PROJECT HARMONY CELEBRATES GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY
YEREVAN, APRIL 13. ARMINFO. Project Harmony-Armenia, together with
organizations from more than 100 countries around the world, is
planning community service projects and special events to celebrate
the 6th Annual Global Youth Service Day, which will take place from
15-17 April 2004.
Project Harmony Office in Yerevan informs ARMINFO that Global Youth
Service Day (GYSD) is an annual global event led by Youth Service
America with the Global Youth Action Network as its key partner,
together with a consortium of 34 International Organizations and more
than 150 National Coordinating Committees. It is a public education
campaign that highlights the amazing contributions made by youth
year-round to their communities through volunteering. Since GYSD
started, a number of international organizations have joined Youth
Service America and Global Youth Action Network to expand this
program, including Inter-American Development Bank, Youth Employment
Summit, IEARN, Service for Peace and others. One of the major events
taking place in the framework of GYSD is the visit to Nork elderly
house. On April 15 students from Yerevan school
131 will prepare PowerPoint presentation on London and together with
grannies will create a “Virtual Tour” to the capital of Great
Britain. On the same day young artists from “Tsitsernak” NGO will
make a visit to the same elderly house to give a small performance of
singing and dancing. Similar visits to the elderly houses will be
organized in other regions of Armenia.
Some other interesting events, such as the human rights seminar for
disabled children in Lori region, visiting the Second World War
veterans in Vayots Dzor region, and the Gavar orphanage children’s
visit to the ICC will be implemented under GYSD. In addition, all
Internet Computer Centers (ICCs) created through the Armenia School
Connectivity Program in all eleven regions of Armenia will provide
the local community with free service by organizing an open doors day
on April 16 and 17. During these hours the site staff and students
will promote the ICC to the community and will help visitors use ICC
resources. At the same time, a community service project will be
organized by each ICC, which will include the cleaning of school
grounds and neighboring parks, tree planting, and other projects. In
Yerevan, on April 16 all schools will participate in the City
subbotnik (cleaning day) organized by the Yerevan municipality.
Project Harmony builds strong communities by fostering civic
leadership, harnessing Internet technology and facilitating
cross-cultural experiential learning. Project Harmony was founded in
Vermont in 1985 as a grass-roots exchange organization for Soviet and
American high schools. Today, Project Harmony has 13 offices
worldwide. In its 20-year history, Project Harmony has facilitated
educational, professional, cultural, and community-based programs
involving hundreds of families and individuals.