicer in person than in the emails we’d been exchanging in the past weeks. She then introduced me to the rest of the amazing team.
That’s when my journey with ONEArmenia began. From my very first blog post to my last, I loved every minute of being a part of the 1A team. Working with a non-profit organization that continuosly strives towards a better Armenia felt good. It didn’t feel like work because I knew every task I was doing to help 1A, was also helping my country.
ONEArmenia isn’t like most Armenian organizations. It focuses on channeling positivity to solve not-so-positive problems in Armenia. In short, 1A focuses on the good. It’s young, fresh, and above all, 1A knows how to use positivity to better life in Armenia. With spreadsheets filled with carefully timed tweets to hour-long collaborative team meetings, the 1A team works diligently and efficiently to get work done and come up with new ideas to fund its current project, Jobs Not Mines. This incredible project is aimed at clearing dangerous landmines in Artsakh that result in the death of local civilians. While I’m proud to say that I was a part of spreading the word and encouraging donations, I’m even prouder that I was able to contribute over $500 by starting my own fundraser for the project. I even had the chance to work on some of 1A’s other projects that were equally as amazing, like HIKEArmenia or, one of my favorites, Armenia Uncovered, which I’m eagerly waiting to see!
Earlier this year, ONEArmenia fundraised for their LeverEdge program with Sahman. The program provides resources to businesses in border villages in order to expand them and further develop border communities. In the last week of my internship I had the chance to go to Tavush and visit 5 of the businesses from the program. It was an experience like no other.
Each business we visited went through their own unique journey to get to where they are today. Asya Beglaryan from Tanyusha Beauty Salon started her business at home with just some combs and a blowdryer. Now, she has her own salon with hair dyes, a straightening iron, and a shampoo chair that she is absolutely ecstatic about using. Zoya Charchyan from Charchyan Cheese was eternally grateful for her milking machine, which saves her from the grueling task of milking all of her 5 cows by hand everyday. Harutyun Avalyan from Avalyan Harvesting was forced to sell his old tractor to cover his son’s health expenses and after finally being able to afford another one, the Leveredge program helped buy wheels and a mower to build an effective tractor so he can continue his work. Harutyun was even kind enough to let me and Lori take a quick joyride in his tractor (yes tractor!) so we could see his work up close and in action. From visiting small villages like Kirants and Sevkar, to dining in kind strangers’ homes, I was in awe of the parts of Armenia that I had never been exposed to. It was amazing to actually witness the real-life action behind all of the fundraising and planning. The LeverEdge program has already helped 23 businesses just like Asya’s, Zoya’s, and Harutyun’s, and the number is only growing!
In the short 5 weeks that I spent working at ONEArmenia, not only did I learn to appreciate Armenia and all its different parts, but I had the chance to actively be a part of bettering my home country. Working with such an amazing group of bright individuals made me see how lucky and thankful I am for having this opportunity, and I will really miss all of the amazing people that I’ve met during my time here. With an organization like this, I have high hopes for the future of Armenia and am eagerly waiting for my return to this beautiful country next summer!
