The second year of Zarmanazan brought together 51 children (ages 10-15), 29 young adults (ages 16-24) and 25 facilitators from 14 different countries to collectively develop their Western Armenian language skills. The camp took place in the mountains of the French-Swiss Alps region of France, from 15 July to 9 August 2018.

“Teaching Western Armenian in Diaspora” teacher (re)training course, offered by INALCO, is also part of Zarmanazan. This year, 13 teachers or teachers-in-training were introduced to innovative pedagogical approaches and best practices through various dynamic seminars, workshops and, importantly, through practical training with the children attending Zarmanazan. Based on second language acquisition and critical thinking methodologies, the course continues throughout the year with follow up assignments.

We asked one of the participants from the young adults group to share with us his first-hand experience of the camp.  This article is written by Shahen Araboghlian, a participant in the camp, and includes excerpts from other youth participants.

It was sometime around fall 2017 when a couple of distant friends and I were informed about Zarmanazan. If you’re not aware about what it is, it’s never too late: it’s a summer camp organized by the Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, in collaboration with the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO)  and l’association Mille et un Mondes, certified by the French Ministry of Youth and Sports. And let me tell you; it is “a world within a world”, as Alicia Ishkhanian would say.

Next thing I knew, I was in the middle of a gorgeous nowhere in La Chapelle d’Abondance in the French Alps, on the 12th of July, surrounded by strangers whom I were soon to be calling family. Us, the youth group (aged 16-24), made up of 29 beautifully-minded individuals, each different yet more creative than the other, gathered together from around the world with one main goal: to have fun in and with the Western Armenian language. “We were there to restart a lingo-cultural machine that stopped working a century ago, given the task to work and create together and make something out of a non-nationalistic unusual discourse” (Narod Dabanyan) and “to erase the diasporan façades that we’re forced to wear in our daily lives, while rekindling our love for Armenian culture” (Sebouh Oshagan).

We were lucky enough to have been surrounded by exquisite facilitators/organizers, who had planned for us to arrive before the younger group (aged 10-15), which gave us, not only the chance to have a hand in the final steps of the organizational process, but also the chance to bring us closer on a more personal level, help us socialize and mark our “territories” in the camp location of Le Carlina. “Zalon Zarmanamanger” (a word twist on the commonly used French phrase “salon salle à manger”, meaning living and dining room) was a place at the camp with long benches on grass and open air above, which became more than a comfort zone. “Our souls sparkled as they were the true reflection of all those that shined above and below us” (Dzavy Bilalian).

It was important for us to have a say in the activities we were to engage in; they ranged from reading and writing in never-done-before settings, photography, painting, drawing, fun games, crafts, music sessions and everything in between. This artistic process of creation included programs such as “Zarmanatsayn,” a pre-recorded faux-radio show which we got to listen at nightly gatherings, and “Zarmanalourer,” a custom-made tiny newspaper that reported the local Zarmanazan news.

All these activities were due to the inspiring collaboration and fusion of the young ones, the youth and the facilitators, which helped these programs peak in creative quality. These activities were there to “develop our Armenian identity, while accepting multiculturalism as our reality and a supplementary richness, which didn’t have to exist separately from our ‘Armenian side’”, said Azad Eurdekian.

Excursions ensured we got along as camp participants. From chocolate tasting at the Cailler chocolate factory or cheese shopping in the Swiss medieval village of Gruyères, to riding a cableway up a mountain, hiking down it and dipping into the cool Lac Leman. Spending a memorable day at Lac Pavin with fun and games, to wandering around the famous city of Evian.

The camp came to the unwanted end on the 9th of August. The clock is ticking, until next time.

The participation of ten of the 29 young adults in the Zarmanazan camp was made possible by the generous sponsorship of Melkonian Global Overture, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles.

More information regarding Zarmanazan 2019 will be available at the start of 2019.