SOS Сulture. Training courses have started

16.07.2012 10:57

On June 11th the SOS culture team started its first training courses with the young members of the newly established youth clubs in Varagavan and Akhtala. The overall aim of the project is the preservation of abandoned and ruined cultural assets and raising awareness about them. We started the first training with ice-breaking and team-building activities. Only after a short time a free and inspiring working atmosphere could be created. The activities enabled the participants to get better acquainted with each other, to develop mutual trust and explore new creative potentials. The aim of the introduction course was also to develop the capacity to work and communicate efficiently in a team.

Both in Akhtala and Varagavan participants were very active and enjoyed the discussions, quizzes and role games. The first day of the training course was mainly focused on the ice-breaking activities. But already the next morning was totally dedicated to hands-on action: The members of each club joint for a walking tour to a nearby cultural site to clean the area from garbage. The youth from Varagavan hiked to Nor Varagavanq Monastery. The Akhtala youth group’s destination was Akhtala Monastery.

By collecting on each cultural site two huge bags of waste, the participants realized that littering is a real danger for the preservation of cultural assets. People, who visit these beautiful places, ruthlessly destroy the sites by leaving plastic and glass bottles, cigarette-packages, tin cans and much other rubbish. The activity triggered hot discussions among the participants about how to prevent littering and to educate citizens to be more respectful towards cultural assets.

Not only the garbage clean up but also many other trainings took place out door, so that the club members explored the area around their village and were close to nature. The last day was again filled with many activities – the kids especially enjoyed the drawing and dancing. “From the very beginning of the training I had a strong feeling of freedom and trust,” Arevik from Akhtala summarized her impressions.

Suren from Akhtala liked the game “In the museum” most. “During this game I really realized the importance and value of cultural treasures”, he underlines. For Mariam from Varagavan it was most remarkable that the training course helped her to develop her team work skills and increased her understanding about the importance of taking care for nature.

The introduction course was a great beginning of the SOS Culture summer training sessions, which will be continued during the whole project.