The use of innovative ideas in communities:

Dear donor,

It is our pleasure to report you that owing to your support we continue to organize interactive meetings for young journalists. At This time within the framework of non-formal learning methodology, our young experts had an opportunity to raise their communities’ issues and suggest solutions through the medium of IT and Journalism. The aim of the meeting was to see how ben

eficiaries ready to have participation in their communities sustainable development process. 

The objective of the project was to evaluate and assist the youth in engagement of the community development process.

For making the meeting more interesting and productive the participants were divided into two teams and were assigned the following tasks. 

The first team designed a poster, titled: “Journalism as a tool to raise and solve community issues”. They showed community problems through images and offered solutions by using tools of journalism. They offered to engage community people, local self-government bodies, funding and non-governmental organizations and volunteers to have participation in the problem solution process. 

The second team named the poster: “Raising and solving community problems through IT”.

Our beneficiaries applied images of modern technology through which they can raise, share and solve their community problems. Due to social networks and Mass media, they tried to explore

and disseminate community problems and by that means find donors and supporters.

The teams presented their works: as a problem solution result, they wanted to see their community well developed, prosperous and with high living standards.

They stated that it is possible to use journalism tools and IT sector as a means of solving community problems.

Dear donors,

We continue to allocate your donated funds to support these active and enterprising young people. The community has a lot of problems but they believe in their skills and are ready to use the power of unity.

         One of our beneficiaries Hasmik wanted to send her message and share her impressions with donors.

Hello, I am Hasmik. I liked this meeting very much as I had an opportunity to share what I knew and improve my knowledge level. In my opinion, this kind of meetings are instructive and the best way to keep in touch with other community friends. It is good way to share knowledge and skills with others of the same age from different communities. Thank you supporters and donors it is with your kind support that we had an opportunity to have memorable and instructive day.

Project Success Summary:

Dear Donor

Owing to your help we continue to support school-aged children in the remote regions of Armenia. We are happy to share with you the success and progress that we have recorded among our beneficiaries.    

The aim of this Project is to help children fill the knowledge gap they have, so that they can have the opportunity to choose their future professions, to express themselves freely in teamwork, to get in touch with their peers.

Summer Holidays caused children to be partially isolated from the educational environment, so in order they can be more engaged in it, we organized a meeting in Yerevan for our beneficiaries, entitled “My Future Profession”. 

On July 19, at the “Zartonk-89” NGO, the Project Task Force hosted the participants from different Armenian Regions.  

The topic “My Future Profession” was chosen prior to the meeting. It was welcomed by everyone and we had quite interesting and meaningful discussion together. As mentioned above, the beneficiaries were from different Armenian regions and did not know each other. First they got acquainted with each other; thereafter they began to communicate freely.  

At first they were given and interesting task to do – presenting themselves, their skills, interests and their future dreams. This helps children know each other better and work in a collaborative atmosphere.

Then the main topic “My Future Profession” also accompanying questions were presented to our beneficiaries. Each of them was able to present and describe their future goal – their profession and to give complete answers to the questions presented below:

• What you see as your future profession?
• What do you need to succeed in your future goal?
• How can we help you within the framework of “Providing education for 150 children in Armenia” to succeed in your professional choice?
• What are the specifics of your professional choice (Why)?

Dear Donor,

Once again, we are pleased to mention your assistance and support to this project. You have laid a solid background, developed warm relations and connections between our beneficiaries. This time ten beneficiaries had the opportunity to share their boundless joy and their stories about their future professional choice.  

We hope that we’ll have more opportunities to share our expected, succeeded outcomes with you.

Below we present Meline’s story and message to our donors:  

Hello everyone!

My name is Meline. I am fourteen years old. I study at secondary school, 9-th grade. I want to tell you a bit more about me and my engagement in this project owing to which I can freely express myself and my future goals. I dream of becoming a dancer. In my free time I like to dance and to draw. I dream of becoming a professional dancer to present the charms of Armenian National dances to the world. This project gave me skills, knowledge to be more communicative, courageous and free.

We are grateful to our donors who help us in making our dreams come true. 

Expanding the Young Experts Team:

Dear donor,

Due to your high impact on this program, we continue to support the young journalists of the new generation. They are regularly being trained and updated on contemporary technologies as well as the rules of civic journalism. As young people are the main part of the community, we aim to help them gain the necessary knowledge and skills during interactive meetings.

Beneficiaries of this program are continuously informed about the situation in their community and, of course, look for relevant mechanisms to raise and spread the challenges and issues that exist. Therefore, during non-formal methodologies, participants have the opportunity to express their opinions and ideas freely. The next important point we would like to mention is that beneficiaries receive appropriate educational resources and tools.

This time we organized a meeting with young experts entitled "Community Problems and Social Impact". The tutor presented them on how to collect data and use them for their research. Sometimes difficulties arise to get the necessary information, but you have to be able to effectively use the available resources.

The next part of the meeting was dedicated to the social impact. They got acquainted with this term and understood why it is important to measure the social impact. It was also presented that the Impact Stories format can be used to assess the social impact and answer the following questions: Where? What? Who? How? Results? This is very important because we have the opportunity to listen to our audience, engage with community leaders and of course see our progress and achievements. They also got acquainted with the idea of  ​​"learn from failure", that is, one should not be ashamed to admit the failures that arise during their activities but they need to show them and understand how to use them to measure the progress they have made.

The last part of the meeting was dedicated to teamwork. In this section,  beneficiaries used a Toolkit. Each presented their point of view on the work being presented. During the meeting, they also discussed the advantages of team performance and what are the conditions of Team Building.

Dear donors,                                                                                                                          

Your commitment to this program is very important to us and we are glad to inform you about the achievements that are becoming more and more visible from time to time. Armenian communities are full of problems, but the key to their solution is in the hands of young people.

Our new beneficiary of this project, Alina, wanted to send her small message to donors.

Hi, I'm Alina. I participate in this program for the first time. In this team,  I feel very good because I learn interesting and important things. Now, I'm ready to use my abilities in favor of the community where I live. I thank all donors and would like to see the continuation of this program. Thank you.

Project progress in the Arapi community:

Dear donors,

We continue to support school-aged children in remote communities in Armenia and are ready to share with you the progress that is seen from time to time.

Beneficiaries of this project come to the conviction that education is not really a problem, and their knowledge and skills will be invested in the construction of strong and sustainable communities in the near future, as they are the driving force of the community.

A part of our target group, living in a socially sophisticated environment, performs a variety of hard work, sometimes even isolating themselves from their peers and friends, and this leads them to constraints and underestimation of their own strengths.

The aim of this project is to help the children to fill the missed knowledge, to be free in the team and to learn and work in a friendly environment.

This time the project working group met in the village of Arapi in Shirak province, where the beneficiaries welcomed the project trainer and the whole team with great enthusiasm and smile.

At first, the participants were given an interesting task where they should tell about themselves, what skills, abilities and interests they have and what their dreams are. This helps children to know each other better and work in a free atmosphere.

In order to develop the beneficiaries creative abilities,  we assigned them a creative task related to drawing entitled "school". They imaged their school on the paper and what changes they would like to see.

The third part of the meeting was related to the teambuilding. The beneficiaries divided into 3 groups. Each group made up a name for their team. The participants were given a task to image their community problems and how they were going to solve those problems after acquiring appropriate knowledge and skills.

"Let's ensure tomorrow's prosperity" team-members imaged a hand on the poster and called it "Hand of friendship" which is to get the community council's support in order to solve two main problems of their community, which are to build churches and repair the roads.

The other team presented their motto " We are the powerful eagles, invincible, super-powerful". They presented the main problems of their village and also spoke up on their wish, which is to see laboratories of chemistry and informatics at their school. In the end, they added that the school has a great role in their lives and gives them an opportunity to make their knowledge more skillful.

Dear donors,

We are again happy to mention that due to your great impact on this project you build solid basis and strong connection with our beneficiaries. This time 15 beneficiaries had a chance to smile and share their smile with you.

We hope that we will have a chance to share happy and important moments with you.

The following is Maria's story and message addressed to the donors.

Hello. My name is Maria. I'm ten years old. I study in the 5th grade. I'd like to tell a little about myself. At my free time, I enjoy drawing and dancing. I dream to become a doctor and have my own hospital. To the question, who are in my surrounding I answered that I have many friends and I like to communicate with them. I liked everything in this project. Thanks.

Young experts' success:

Dear donor,

We are glad to inform that due to your important role in this project we carry on supporting the young journalists of the new generation. As the youth, the teenagers have important and exclusive role in their communities we continue to conduct interactive training courses in the regions of Armenia with the aim to support them to obtain the required abilities and skills.

Our beneficiaries being "Young Experts" are often looking for modern solutions to find their needs and seek solutions. For this reason, they are involved in non-formal integrated training modules where they can understand the connection between modern technology, community, and journalism. Sometimes they find it difficult to combine these things, but they do not get discouraged, so they continue to move forward.

The main goal of the project is to promote the active involvement of young people of the Republic of Armenia in their community activities.

Due to your donation and support, we organized an interactive meeting in one of our provincial teams. At first, the beneficiaries shared what challenges they faced during this period and what knowledge and skills they need. This helps our team understand what key topics can be brought to attention.

To make the meeting more lively and exciting, the participants divided into teams and on the posters they imaged  "People, Community, Technology" link, using their thoughts and ideas. This was a creative and innovative approach with the help of which the beneficiaries acted.

The first team called their poster "There is a problem, there is a solution."

Presenting their teamwork as a solution they saw a well-established community where a  person feels happy. In the next circle, modern technologies and media have been portrayed, which, to their mind, makes the existing problems visible and understandable. In the end, the team added that they were ready to fight for their dreams and for the benefit of the community.

The next team called their poster "Our eyes see, our mind works and we solve all the problems of the community with our unity."

In the center of the poster, they had painted an imaginary man which appeared as a collective image of the community. In on of the hands of the imaged human was the environment and on the other hand was the technologies. This person continually overcomes all the existing troubles and moves forward.

In the end, the team stated that the social networks are the best ways with the help of which they can get common information. In the end, all the participants also came to that conclusion.

Dear donors,

Your donations are continuing to be addressed to the process of supporting to these young initiating young people. Any gesture of yours has an important meaning for our beneficiaries. The community is full of problems, though they trust their abilities and are ready to put their united powers in action.

One of our beneficiaries, Andranik, wanted to address his message to donors and share his impressions.

Hello, I'm Andranik. I liked this meeting a lot and I got an opportunity to complete the incomplete knowledge. In my opinion, such meetings have the second important meaning which is to get in touch with our friends. To the question addressed to me, what I learned from this training course I answered that I learned how to help my community. Thank you.

Your commitment to this project

Dear donors,

We are glad to inform you that due to your great impact in this project we carry on providing basic education to the school-age children of the rural communities of Armenia and your every gesture encourages the children to move towards the road of education.

Again and again, we are ready to share with the progress and success that becomes visible every day. Beneficiaries come to the belief that education is not a problem and everyone has the opportunity to get education in this world.

A part of the children of our target group, living in a socially sophisticated environment, perform a variety of activities instead of attending school. As a result, they lose their knowledge and are getting constrained when communicating with their peers. The purpose of this project is to motivate them to education and make it a priority. Sometimes they have inconfidence towards their own abilities, though during interactive meetings they are able to freely express their thoughts and ideas.

In order to make the meeting more interactive and interesting, the beneficiaries shared a creative work where they would try to write and draw their own interests, skills, dreams and more. With this approach, we are able to go, deeper into the inner world of participants, to understand their desires, and of course, see the obstacles to overcome in the near future. In the work done, most children mentioned that besides education they gained new friends, getting out of the new environment, and learning to work in the team.

Dear donors,

Every child's smile, enthusiasm is a unique indicator that inspires us to continue working with high expectations and convey your emotions and expectations. We are witnessing when some

children are already completing their knowledge in the framework of this program, they continue to attend school and become a good example for others. This is a psychological factor that enables beneficiaries to reconsider their own steps and provide the necessary time for the learning process.

One of the beneficiaries, Ani, who is a new participant, wanted to send her message to donors and share her impressions.

Hi, my name is Ani. This is my first time participating in this project and I am very happy to join this group. Let me tell you a little about myself. By nature, I am vivid and  I like to dance in my spare time as it is one of my hobbies. At first, I was a bit confused, but after a while, I felt very free.

I was asked what I liked during this meeting, and I replied that I am in good surroundings and have the opportunity to get new knowledge. To the question of who I am, I painted a rose, as it is delicate and characterizes my essence. I want my word to go to donors so they can continue to support this program. I'm sure I'll be back in this group again. Thank you.

The progress of the young experts.

Dear donors,

We are glad to inform that due to you we carry on supporting the new generation of young journalists to explore the main problems of their communities, to carry out research and analytical work.

The main goal of the project is to encourage young people and teenagers of the Republic of Armenia to be able to identify community issues and offer solutions. All this can be achieved when beneficiaries of the program have an opportunity to participate in non-formal training modules, interactive meetings, where they will have the opportunity to freely express their thoughts and ideas, cultivate problem-solving mechanisms together.  Young people are the community's motivation and we attach great importance to providing them with media knowledge, skills to use digital media to be able to use social media in civic journalism.

This project makes the community problems, challenges more visible and the perceptions, attitudes of young people change daily. In general, the community is becoming one of their priorities.

In order to be able to solve social issues in the communities, it is also necessary to change the visions and perceptions of our beneficiaries related to their positive impact on the community. Part of our training refers to pluralism, tolerance, teamwork. The study of these topics is important for the beneficiaries, as it results in the increase of the social impact of this project.

The other part of the interactive meetings is dedicated to the use of digital tools, information technology. They require all this to make a community-based study and inform the public. As young experts, they need to find the roots of the problem, to understand what mechanisms can

be used in this process.

Due to your support, we continue the second coaching session, during which young active experts have an opportunity to get the answers to their questions and, of course, make a stronger connection with the team. During this meeting, they were involved in teamwork, where they tried to understand their role and influence in this project. It is important to note that they are willing to share the experience and capabilities during the meetings with the other beneficiaries of the remote communities in Armenia.

Dear donors, Your donations are still being addressed towards the work of building sustainable and strong communities. We are ready to share the progress we will make in the near future. We are grateful for your support and high impact.

During the meeting, one of our beneficiaries, named Astghik, wanted to send a message to all donors of the project. We present you Astghik's little story.

Hi, I'm Astghik. At first, I was uptight to talk about the problems in my community. Sometimes there were obstacles that forced me to cover my thoughts and suggestions. Due to this project, now I can use all my abilities and capabilities to help my community prosper. I think we are a strong team and we will use that advantage in the most effective way. Thank you!