Michelle Boghossian Summer Volunteer Fundraiser

Hello everyone! My name is Michelle Boghossian, and I am a graduate student at Pepperdine's Graduate School of Education and Psychology, pursuing my Master's Degree in Social Entrepreneurship and Change. During the final semesters of this program, we must take a mandatory Global Experience Course. In this course, we are told to research various organizations in different developing countries and find an organization we would like to volunteer for about two to three weeks. The overall point of this experience is to deepen our cultural awareness of different communities through hands-on, immersion service work with local villages and organizations in rural areas to create a well-rounded global perspective of social, economic, and community issues.

For a bit of background about myself, I was born in Glendale, California. I was raised in an Armenian-speaking household where my parents ensured many of their values and traditions into my and my brother's upbringing. During my youth, I learned a lot about Armenian culture through celebrating traditional holidays with my relatives and connecting with my fellow Armenian peers through different club basketball teams and organizations. That said, I would love to use this opportunity to travel back to Armenia and volunteer my time and skills to give back to the many underserved communities there.

In the past couple of years, a lot has changed in Armenia. With a large majority of the country still underdeveloped, communities have endured many hardships throughout the pandemic and other political issues that have negatively affected Armenia's relations with the diaspora and youth. This has caused more damage to underdeveloped areas such as villages and orphanages, calling for more rebuilding and educational needs from those willing to give back. Since then, many of my friends have visited for service work and come back with a whole new perspective and connection with our culture, which is why I wish to spend my time volunteering there this summer! While I know the culture and some of its traditions and customs, I feel I am missing a genuine connection with my people.

Regarding my background and experiences with youth, I have volunteered and worked at many organizations centered around child/youth education and development. While studying abroad in Switzerland during my Sophomore Year of college, I had the privilege of visiting Tanzania for a two-week-long Educational Field Trip. During this trip, we had the opportunity to do many activities that allowed us to immerse ourselves in their culture. One incredible experience was living with the Maasai Tribe for a week straight. During this week, we slept in their village, ate their food, learned their traditional dances, and submerged ourselves in their daily lives, routines, and customs. However, one of the most impactful experiences during this trip was volunteering at Neema Village in Arusha, Tanzania. During this time, I worked at their rescue center for abandoned, orphaned, and at-risk children ranging from newborns to toddlers. Here we helped mothers and caretakers feed, change, and tend to children while also helping paint and rebuild outdoor furniture and facilities for the children and staff.

This experience truly left me wanting to continue to impact the lives of underprivileged youth and children through my acts of service. I have loved working with children all my life, and spending time with them and working to help them develop their skills from a young age is something I'm super inspired by. While I have been to Armenia before, I would love to come back this summer and visit the villages that are genuinely in need and volunteer my time at any organizations located in the more rural and in-need areas.

While I have been to Armenia before, I would love to come back this summer and visit the villages that are genuinely in need and volunteer my time at any organizations located in the more rural areas. After further research, an organization named "Our Lady of Armenia" piqued my interest. This organization was founded in 1992 as a Christian institution with the core purpose of serving the poor population located in the rural areas of Armenia. They primarily focus on improving the quality of life of these children/families and giving them a proper place to develop their emotional, spiritual, social, and physical abilities. Their goal is to essentially provide the participants with all the necessities to become educated and independent adults. They revolve their mission and services around securing the overall development of orphaned and abandoned children in the rural areas of Tsaghkadzor and strive to create an atmosphere where the child can develop their mental, spiritual, social, physical, and emotional abilities.

Regarding what I will be doing on a daily basis for the organization, I will begin by participating in a daily prayer service with all the children at the Church in the Orphanage. Then, I will be giving daily English lessons to children 8 - 14 years old and teach them about the cultural differences that exist in the Western World. This will not only help the children to develop some soft skills as they grow into their teen years/adulthood, but it will also allow them to learn about the structure and the value of things such as teamwork, presentation skills, and communication skills.

I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity because I've always wanted to center my career around working with children, which is why this will be a massive opportunity for me to step foot in the education aspect of working with kids. As I'm taking time and thinking about what I want to do with my degree and career to make a change in the future, I know that I want it to involve children's education. Therefore, this will be an excellent learning experience to start my journey, work with children in a more intimate setting, and see what I love about it! I will also be doing hands-on service work for the organization, which involves helping families and children with laundry, cooking, dishes, and overall upkeep of the shared and outside yard areas. During the day, I will be giving lessons to the children, and after this, I will spend time with them one-on-one, get to know them personally, and help them with their daily activities.

This is why I am creating this fundraiser to help fund my two-week mission and volunteer work this summer in Armenia! As part of this crowdfunding campaign, I also plan to use the funds raised to donate to the organization & purchase whatever they need.

Thank you all for helping me on this journey to create change!