We are entering the poor-standard apartment building in the
outskirts of Yerevan, Armenia. The corridor is cold and dark
and it smells dirty. But from a room at the end of the corridor,
we hear music and children’s excited voices. It is the
first week of the Smiley Club, the new project that the Armenian
Red Cross Youth is arranging in an activity room in the refugee
dormitory.
The Armenian Red Cross Youth has arranged projects for the elderly
refugees living in this dormitory for several years, and they
have seen the need for doing something for the children as well.
Last year, two Armenian volunteers started the Smiley Club for
refugee children, but not in Armenia. They started it in Norway!
Mariam Matevosyan and Avaq Manukian were participating in the
Norwegian Red Cross Youth Delegate Programme, and worked in
Førde, Norway, where they saw a need for more activities
for the children at the refugee reception centre. The Smiley
Club was started and local Norwegian Red Cross Youth volunteers
visited the children every week, playing games and helping them
with homework. At the same time, Mariam and Avaq started a fund
raising campaign in order to be able to finance a similar project
in Armenia.
The children in the Armenian Smiley Club are from 6 to 12 years
old, living in small one-room flats provided to their families
by the government. There are shared toilets and kitchen on every
floor. Many of the families are Armenians who were previously
living in Azerbaijan, and who fled back to Armenia during the
war between the two countries in the early 1990s.
The day we visit, the Red Cross volunteers arrange activities
for 7 and 8 year old children. Or is really it the other way
around? The high-spirited children do not look like they need
to be told what to do. When we enter the room, one of the girls
wants to sing a song for us, and afterwards she proclaims a
poem. Then another girl takes over, teaching us a new game.
Finally they demand to get the tape player and insist that we
all join in the dance.
Later in the evening, some of the older children join us as
well. They come to get help with their homework. The younger
girls find some crayons and start drawing. One of the girls
draws a house and tries to teach me the Armenian words for “window”
and “lamp”. The boys get the chess board out and
play with seemingly great experience.
Leaving the Smiley Club, there is no doubt in my mind that this
programme will be a success. One of the little girls knows a
few words in English, and when I leave she tells me she loves
me. And what about the volunteers? Will they enjoy this project?
-The children are so sweet; I would even like to go more often,
says Ani, one of the volunteers who joined the Red Cross to
participate in this project.
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| The
volunteers Arus and Lilith are having fun together with
the children in the Smiley Club.
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| Armenian
boys are chess- and backgammon experts. |
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The
Red Cross volunteers offer the children help with their
homework (top).
Excited children in the Smiley Club, concentrating on
a game (below).
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