Habitat in Armenia: September 2006

Dr. Rev. Bob Edgar's "Huffington Post" Blog

Our friend and fellow Armenian travel campanion Dr. Rev. Bob Edgar posted over on The Huffington Post, which a happens to be the blog of my former employer. Small world!

Check it out - and leave him a commnet if you have the time.

Khachkars (pronounced: kosh - cars)

One afternoon, after working on the homes, we stopped by Noratus, which is at the western shore of the Lake Sevan. It was one of those evenings when we were all pretty tired from a long day of painting and sanding. I know that I was thinking, as we drove along in our bus, that I would almost rather skip the sightseeing and just go back to the hotel.

However, we stopped and, like dutiful students, we trooped out of the bus and up the hill to the cemetery. And I'm so glad we did. What we found was a cemetery with over 900 "khachkars", which are carved stones. Usually they were erected to honor someone's death, but there are also khachkars that memorialize a war or act as a form of protection from natural disaster.

It was amazing walking amongst these stones, knowing that some were made over 1,000 years ago.

Even more interesting were a few of the villagers who were up there as well. As we walked towards the cemetery three very old women approached us with sox to sell. The sheep were all around them, and one women was knitting in front of us - using what must have been recently sheered wool from her flock.

Also, a group of children followed us and gave us little flowers. I asked our guide if they were looking for money, but she said that they weren't - they were just giving us small gifts. A few of them were learning English in school, and practiced on us. "What is your name?" they would say. We would respond with our names and ask them, which they would in turn tell us. Then they would ask, "how are you?" These were the only phrases they knew - but it was cute hearing them practice.

We stayed for about 20 minutes, learning about the various styles of khachkars throughout the ages and examining the stones. It was another one of so many moments when I was reminded that I was far, far away from the United States. And I was in awe of the history and age of what surrounded me.

More photos from Noratus

Fun Pictures from Sandy Bensen

The other day Sandy Bensen sent me a few pictures from the trip. For those who were not with us, Sandy sported the oh-so-chic "Sister Mary Sandy" look with her apron turned into a head covering. Thanks Sandy!

One of the Habitat families

I took this photo, but I thought it was a nice picture of Sandy. Plus, notice the flock of sheep in the reflection.

Pictures from James McEwan

I just received an email from James McEwan with a link to his pictures. Make sure to go over to them and check them out ... there are some GREAT shots. Link to James' Photos.

Our trip into Gavar

As I reflect back on my trip, my mind often goes back to an afternoon walk that Bob and I took into Gavar. Gavar is the small, low-income town where where the Habitat build site is located. We were working at an apartment building at the edge of town, up a hill, a fifteen minute walk outside the main area of the village.

During the build, our days were spent painting walls and sanding ceilings alongside the families that would be living in the homes. Every so often we would see the neighbor kids watching us from outside the fencing, before they would run back home. On Wednesday, Bob and I decided that we would take a walk into the town, to look at the conditions surrounding the new homes we were building and see the places where these kids lived.

One of the first things that we saw on the way into town was the school yard. Though the back windows of the school were broken and the building looked in disrepair, there were a dozen or so kids playing on the playground. One of the girls, older, just watched us as we went by. But the other children played in the yard, oblivious to our being there.

We soon realized that the older girl in the school yard was more the norm than the other children. The townspeople had no problem openly staring as we walked by. Men and women would stand on their balconies and watch us, these two strangers covered in white paint, walking down the road. When we waved, they always waved back -- but didn't stop looking. I would be remiss (and Bob would be disappointed!) if I didn't admit that our group feels that one of the reasons we garnered so much attention is that I happened to be a young, very tall, blonde girl walking down the street. Which apparently doesn't happen too often in that small town ... proven by the fact that there was one car with two twenty-something men in it that just so happened to drive by and honk at us three times.

As we walked to the main area of the town, we saw the homes, the apartments, crumbling and with broken windows. It looked as if most were without running water and it's uncertain if they had electricity. The paint had peeled and their certainly was no landscaping or frivolous additions. Not a place that you or I would ever want to live in - or even know how to cope with. But what struck us, as we walked amongst the poverty and broken-down homes, was that most every townsperson were incredibly well-dressed. They might not have been in the most expensive clothes - but they were nice clothes. Clean and pressed. The younger men and women were especially stylish. Though they had very little, they never let that take away their dignity. And it was striking.

There were other moments on the trip that I remember ... the group of men playing backgammon, looking like the old men who play chess on Venice Beach, one of whom had no legs. The very, very old shop keeper who came out and bowed to us and smiled. The little boy wearing the USC Trojans t-shirt that Bob stopped and did magic tricks for - while I desperately tried to figure out how to communicate to him that the school on his shirt was my alma mater. Which, of course, I never got through to him.

And then there was the part about the trip beyond the town that stays with me. Bob and I had a half an hour to talk and really get to know one another better. As we walked, we shared stories, talked politics and I, of course, received an earful of bad puns. Here we were, two Americans who don't speak the language of anyone around us, being stared at the town and discussing how one goes about making the world a better place. And I was thoroughly inspired and awed by him.

About a half an hour into our walk we decided to turn back, and return to the build.

The trip into Gavar was eye-opening. We were confronted by poverty and pride, smiles amongst the sadness and a blatant curiosit that any other time would have unnerved me. But there, as a stranger in their town, I could only feel thankful that they were so welcoming to our presence, instead of shying away from us. That they shared our smiles and we shared theirs.

When we returned to the build, it turned out that our adventure into the town had spread through the site. Apparently a couple of the town kids had run up to one of our volunteers, talking about these two odd people, obviously not Armenian, walking through town, covered in paint, dirty as could be, one of whom had two cameras around her neck.

Yep, that's us.

The Buildings of Gavar

Here are some pictures from the walk that Bob Edgar and I took into Gavar...

The People of Gavar

How do you say, "Fight On, Trojans!" in Armenian?

The Joy of the Spirit

Another reflection on my trip to Armenia ...

Throughout my journey I was struck by the way the Armenian culture is not afraid to outwardly express its joy. At any moment groups will break into song or dance. Old people; young people; big groups and small. It is utterly amazing.

We have been welcomed into villages with presentations from children singing and dancing. Their young voices beautiful and clear.

At another point, the first day of our Habitat build, a group of monks who are helping at the work site began singing in the lunch tent. Here we were, eating our food and these amazing voices rang out through the tent, a song sang traditional only by Armenian men, praising our meal and camaraderie. It was a surreal moment to be surrounded by these beautiful voices.

Finally, there was the moment we were at dinner one night, at a restaurant over-looking the beautiful Lake Sevan. We were sitting next to a large group who were celebrating a birthday. It was wonderful - part way into the meal everyone at their table stood and danced. Then they turned to us and welcomed us to join in. Even more than welcomed - they urged us to join.

So there we were, our two disparate groups dancing to great Armenian music and celebrating together. Though they spoke no English and we spoke no Armenian, we were able to communicate with them through this outward expression of joy. It was a wonderful experience that we shared and one of my favorite moments on the trip.

The Divergent Sides of Armenia

A reflection on Armenia

It's interesting as one drives through Yerevan to see the contrasts. It is a merging of beauty and at the same time disrepair. The appreciation of art can be seen everywhere - intricate stone carvings hang on the side of buildings, large statutes stand every few blocks honoring the history and people of the nation, and the architecture of the most important buildings is gorgeous.

However, very visible among this beauty are half-built buildings and crumbling homes. According to our guide, many of these projects will take decades to complete, if they are indeed every done. Most of these half-built projects harken back to the Soviet days, before Armenia gained freedom - but faced economic hardship. (You can tell the Soviet buildings - they are nondescript concrete block apartments buildings that are already falling apart 40 years later ...)

Nowadays, the problem that many countries such as Armenia face is one of not having the financing to finish projects if funding falls through or the economy goes downwards. Unfortunately, with upwards of 45% unemployment, things are not going to be getting on track any time soon.

One can only imagine what the city might look like one day when the collapsed roofs are repaired and the empty shells of buildings are completed.

Building on Faith: Wedding vows on a build site

Californian couple, each aged 78, ties the knot amid combating poverty housing
GAVAR, Armenia (Sept. 8)
(Text from a Habitat for Humanity press release)

The happy couple

Rena and Jim never thought it would happen.

The 78-year-olds got hitched. On a construction site. In Armenia.

Habitat for Humanity volunteers Rena Davis and James Cradler, both widowed, have been courting for six months. Both lost their spouses in 2000, and both never imagined they’d get back into the marriage game. But the two met via a matchmaker: Jim’s daughter, Karen.

“That was a fateful Sunday,” Jim remembers with a twinkle in his eye. “We’d both had successful marriages, and we’d both adjusted to the lousy ‘single thing’. So when I saw that girl, that white hair, and that smile, I thought: ‘This could be interesting.’”

The Crescent City, California couple joined a Habitat for Humanity Global Village team to Armenia Sept. 5-9, for the “Catholicos Karekin II Work Project”, a blitz build of homes for 24 families in need. The project is part of a new partnership between the Armenian Apostolic Church and Habitat for Humanity aimed to combat poverty housing, signed earlier this year. Armenia, a country of 3 million nestled in the southern Caucasus, suffers a dire poverty housing problem: 45% of the country lives in poverty.

The Armenian adventure struck the couple’s fancy upon seeing an announcement on the “Faithful America” website. The founder of that site, Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the U.S. Council of Churches, a minister, and former U.S. congressman, happens to be a high-profile member of their volunteer construction team in Armenia. The reverend presided over their wedding ceremony, which was witnessed by more than 200 Habitat volunteers, families and supporters over the lunch break on the last construction day of the building week, among tears, cheers, singing monks, and traditional Armenian wedding dances. The bride was dressed in a Habitat for Humanity T-shirt, with an Armenian wedding garland of flowers in her hair. In another traditional Armenian gesture, the bride and groom tasted a spoonful of honey, to symbolize the sweetness of their union.

The couple shares their vows

Bishop Clymer and wife Virginia watch the ceremony

Edgar, who won the award, by a large margin, for ‘corniest jokes on a Habitat build’ cracked his team up – and elicited moans from others – with one-liners including “we are weapons of mass construction!” But Edgar offered to curb the corniness to preside over the wedding ceremony. Habitat staffers scrambled to contact a Methodist minister in the U.S. to fax over a copy of a wedding service. The symbolic marriage certificate, which read “Certificate of Spiritual Union”, Edgar says, is “totally illegal in the eyes of both the U.S., and Armenian governments, but blessed in the eyes of God!”

Dr. Edgar performs the ceremony

While the couple had been talking about marriage for some time, they’d never planned on tying the knot in Armenia. “Earlier this year we traveled to Reno to visit Jim’s brother, and everyone was afraid we’d go and get married there,” Rena says. “We promised we wouldn’t!

“But we never made any promises about Armenia!”

But on the building site, a cupid appeared, and acted as catalyst to speed the process up: Ken Bensen, Habitat for Humanity International Church Coordinator, a minister himself, and a main instigator of the Habitat partnership with the Armenian Apostolic Church. “I said to them: ‘I think you two ought to get married. Right here, on this building site!”

Rings, a cake, and an Armenian flower arrangement for the bride’s hair were quickly arranged by an enthusiastic group of Habitat volunteers, homeowners, priests, and a bishop. A local artist sketched an Armenian design on the wedding certificate.

The monks sing during the ceremony

The kiss!

“I think you’re having more fun than we are!” Rena told a group of paintbrush-wielding wedding planners.

As single Habitat volunteers on a building trip traditionally share hotel rooms to save money – men and women separated – the courting couple had been lodging with other volunteers. But upon the news, Habitat quickly arranged an ad-hoc bridal suite replete with candles and flowers for the couple’s wedding night.

“Some people will do anything to get their own room,” says a dry-humored Jim.

A Habitat staffer measured their ring sizes by tracing on paper the wedding bands they currently wear. “We wear our old wedding rings on purpose, so people know we’re taken. That way, we don’t have to beat them off with a stick,” Jim says.

Rena says she shared 52 wonderful years with her husband, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease. She never considered marrying again – until meeting Jim’s persistent daughter, Karen, at the pool where both swim regularly. Recalls Rena: “Karen suggested, ‘wouldn’t you like to meet my father? The two of you have so much in common.’ ”

Rena knew it was to be a “set up”. “I wasn’t interested,” Rena says. “But she is such a wonderful person, I figured she must have had some kind of good parental guidance.”

So she agreed. Karen invited Rena to coffee with her father on a Sunday morning. They all attended church service afterwards. “That was a fateful Sunday, March 19,” Jim remembers with a twinkle in his eye. “I invited her on a first date. What did I have to lose?”

“He phoned me,” Rena remembers, “and said ‘I’m a little out of practice, but would you like to go see the play ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ with me?”

They loved the Friday night play, went out for coffee afterwards, and talked until midnight. Saturday morning, Jim called again, for a breakfast date. He asked for a Sunday morning date, this time, to church. The repertoire theater performed ‘Fiddler’ for several weeks. The new lovebirds also went to the play’s closing performance.

“I chased her – but she didn’t run very fast!” Jim teases. “Ah-ha, but I can out-swim you any day!” Rena retorts.

“We’re having fun, at this time in our lives,” Rena said. “Isn’t that the best way?”

Contact:
Haykuhi Khachatryan: +374-10-55-61-14; haykuhi@hfharmenia.org
Tricia Deering: +3630-411-7056; tdeering@habitat.org

Sharing the wedding cake

The Catholicos visits the Habitat Build

Tuesdsay, September 5

On Tuesday, the first day that we were at the Habitat build, we were honored to have His Holiness Karekin II join us at the Habitat for Humanity build site. In addition to taking photos while wielding a paint roller, he also joined in a tree planting ceremony.