In April 3-7, 2019 “Armenian Caritas” benevolent NGO hosted the Austrian participants of the project “We are the Change”. The project has been initiated by youngCaritas Austria and was funded by the European Union’s “Erasmus +” program. The project implementation was assisted by Caritas Austria and Armenian Caritas within the project “HIV/AIDs Prevention in the Post-Soviet Countries”.

The aim of the visit was to gain as much information as possible about Armenia, as well as two projects ran by Armenian Caritas in Vanadzor (“Sabine” small group house; “Little Prince” social center). The members of youth club, which was initiated within the “HIV/AIDs Prevention in the Post-Soviet Countries” project, also joined the Austrian youth.  During the 5 days stay in Armenia the participants got acquainted with Armenian Caritas, had a walk through the sights of Gyumri and visited several beneficiaries of Armenian Caritas.

During the second day of the visit Josefa Friedel:  the representative of youngCaritas Austria presented the “Erasmus+” project to the participants, as well as talked about the Youthpass certificates. The Exchange visit participants visited the two above mentioned centers in Vanadzor, got in touch with the pupils attending the center and children living in the small group house.

The Armenian and Austrian participants of the project organized intercultural evenings on Armenia and Austria, during which they studied each other’s dances, tried some foods, filled out quizzes about the countries, and got more information about each other’s countries.

The youngsters paid tribute to the memory of the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide in Tsitsernakaberd memorial, after which they traveled to the “Machanents Tourism and Art” guesthouse in Ejmiatsin, where they jointly developed a module about Armenia during two days.

According to the aim of the project, the exchange visit participants will present the module on Armenia to their school pupils and representatives, after they leave for Austria.

Afterword they will present the two projects in Vanadzor ran by Armenian Caritas and ask their friends to take part in the charity ran which will be held in May, 2019. The money collected during the charity run will be directed to two Vanadzor projects.

At the end of the visit, all participants received Youthpass certificates.