YEREVAN — The Armenian Volunteer Network (AMVN) co-founders Seroj Terian, Kristina Terian, and Hasmik Torosyan recently gathered in Yerevan with a group of volunteers, students and partners to celebrate AMVN’s 5th anniversary.
AMVN is an educational nonprofit founded in 2020 by educators in the US and Armenia with the goal of improving educational opportunities for Armenian students and create ties between the people of Armenia and the rest of the world. They do so by recruiting, training, and linking volunteers with Armenian universities, institutions and organizations where they can teach and share their knowledge.
They also focus on training educators in Armenia so they become the best teachers they can be. Seroj Terian stressed that the organization assumes everyone can volunteer and contribute.
“You don’t need to be a teacher or have a PhD to make a difference. If you’re a native English speaker, you can help students in Armenia learn English. If you’re fluent in another language, you can teach that language. If you are a computer programmer, a lawyer, a singer, a graphic designer – you get the idea,” he said. Volunteers come from all over the world.
Each volunteer applicant is interviewed, and then he or she is paired with an educational need in Armenia which would complement their strengths. They conduct the matching through partnerships in Armenia with primary schools, secondary schools, colleges, universities, NGOs and cultural institutions. Most volunteers teach remotely, once or twice a week, via Zoom. They can also choose to volunteer in-person. Instructors have been sent to Yerevan, Gyumri and Ijevan, among other locales.
To volunteer, find out more or to donate, visit www.amvn.org.
