Armenia News Bulletin 11-26-08

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Armenian Weekly Reports on AGBU in Armenia & Karabakh

Reporter Yelena Ambartsumian wrote an extensive piece about AGBU and its programs in Armenia & Karabakh for the November 15, 2008 edition of the Armenian Weekly…here’s the lede:

The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) was established in 1906 and has stayed true to its mission “to preserve and promote the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural, and humanitarian programs.” With an annual international budget of $36 million, AGBU touches the lives of some 400,000 Armenians each year. One hundred percent of every dollar that is donated to AGBU goes to sustaining its multiple programs across the world, including initiatives in Armenia and Karabagh.

Hrag Vartaninan, AGBU’s director of communication, says, “Most of our budget goes to maintaining projects which we already have. We are about sustainability, though every year we do fund new initiatives and ensure that new needs are being met.” Because AGBU focuses a great deal of energy on maintaining and sustaining existing projects, it has a very important presence in Armenia. Through its educational, cultural, and humanitarian programs, AGBU has had a great deal of influence on the lives of Armenians living in the Republic of Armenia and in Artsakh.

Read the full article here.

Armenia News Bulletin 11-24-08

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Armenia News Bulletin 11-21-08

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Armenia News Bulletin 11-19-08

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Satamian in Toronto

Via AGBU Toronto we get this information about Krikor Satamian’s November 9 performance there:

LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE AFTER ALL

On November 9, 2008, the Armenian community in Toronto rushed to the Babayan Ballroom of the AGBU Alex Manoogian Cultural Center to laugh up a storm. Krikor Satamian, the LA-based actor and comedian, was in town to perform his two-hour “One Man Show” for an audience of over 450. The show, titled “Shad mi sirer, adel gah, shad mi ader, sirel gah” (“Don’t Love too much, there is hate, don’t hate too much, there is love”) covered conventional household arguments with his characteristic Armenian humor.

Indeed Satamian, whose theatrical talent is known all over the world, arrived to Toronto as a breath of fresh air making us all forget our daily worries and problems for a delightful few hours.

YP Yerevan on H1 TV Today & Tomorrow

We apologize for the short notice but we have just learned (via AGBU Toronto) that an Armenian television show named “Banadzev” on the H1 satellite channel will air TODAY (November 18) a segment about IT technology development in Armenia.

The program will feature an interview with AGBU Board Member Yervant Zorian, who will talk about AGBU’s new Armenian Virtual College.

Once again, it will begin TODAY at 11:15pm Yerevan time (8:15pm Paris time; 2:15pm New York time; 11:15am LA time).

Also, the AGBU Young Professionals of Yerevan recently organized a special event for the “Huys” orphanage that has captured the attention of the local media. YP Yerevan members were invited to H1 studios to appear on their daily morning program.

This broadcast will be aired via satellite tomorrow on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 8 am Yerevan time (5am Paris time; Tues. Nov 18 at 11pm New York time; Tues, Nov 18 at 8pm LA time).

We hope that you will tune in to both programs, and request that you pass this information along to your friends.

AUA’s New Paramaz Avedisian Building Opens

The AGBU-sponsored and supported American University of Armenia (AUA) dedicated its new Paramaz Avedisian Building on November 1, 2008. Here is some information about the event via the AUA website:

The Paramaz Avedisian Building adds about 100,000 square feet of space to AUA’s existing facilities, including classrooms and seminar rooms, laboratories and research centers, offices for faculty, suites for AUA’s academic programs, and the new VivaCell Videoconferencing Room. The educational facility was designed by Altoon + Porter Architects of Los Angeles, California, and incorporates several innovative design elements and sophisticated environment-sensitive solutions.

“The new Paramaz Avedisian Building along with the United States accreditation the University received in 2007, provides AUA with the ability to expand educational offerings with new programs and to increase our student body and serve additional Armenian and international students. The University community is grateful to the many donors, large and small, who made our dream a reality,” explained AUA President Haroutune Armenian. (Read more here.)

According to the Armenia: Higher Education & Sciences blog:

The building is a five-story, 10 thousand square meters edifice of tufa, basalt, and glass curtain wall, designed to accommodate the latest in video, computer, and telecommunications equipment. It includes large classrooms with central cooling and heating systems, wireless Internet connections, a video conferencing room, a café, a bookstore, a gym, and exhibition space. The new building will house all 7 units of the University. The old building, which was originally designed to host the Communist Party of Armenia SSR conferences, will be used for administrative and nonacademic purposes.

Congratulations to AUA and the students of Armenia!

Armenia News Bulletin 11-17-08

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Moscow State Students Learn About AGBU Programs

These photos are from the AGBU presentation that took place on November 12, 2008 at Moscow State University.

The student event was organized by SIVAM members (including Anna Sharoyan, who participated in the 2007 Yerevan Summer Intern Program) in collaboration with Moscow State’s Armenian Student Association and presented information about three of AGBU’s summer intern programs (New York, Paris & Yerevan) and the Study Abroad Program.

A second presentation at Moscow State University is in the works and it will featured information on the Discover Armenia trip and AGBU’s newest summer camping facility, Camp Antranik in Armenia.