An AYF Youth Corps volunteer with one of the many local children impacted by the program
The New Deadline is March 15. Apply to AYF Youth Corps 2018 today!
GLENDALE—The application for the 2018 Armenian Youth Federation Youth Corps summer program has been extended from March 1 to March 15.
AYF Youth Corps is a six-week program in Armenia, of which five weeks are dedicated to hosting summer camps for youth ages 9-16, and one week is scheduled for exploring the treasures of Armenia.
Youth Corps participants get the opportunity to go on excursions to Armenian landmarks including Dzidzernakapert, Temple of Garni, Geghard Monastery, and more. The program participants run camps in various regions of Artsakh and get a chance to visit the Armenian community in Javakhk, Georgia during their time volunteering.
AYF Youth Corps volunteers form lasting bonds with local children in Armenia and Artsakh
During the summer camps, Youth Corps participants lead children in competitions, sports, Armenian history lessons, arts and crafts, singing, and other aspects of Armenian culture. Participants are immersed in the city in which they host the camp for children that week. Carla Kekejian, a 2014 Youth Corps participant, explained how her time in Baghanis helped her with her research in Harseren years later.
“I did AYF Youth Corps in 2014, the summer after my sophomore year of college. We spent one week in Baghanis, a small village in the Tavush province of northeast Armenia. A few years later, I began a research study on Harsneren – the sign language of married Armenian women. My research unraveled that the first and only study of Harsneren was conducted in Baghanis and its neighboring villages in the early 1930’s. That finding led me back Baghanis years later to conduct interviews with local individuals about Harsneren. The relationships I had built with local individuals during my Youth Corps trip very much allowed my research to prosper,” said Kekejian.
The AYF Youth Corps provides a unique and hands-on opportunity for Armenian youth to connect with their Homeland, impacting both those who join as Youth Corps participants and the local communities that welcome AYF Youth Corps.
“Youth Corps is so unique in that you build bridges, memorable connections with the young kids who wait all year long to meet you as your campers at jampar; you reconnect to your roots, ignited by the day to day experience from waking up early by the cheerfully inpatient campers, ready for jampar, walking with you to and from the campsite, excited to show you their home,” said Alique Cherchian, a Youth Corps 2016 participant. “However, above all else, the humbleness of the beautiful kids and the community locals makes you realize truly how much of an impact you are making on them, their village community, and our Hayastan as a whole, simply by participating in the program.”
The application and more information can be found at https://ayfwest.org/programs/youthcorps/apply/. The new deadline to submit an application is March 15th, 2018. Apply today!
Founded in 1933, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and the most influential Armenian- American youth organization in the world, working to advance the social, political, education and cultural awareness among Armenian-American youth.
Source: Asbarez
Link: AYF Youth Corps Application Deadline Extended!