6 regions, 52 schools, 5000 students, 71 teachers. This is the statistics of the program “Teach for Armenia”.
Every time a first encounter – villages with smoke from the chimneys, mud, moisture, uncompromising school bell, shaking hands, a coffee table, window panes deprived of paint, equally spread dung.
“Teach for Armenia” is a program for young specialists, who know Armenian and want to change not only themselves, but also the lives of the children living in Armenia.
A student at the home yard of a teacher.
The sports hall of Dzoragyugh village school. Minutes before the performance for Easter.
Anush Muradyan, 25. She teaches Mathematics at Katnarat village school. She teaches to the 31 students of 3 classes.
Yaghdan village schoolyard. At the break.
Katnarat village school. At the Math class.
Susanna Tatyan, 27. She teaches English at Sarchapet village school.
The sports hall of the Dzoragyugh village school. The students have decorated the ceremonial table before the performance.
Lernahovit. A student is gathering greens after the classes. The garden was rehabilitated by the students.
Khachik Chukhajian, 28. He is a graduate of Los Angeles California University, department of Philosophy. He teaches History at Medovka village school, and gives private lessons to the students. They are singing with the class one of the songs of the Beatles in English.
Medovka village school. At the break. It’s hailing.
Medovka. The teacher takes the student home.
Narek Arzumanyan, 22. Dzoragyugh village school. Out of the 34 students Narek teaches to 30 of them. He teaches Geography, Technology, “Me and Environment”. He is the lead teacher for a class of 4.
Yaghdan village school. Husik Martirosyan is in the middle of the circle, 34. He teaches Armenian studies, Armenian History, World History, Geography, Social Sciences. He never misses the chance of communicating with the students at the breaks.
By training and acquiring necessary skills they move to Armenia for two years, to those regions where there is a need for teachers.
10 months, different seasons of the year, 10 schools, Lori, Tavush, Armavir regions…
The accelerating motionlessness of the village like the munching of a cow repeating in the air. Every time new… no! again.
Medovka village school. It’s hailing.
Mariam Marikyan, 23. She teaches Armenian History at the school of the borderline village Nerkin Karmiraghbyur, Tavush Region. She is the lead teacher of the 12th graders.
Lori Region. A small pond at the road leading from the villages to the region center. Those teachers who live in Tavush use this very road.
Hushakert village school. An open class, where the students present the origins of the traditional New Year dishes.
Lernahovit. Zina Ghukasyan, 24, is going back home from the school with the students. She teaches Social Sciences and Church History.
Vanik Vardanyan, 22. He is the only teacher of Mathematics at Bagaran village school which has 68 students. Vanik is the most overloaded. He teaches 42 students from grade 5 to 12.
Bagaran village school. The student is following the presentation of a Math problem.
Koghes village school. At the break.
Dzoragyugh village school. At the classes.
Inna Kocharyan, 24. She teaches English to 19 students out of 23 at Koghes village school.
Hushakert village school. The student is running to the class. The bell has rung.
My mind wanders in the corridor of the school, which is not like that of a house. It is like a long cemented throat, which connects one part of the body to the other. It is like the throat of my camera through which the school show spoiled by the dry soil will travel taking with it the smell of the place, the tenseness accumulated in the muscle…
A young person sent here from some far place and his/her encounter with the child having the strength of the place in himself. The point of their meeting is the school, the name of it – explosion. What will come out of that? What will change? Why?
The photographs have been taken in the frames of the program “Teach for Armenia” which is a project by Mediamax media.