Spitak was the centre of a terrible earthquake in 1988, which was when the YMCA first arrived there through a relief operation by Y Care International. A YMCA was set up in a wooden building and when I visited there in 2001 I remember a very vibrant youth centre but in a rather basic wooden building, with limited facilities.
Following a long relationship with YWCA-YMCA Zurich which has fund raised over CHF1 million, YMCA Spitak now has a marvellous new large building which has a multi-use sports hall, many activity rooms (for English lessons, puppet theatre, child care, computer room…) and several guest rooms. Built by local labour to Swiss standards, it is a superb example of a productive partnership between Zurich and Spitak.
Other YMCAs I visited included Vanadzor, which also has a large building in the centre of town where I saw an art club, Ten Sing, a rock band music room, child care, new computer suite, and more. At Vanadzor’s brand new camp in the nearby hills, generously sponsored by the family of Sue Aramian from New York, I was able to meet 13 YMCA leaders from 5 local associations where we enjoyed a training session on the three pillars of the Global Operating Plan featuring mission clarity, relevant programmes and sustainability.
The last YMCA we visited was in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabagh. This city is some 320 km from the Armenian capital of Yerevan, and with poor road conditions over three mountain ranges, it is a long drive! However, once there we were met by wonderful young YMCA leaders which made the travel well worthwhile. On the way back we stopped at the town of Goric, which is where the road splits and you can drive south to Iran. Three young people connected with another youth organisation live there and they attended our Prague Festival in 2008. It is hoped that we may be able to open a YMCA there in the near future.
In all, Vardan drove over 1300 km and en route we saw several very old monasteries, ate super local food and met great people. I returned home tired but very happy!
