NAASR : conference
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR AMENIANS STUDIES AND RESEARCH (NAASR) CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION SERIES ON CONTEMPORARY ARMENIAN ISSUES PRESENTSGRASSROOTS
DEVELOPMENT IN ARMENIA CHALLENGES OPPORTUNITIES AND LESSONS LEARNED
A Talk by
Nick Pittman
U U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer
Concord Avenue, Belmont, MA
Admission free (donations appreciated). Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Contact NAASR at 617 489 1610 or hq@naasr.org for more information.
In this presentation Nick Pittman will discuss his experience working for the last year and a half as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer with a small grassroots NGO in rural Armenia. He will highlight the challenges engaging in such intercultural work (such as linguistic barriers and different conceptions of planning) and how they can be addressed; discuss opportunities for new community projects in Armenia; describe the lessons he has learned in the course of his work; and outline the various grassroots projects Peace Corps volunteers are assisting throughout the country.
Nick Pittman grew up in Cambridge, studied economics at Reed College, and worked for a few years in environmental and economic consulting before going to Armenia with the U.S. Peace Corps in March 2016. He lives in a rural village in Lori marzand works with a small local NGO as a
community and youth development volunteer, helping his coworkers develop and implement projects focused on youth empowerment and assisting the NGO in organizational development. Inhis spare time he drinks coffee and watches Armenian soap operas (or, more accurately, Indiansoap operas dubbed into Armenian) with his host family and hikes in the region.