Category: 2022

There is a saying—”If you have to put someone on a pedestal, put teachers. They are society’s heroes.”

Indeed, teachers are instrumental in shaping the minds of future generations. They are role models for many schoolchildren. They are the source of inspiration for many of us since childhood, helping us to think more widely and critically. 

They manage to teach and bring out the best in children. During the 2020 war in Artsakh, Elina Balasanyan—my personal hero—was one of the bravest who brought books into a Stepanakert bunker and entertained children while the capital was under heavy shelling.

This article is a tribute to all of the brave and fearless young teachers of Artsakh, who have dedicated their lives to educating the new generation. Several of these teachers are members of Teach For Armenia, which is part of the Teach For All global network committed to expanding educational opportunities for all children. These young people moved from different parts of the homeland to the border villages of Artsakh, where they now consider themselves as part of those communities. 

Ashot Gabrielyan

Ashot Gabrielyan is 21 years old and lives in the region of Askeran in Artsakh. He studied international relations at Yerevan State University and participated in the Erasmus+ educational program in Portugal. 

“I decided to join the Teach For Armenia program immediately after the 2020 Artsakh War because I wanted to be in Artsakh, and this program was the best solution. I’m deeply convinced that all change should start from education. I moved to Kolkhozashen, a village in Martuni region with the hope that I will gain both personal and professional growth and help the community. My first impression of Kolkhozashen was amazing, as the village is surrounded by mountains and forests. It’s a village where I always imagined myself working. The people of Kolkhozashen have been very kind and friendly since the first moment I got here. They accepted me and helped with everything. My only difficulty is that my rental home is not equipped with the minimum necessities (bathroom and hot water), but these are nothing when you see motivated school children and members of the community, who give you the strength to support this village.

In addition to our primary academic curriculum, we have several community projects. One of them is Djane (ՋանԷ) center which is going to be a project incubator where students will gather and implement community projects. Another one is “Kolkhoz quest,” which was held over the weekend. We divided 10 interesting locations throughout the village which have rich historical and cultural heritage. Guests complete different tasks to learn more about Kolkhozashen. This initiative will help develop tourism in Kolkhozashen.  We also have an installation called the “Human Rights Laundromat” at the school. This idea came when Artsakh was deprived of natural gas for almost a month in March; Azerbaijani military forces have been violating our rights to have a normal life. At that time, we were studying human rights in sociology class, so we decided to do laundry with human rights posters as a sign of purity. If laundering money means getting richer illegally, then a human rights laundromat is intended to remind everyone about our natural rights in this way.

My biggest achievements are my students. I have noticed after my arrival that they started studying even better. They love me and the subject, and they like spending time with me. Teaching is giving me hope for a good future. Working with the younger generation is a good motivation and gives hope that our future is in good hands. I’m in Artsakh with my beloved people, doing what I love. Big changes start with small steps. I will encourage my compatriots to start those changes within ourselves. Start taking steps in order to make our community, our village and our future better. With this, we can create the strong and prosperous motherland we are all dreaming of.”

Shushanik Manukyan 

Shushanik Manukyan is 26 years old from Gyumri. She studied finance in the Gyumri branch of the Armenian State University of Economics.

“At my previous workplace, I was thinking a lot about what I can do to be useful to my motherland. I decided to become a teacher in the villages of Artsakh. I found myself in Berdashen village in the Martuni region, which is home to just over 200 schoolchildren. At first, I was a little surprised when they hired me for this job in this big school, as I didn’t have pedagogical experience. I have learned a lot from my high school students. I remember the first time I came to Berdashen. Although it wasn’t my first time in Artsakh, the road seemed endless to me. I felt like I was in an American movie, surrounded by deserted roads and somewhere in between, people had been laying down new asphalt which was going to lead me to Berdashen. I was only thinking about one thing at that moment, that my village would be as deserted as the road. Fortunately, I appeared in a place surrounded by the forests. My small house was right near that forest; I loved being close to nature.

Gaining the trust of the villagers was a challenge. I’m new here, but time puts everything in its place. I also had trouble finding a place to live. When I finally found a house, I realized there was no gas, no electricity and no running water. Despite the unavailability of these resources, I was warmed by the feeling that I was doing an important job in Artsakh. I lived in that house until September 27. Then, I started to live with a woman who is like a mother to me here in Berdashen. If I was given another chance, I would definitely choose Teach For Armenia again; it’s how I found the positive in every unfortunate situation and I started to instill this ideology with my students…to view circumstances from different angles. Together, we are using opportunities in the community to create projects in Berdashen. Berdashen Fest, for example, turned out to be bigger than we expected. The idea came to us a year ago, when it was proposed by two high school students. I wasn’t expecting such an initiative from young people who just witnessed a war. We presented this project to members of the community who agreed to finance it. I try to learn from my students every day. My contract is going to be over soon, but I’m trying to gain more wisdom and flexibility from my students, convincing myself that if they can do it, I also should do it. If they inspire me, that means they can teach me a lot.”

Poghos Galstyan (Photo: ArtsakhPress)

Poghos Galstyan is 25 years old from Yerevan. He studied applied mathematics, physics and astrophysics. 

“After the 2020 Artsakh War, I was feeling guilty that I couldn’t participate in the war and didn’t help my people. When I saw the Teach For Armenia announcement, I decided immediately to join them. Teach For Armenia gave me a unique opportunity to live and teach in the picturesque village of Qolatak in the Martakert region. It wasn’t me who chose this village, but I’m happy for this choice. The village had been without a physics teacher for almost three years. I was very excited and happy to be in Qolatak. The villagers did everything to make me feel at home. I was amazed by this village and its rich historical and cultural heritage. Qolatak is home to the Koshik Anapat Monastery, Hakobavank Monastery, Eghetsi Khut Monastery and Kachaghakaberd Fortress. There’s an amazing community of people who are ready to embrace you like a member of their family. The living conditions, however, have been challenging. There is no gas in the village, and the water is carried from the springs. For a guy from Yerevan, this was difficult and unusual to me. But after some time, you understand that these are not difficulties but a way of life. My main achievement is the love and respect of my students. Every moment spent with my students is a great pleasure to me. Being a teacher isn’t a profession. It’s a calling and a mission.”

Nina Shahverdyan

Nina Shahverdyan is 21 years old from Stepanakert. She studied English and communications at American University of Armenia. 

“After graduation, I was thinking about how I can be more useful to Artsakh as post-war conditions here have been very difficult. This is why I decided to start teaching as I strongly believe that good education can change everything and give us a good future. I have faced many obstacles and challenges while teaching in Aghavno, a borderline village in the Lachin corridor. Despite the lack of motivation to make something and to learn something new among children and their parents, I have managed to cheer them up by bringing new interests to their everyday life. Good education can change Armenia. I was always thinking about this, but after teaching in Aghavno for almost a year, I’m deeply convinced of it. We must pay more attention to our education system in order to have well-educated generations and a brighter future.”

Arthur Kirakosyan

Arthur Kirakosyan is a 26-year-old historian from Gyumri. 

“The idea of joining Teach For Armenia came spontaneously. As I started to learn about this project, I realized there were several points that matched my views on education that all children should be given the right to quality education. Teach For Armenia is meant to educate members of the future generation who will become leaders and outstanding members of their community or village in 25 years. This is how I found myself in Tsmakahogh village in Martakert region. Artsakh was unfamiliar to me; there were many things to think of and worry about. But the day I arrived, a calmness came over me as the villagers welcomed me with open arms. The headmaster and teachers accepted me as part of their family; we became friends. I never had difficulties with getting along with residents. Obviously, there were several problems in both daily life and in teaching, but they were manageable. In addition to academic programs, we are implementing community programs for the children. Last year, we started beekeeping classes with the help of Dream Foundation. Students are learning how to harvest their own eco honey. They are also learning how to garden, harvest, understand the soil and get closer to their community. The main achievement has been developing and maintaining a friendly atmosphere with the community and especially with my students. We are getting closer day by day. The most important thing is that they trust me and confide in me. The funniest thing is that they know me so well that whenever I want to get angry they start speaking with me in Gyumri dialect (ընկեր, մենք քեզ կսիրենք գԸ), and my anger fades. My term is coming to an end in a few months. I have mixed feelings of sadness and happiness. I’m happy that I was here and that I spent the most beautiful and energetic two years of my life here.”

Artavazd Boyajyan

Artavazd Boyajyan is 28 years old from the Armenian province of Shirak. He studied informatics and applied mathematics.

“I was following Teach For Armenia’s Facebook page, but I wasn’t sure that I could be a good teacher. But when I read, ‘You can change at least one child’s life,’ I submitted a completed application on the last day of the deadline. In 2018, I started teaching in Stepanakert at Physmath school. When the contract was over, I decided to stay in Artsakh and moved to the village of Maghavuz in Martakert region, where I teach mathematics and informatics. My lack of experience caused many problems for sure, but time helped me change my perception of everything. I can name several achievements during these years, but the main one is that my students started reading books. In addition to teaching, I’m organizing hiking tours with my students. I have created many interesting and funny memories with them. There are also sad memories, as we went hiking to those places which are now occupied by Azerbaijan. We can’t go there right now. Since natural science subjects are low ranked at our schools, we decided to create a STEM lab in Maghavuz and Martakert. We are organizing an Artsakh STEM Expo to present the beauty of natural science subjects with the youth.”

The century-old vineyards of Khachik, Armenia serve as a military border.

Keush started purchasing grapes from this border village of the southwestern Vayots Dzor province in 2013. Many farmers had previously abandoned the vineyards due to the absence of a market for grapes. Farmers have since returned to harvest grapes for wine on land that now sits between Armenian and Azerbaijani military bases.

The 44-day war launched against Armenia by Azerbaijan in the fall of 2020 and the ongoing hostilities since then have created security challenges for the winemakers working along Armenia’s borders. Aimee Keushguerian, managing director at Keush, says that in recent months she has had to obtain security clearance to visit the vineyards in Khachik while accompanied by military personnel. During the war, farmers harvested grapes at nighttime in small groups to avoid generating attention. 

Aimee Keushguerian

“It’s always in the back of your mind,” Keushguerian told the Armenian Weekly of the security risks of working as a winemaker in Armenia. “You learn to try to still grow your business in times of war.” 

Geopolitics has long prevented the growth of the wine industry in Armenia, despite the country’s 6,000-year-old winemaking heritage. In 2011, archeologists discovered one of the oldest wine presses in the world in the Areni-1 cave in Vayots Dzor, the same province where Keush harvests grapes for wine today. 

Under Soviet rule, while Western European countries exported wine globally, wine produced in Armenia stayed within national or Soviet borders, Keushguerian said. Yet over the past decade, as international winemakers and investment projects have entered Armenia, the rate of growth of the industry has been exponential, resulting in what Keushguerian calls a “modern-day Renaissance in the wine industry.” 

Keushguerian is the daughter of Vahe Keushguerian, the entrepreneur responsible for many of the breakthroughs of Armenia’s wine industry. In addition to founding Keush, Vahe launched WineWorks in 2013, a custom fresh winery incubator that produces wine for different brands. 

Keushguerian grew up on her family’s vineyard in Tuscany, Italy. She repatriated to Armenia in 2015, six years after her father, to participate in her first wine harvest. She soon started managing Keush on her own, and in 2017, at the age of 23, she founded her own wine brand, Zulal. 

Zulal, which means “pure” in Armenian, experiments with producing single varietal wines from grapes indigenous to Armenia. Keushguerian hopes to highlight the tastes of rare indigenous grapes like Chilar, Tozot and Nazeli that she says have been lost, forgotten or combined with other grape varieties to produce blended wine. 

“I take all the grapes individually, and I say, this is what Chilar tastes like. This is what Nazeli tastes like,” Keushguerian said. 

Armenia boasts hundreds of indigenous grape varieties, unique due to the volcanic soil and high elevation of Armenia’s vineyards. The vineyards of Khachik are approximately 1,750 meters above sea level, the highest elevation vineyards in the northern hemisphere to produce traditional method champagne. 

Keushguerian said that producing wine with Armenian grapes is not only a matter of taste, but also a philosophical question. 

“We’re not just growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. We’re growing Areni and Voskehat,” Keushguerian explained. “You can make Chardonnay in Armenia and say, look everyone, we can make good wine with a French grape variety, or look, we have an Armenian grape, and we can make great wine with Armenian grapes.”  

Keushguerian founded Zulal not only to experiment with indigenous Armenian grapes, but also to distinguish herself from her father as a visionary entrepreneur. She has had to earn the respect of her male colleagues in the face of daily microaggressions. Yet she feels fortunate that the industry is changing as many winemakers in the new generation are women. 

“We set the tone very early on that yes, women are going to work in wine and yes, we’re going to be winemakers and yes, we’re going to hold upper level management positions,” Keushguerian said. 

The culture around drinking wine has also evolved to include women. Keushguerian attributed much of the rise of wine culture in the capital city of Yerevan to the women who would avoid going out in the evenings without their husbands and now freely frequent wine bars and restaurants. 

“We’ve really seen a cultural shift going from Armenians drinking vodka and brandy and smoking cigars. Now we see women going out and drinking comfortably at wine bars,”  Keushguerian said. “Now you see men drinking rosé.” 

Despite the geopolitical risks of running a business in Armenia, Keushguerian believes the rewards of supporting Armenia’s economy by growing an industry entering the international stage make her business pursuits worthwhile. Armenian wine is entering Western markets through companies like Storica Wines, an Armenian wine import company in the United States that has introduced wine brands like Zulal to 20 states. 

“I feel very special that I get to talk in terms of industry growth, that I get to talk in terms of building a country. There aren’t many places in the world that you can move to and feel that what you do is so impactful,” Keushguerian said.

Keushguerian also believes in the potential of Armenian wine. Her latest project is Origins, an online Armenian wine and food magazine that will serve as a resource about Armenian grapes, regional guides and new Armenian chefs and winemakers around the world. 

While violence in Armenia’s borderlands threatens the country’s vineyards, Keushguerian “keeps her head down and keeps moving forward.” 

“You just have faith that at some point the war’s going to be over, and then we have to move forward. You have that balancing act of continuing to build while there’s still geopolitics going around you that are out of your control, but what you can control is the growth of your business and the growth of your products,” Keushguerian said.

Askold Melnyczuk and Peter Balakian in conversation, May 17, 2022

A beautiful home in Cambridge, Massachusetts was the setting for an evening with Peter Balakian on Tuesday. “A totally unique ambience – I never read in a Victorian parlor before,” the guest of honor observed. Dozens of devotees filled the room to capacity and beyond in anticipation of an in-person reading by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. The event was presented by the Grolier Poetry Book Shop and the Harvard Square Business Association, and thanks to the continuing pandemic, was also available over Zoom.

Balakian is the author of eight books of poems, including Ozone Journal, which won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, and Ziggurat, both published by the University of Chicago Press. His memoir Black Dog of Fate won the PEN/Albrand Award and was a New York Times notable book, and The Burning Tigris won the Raphael Lemkin Prize and was a New York Times bestseller and New York Times notable book. He is Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of the Humanities in the Department of English at Colgate University.

Joining Balakian in conversation was author Askold Melnyczuk, whose most recent book The Man Who Would Not Bow was published last year, and who Balakian described as the “James Laughlin of our generation.” After introducing Balakian and his newest poetry collection No Sign, Melynczuk referred to the first poem titled “History, Bitterness,” Balakian’s recollection of his day at the Yaddo writer’s colony during which a friend handed him the phone and invited him to say a few words to an ailing James Baldwin who lay dying in the south of France. The poem then describes a cafe in Paris and the author’s great-uncle, a bishop in the Armenian church who took part in the Paris peace talks in 1919 as a representative of the decimated Armenian population.

Melnyczuk noted that Balakian’s poems are “inevitably linked to family memories” with “stories behind the stories.” There is a layering process to the collection, “a kind of sedimentary poetics [that] culminates in the truly astonishing title poem ‘No Sign’ in which the word sedimentary recovers its literal meaning as the poem folds nothing less than a history of the planet tracking a conversation between an estranged couple against the backdrop of geological time.”

In addition to “History, Bitterness,” Balakian read “Summer Ode,” “Yellow Lilies,” “How Much I Love You,” “Eggplant” and “Apricot.” His intent with these selections was to provide a flavor of the collection, while also offering the inspiration for each poem, often including his Armenian upbringing, in particular his beloved grandmother Nafina. “She appears in and seems to endlessly be an animating force of energy in my mind,” explained Balakian about the Genocide survivor who served as the central character in his memoir Black Dog of Fate and who was the sole survivor of the death march from her family, along with her two infant children.

“Everything comes back to the kitchen,” Balakian explained about the section that he called a series of meditations on fruits and vegetables. “Memory goes through food and culture and history and homes and meditations to take you to many places,” Balakian said, continuing, “And sometimes they evoke historical vibes.”

Peter Balakian reading from No Sign, May 17, 2022

For the first time at a public reading, Balakian read from “No Sign,” a special treat that included the first four sections of the poem. One reason why he had yet to read this title poem is because he “wants readers to enjoy swimming in it.” Balakian said he spent a lot of time reading and thinking before beginning “No Sign,” a poem demarcated by “he” and “she,” conversational and dramaturgical without being a play, about the dialogue between an estranged couple that reunites on the cliffs of the New Jersey Palisades. Their dialogue “reveals the evolution of a kaleidoscopic memory spanning decades, reflecting on the geological history of Earth and the climate crisis, the film Hiroshima Mon Amour, the Vietnam War, a visionary encounter with the George Washington Bridge, and the enduring power of love” as described by the publisher.

During the conversation between Melnyczuk and Balakian, the subject of imagination was raised. “The imagination is a strange place. We all live in it, artist, writers or not,” Balakian said. Both authors agreed that imagination has a role to play in our lives, encouraging us to delve deeper and further than the surface level of data and information we receive. “Isn’t imagination the source of all our hope?” Melnyczuk asked, to which there was a palpable reaction from those gathered in the parlor, a fitting conclusion to an illuminating evening.