One Work Day

I’ve had several friends ask about my work, which is a difficult subject to address because there have been so many downs and few ups regarding it. So I’ll relay what happened yesterday.

I went to a meeting composed of a delegation from Georgia representing CARE International in the Caucasus, CARD (Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development funded by USAID) from Armenia and several NGO (non-profit non-governmental organization) representatives. There were approximately thirty participants. The meeting was in Russian because it was the common language between the Georgians and the Armenians. A few people translated for me. The purpose of the meeting was “increased cross-border cooperation for sustainable rural development.” CARE is considering re-entering Armenia to facilitate rural development projects.

After lunch we went to visit a milk collection and cooling point which is part of a farmers union. The farmer in charge had been told that we were coming. When we arrived, the farmer and a few buddies had to push a welded-together vehicle, which they had been repairing, out of the small building so that we could see the cooling tank. The project had been funded by CARD. The inside of the building was filthy with dirt, a lot of engine grease, and a water hose (used to clean the tank?) lying in the grease. The cooling tank at the end of the building was empty because they had not been able to collect the milk yet that day. It also did not appear clean. I have toured the Carnation Dairy plant and the Alpenrose plant in Portland and remember pristine conditions and gleaming tanks.

I asked a ton of questions and received a lot of answers that I question. The milk is collected by the broken-down vehicle from eight points in the area. Two to three hundred cows are milked by farmers who then deliver this milk to one of the eight collection points twice a day. The milk is collected in these large white plastic containers (about 3 ½ feet tall by 2 ½ feet) and then is picked up by the collection vehicle and brought to the cooling point. Three times a week the milk is picked up from the cooling point by a major milk processor from Yerevan. The cooling point is paid twice a month by the milk processor and then the profits are distributed to the farmers. I was reeling as I thought about the inefficiency of the operation, the lack of quality control, the dirtiness of the operation, and all the food safety issues. The operation made no sense to me from a sustainability issue or as a step into the 20th Century for these farmers.

Which brings me back to lunch: Several weeks ago there was a television report regarding a wedding party at a restaurant in Gyumri where thirty participants went to the hospital for severe food poisoning and another ten were sent to Yerevan for especially severe problems. The news said that the problems arose from the salads. Our lunch was at a restaurant and there were two salads that did not look fresh, both with chicken and mayonnaise. So I could not eat them. Food safety is a huge issue in Armenia in my mind. The meat conditions at the local market are appalling and any American would be horrified at the way that bread is handled. (Never wrapped and pawed over by the producers, deliverers, food store clerks, and families. I’ve seen it dropped in the stores and put back on the shelves. But I’m alive. What else can be said?)

After this visit, we went to a manufacturing facility which is an NGO funded by several Americans (about 100 individuals and groups were listed) in 1989. This plant makes furniture, doors, windows, concrete building blocks, and pavers. I have visited and worked in dozens of similar manufacturing operations in the US. The building blocks were nearly identical to the ones I’ve handled in Mexico when volunteering with Esperanza in housing projects, except that they were available in colors (red, yellow, white, and the normal grey concrete color.) The furniture manufacturing area produced low-end desks, cabinets, doors, and chairs. There was a cloud of wood dust with no suction equipment to get rid of it and the workers were not wearing masks. There appeared to be no safety mechanisms on the cutting equipment, and lacquer was applied manually. There was no lacquer booth or spray equipment and no ventilation system was visible. Outside there was a huge wood drying kiln manufactured by a Portland, OR company. I was surprised by the humidity in the kiln.

In the block manufacturing building there was a large mixing machine where the sand, gravel, iron oxide (yellow) and concrete were conveyed up large belts to the opening and then to a machine composed of molds, cutters, and drying racks.

I had several impressions. The facilities were severely under-utilized, something that no company could afford in the US. It appeared that the equipment had not been updated since the initial installation. There was no new equipment. I saw no sign of re-investment. When I asked how the company marketed its products, since I visit lots of stores in Gyumri and had never seen them, I was told that they show in trade fairs. They do not advertise on television or have effective printed materials. I know from my past life that trade shows for building products are a very ineffective means of promotion. The big surprise was that the company is ISO9001 certified by a body I did not recognize. I am not sure that these kinds of projects, funded by generous American donors, are helping Armenia in any effective way. I see waste, poor management, poor promotion, and a business culture that is not helping the country. Where is the incentive for these companies that are funded by donations to improve?

My NGO organization would like to be involved in CARE’s entry into Armenia to promote local development. I’m not sure what my role will be. There are so many needs in this country and most projects funded by the US Government or individuals do not appear to be successes if we measure success by measuring sustainability and improvements to the country. Many projects revisited five years after implementation are failures.

Turkey Itinerary

I'm posting this itinerary in the hope that all my friends and family will consider a trip to Turkey. The "perfect" trip would include a third week gulet cruise (Blue Voyage) from Marmaris east on the southwest coast of Turkey.

Barbara Harrington
Staci 
Rebecca 

Turkey Itinerary

3/13, Saturday. Take bus from Gyumri to Istanbul (36 hours).
Leave from Gyumri center at noon
Cost: $70 one-way per person
3/14, Sunday. Arrive Istanbul around 8 pm.
Stay at Eurasia Hostel five nights. Cost: $19 per person per night including very good breakfast, excellent location. Recommended
In Private Triple Ensuite (with bathroom)(Tel: 90 212 518 13 06)
3/15 – 3/18, Monday – Thursday. Sightsee in Istanbul. Drink apple tea!
3/19, Friday. Fly to Izmir at 7:55 am (One hour) Cost : $297 for three. Note: This flight was $316 per person on Expedia. Buy all in-country air tickets in Turkey. Bus to Selcuk (1 ¼ hours) Consider renting a car for a week in Izmer. This is an easy country to drive in.
Stay at Hotel Bella for two nights Cost: $72 per night for three with excellent breakfast. HIGHLY recommended. (Tel: 90 232 892 39 44)
Visit Ephesus
3/20, Saturday. See Ephesus Museum, Isabey Mosque, St John’s Basilica, Temple of Artemis, House of Virgin Mary.
3/21, Sunday. Travel to Pamukkale (3 hours). Aydin bus = $16 at 9:15 am. See travertine’s, Hieropolis, hike around hot mineral springs. Overnight in Pamukkale at Venus Hotel, $49 for three with breakfast, recommended.
3/22, Monday. Travel to Konya (7 hours) by public bus, $19 per person. Visit Whirling Dervishes Museum
Stay at Ulusan Hotel (Tel: 0532 488 23 33) Cost: $49 for three, recommended
3/23, Tuesday. Travel to Cappadoccia (3 hours) 11 am bus, $16 per person
Eat at the Orient Restaurant and walk around Goreme.
Overnight in Goreme for two nights at Anatoliacave Pension. Cost: $40.80 per night for three persons. (90 384 271 22 21) Highly recommended.
3/24, Wednesday. Take all day “Green” tour of Cappadocia which includes underground city of Derinkuyu, hike in Ilharra Valley, and lunch for $33.
3/25, Thursday. Visit open-air museum of Goreme. After lunch hike in Love Valley from Goreme to Uchisar.
Travel to Kayseri (1 hour) by bus to catch 0:23 overnight train departure for Kars. Sleep on train.
3/26, Friday. Arrive in Kars at 19:31 Stay overnight in Kars.
3/27, Saturday. Kars to Gyumri
Catch bus from Kars to Posof (Georgia border crossing) (4 hours) Then short taxi ride to actual border crossing. A taxi will meet us at the border crossing and take us from the Posof crossing to Gyumri. Cost: $150. Taxi Driver: Nodar Mercede 99599703557
CALL DUTY OFFICER: 091 40 96 41 to let Peace Corps know you’re home safe!

Turkey Travels

When I was nineteen I traveled to Istanbul by overnight train from Salonika, Greece with several college friends. I remember the train ride as being creepy, the city in dark tones, a few amazing buildings, and the Grand Bazaar as being loud, confusing, and filled with hawkish leather merchants. So with not great expectations, more than forty years later, I went again. I LOVE Istanbul.

Immediate impressions were that it is spotlessly clean, friendly, easy to navigate, wonderful public transportation, inexpensive, colorful, lively, and very Western. And the food is delicious. People were wonderfully helpful and interesting. The tourist area was full of tourist buses with people from China, Korea, Japan, Spain, Italy, and the US. It appeared that few people, other than wonderfully adventurous students, traveled on their own to Turkey. But Turkey is a very easy country to navigate on your own.

I had just read a revealing book by Nobel Prize Winner Orhan Pamuk on Istanbul. He talks about the cloak of melancholy that all Istanbullus wear, the feeling that their once great city, the center of civilization, peaked in 1453 with the Fall of Constantinople, and that they can never achieve those heights again. The Byzantines disappeared and the Ottomans never achieved as much. I asked several people if they had read the book, and how they felt. All agreed with Pamuk. You can feel this tension in the city. This mix of Christian and Muslim. Five times a day loudly recorded prayers are broadcast from the city’s mosques reminding Muslims to pray. While 98 % of Turks identify themselves as Muslims, I suspect, after reading Pamuk’s book, and observing the Turks that the number practicing their faith is far smaller. At the same time the Turks are quietly respectful of the importance of the country’s Christian heritage and the amazing buildings and art resulting from this connection. (I was surprised at the number of Turks who asked us if we visited Meryemana, Mary the Mother of Jesus’ home until her assumption into heaven and a popular pilgrimage site. I had no idea it was near Ephesus.)

There are fifteen million residents in Istanbul. It is an immense city situated on hills facing the Bosphorus Strait which we cruised by public ferry, a highlight of our trip. We had Rick Steves’ Istanbul guidebook, saw all the required sites, wandered the streets, enjoyed the delicious food, and soaked in the atmosphere. Highlights were Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar, the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent, the Underground Cistern, the Chora Church Museum, the Spice Market, a Turkish bath, and a non-fat no-foam latte from Starbuck’s. (Actually Gloria Jean’s, from Australia, is better!) There are more than a week’s worth of sites and experiences to enjoy in Istanbul at a very reasonable cost. (See my “Itinerary” post.)
(Olives in Spice Market)

From Istanbul we flew to Izmir and bused to Selcuk to see the Ancient Greek ruins of Ephesus, which felt very humbling. We had fabulous weather.
(Ephesus public toilets)
(Ephesus Library of Celsus))

(Rebecca in Roman Theater)

(Storks nesting outside our hotel room)

Two days later we took a public bus to Pamukkale to see the bizarre geological formations of cascading hot mineral springs. Then we traveled to Konya, the center of Sufism and the home of the Whirling Dervishes founded by the poet Mevlana Rumi in the 13th Century, to visit the Mevlana Monastery. This city has more mosques per capita than any other city in Turkey. We noticed that with the exception of one other woman, we were the only women not wearing headscarves or burkas.
(Pamukkale)

From Konya we took the bus to Cappadocia a surrealistic landscape of weird geological formations caused by wind and water erosion of volcanic material. We spent three days visiting underground cities, monasteries, and hiking. Cappadocia is one of the most amazing places I’ve ever seen.
(Cappadocia view)

(Staci in Valley of Love.  Can you see why it is called this?)

From Cappadocia we headed back to Armenia by overnight train to Kars, a journey of 19 hours. A new experience was trying to use a Turkish toilet (squat) on a rocking bumping train.

I had so many “aha” moments on this trip. Remember Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians or the biblical mentions of the Cappadocians? It just felt so strange and humbling to be walking in these ancient areas and reflecting on all the changes that have occurred, and wondering if we’ve really improved the world. You can’t help but feel that the answer is in many ways yes, and in many ways no.

Armenia-Turkey Border Crossing

I just returned from an incredible two-week trip to Turkey.  Two other volunteers and I saw the major tourist sites and much of the country from the perspective of volunteers who had not been out of Armenia in ten months at least.

Making the arrangements to travel was a very difficult process.  Besides needing to let the Peace Corps know where we were going to be at every minute, when often we did not know, we had the issue of crossing the border to Turkey.  I can see Turkey to the west from where I live in Gyumri, a few kilometers away.  But because the border is closed we had to take about an eight-hour detour east and north to Georgia through the capital of Tbilisi, then west to the Black Sea which we followed most of the way to Istanbul.  The bus ride was 36 hours.  We wanted to bus to Istanbul and take the train back to eastern Turkey, but were originally told that we had to buy a round trip bus ticket and carry $1,000 because the Turkish government had recently put in this rule since they have a serious problem with Armenians going to Turkey and remaining illegally as they look for jobs.  (I’ve also been told that the issue is with the Armenian government, which is concerned about the outward emigration from Armenia.)  The bus company did not know how to handle American travelers so we had to search for a company that would sell us a one-way ticket.

There is a lot of talk about opening the border between Turkey and Armenia, and in fact it appeared that this might be happening several months ago.  But “opening” the border involves more than just opening gates.  The current roads to and through the border into Georgia are unbelievably awful.  Leaving Armenia and entering Georgia is an arduous task at two different gates.  The roads leading up to and away from the border are often gravel, dirt, or so severely pot-holed that travel commences at less than twenty miles an hour.  And the roads are so twisty and winding through river canyons or on the tops of snow-covered mountainous fields that you feel even God has abandoned these places.  The point is that very little attention or money has been devoted to these crossings.  The experience is tortuous.

From Kars, Turkey, the nearest town to Gyumri (89 kilometers if the border were opened), we had to travel north to Georgia over an often-graveled road that climbed a hill topped out by snow at 8,400 feet.  I hesitate to call it a mountain because it looked more like a huge wind-swept snow-covered hill than a sharp rocky mountain mass.  At the Turkish-Georgia border (Turkgozu crossing), the rifle-armed Turkish guards stamped our passports and then the Georgia guards checked our passports and our luggage.  The crossing buildings consisted of four small trailers, a large storage shed, and an outhouse.  But both border agents were hooked up to computers, scanned our passports, and took our pictures.  Then three hours later, after traveling on a very difficult road in a valley alongside a river (and seeing several castles or maybe monasteries), we arrived at the Georgia-Armenia border (Bavra crossing) where we went through the same process again, though this time there was snow and ice on the ground, a very strong wind, and it was about 35 degrees.  (You always have to get out of the car/bus at these crossings.)  So it took us from 9 am to 4:30 pm or 7.5 hours to cross the border.

The border crossing from Armenia to Turkey near Gyumri, which is also the most direct route to Ankara and Istanbul from Armenia, has not been used in more than twenty years.  People here say that the roads and bridges are not passable.  I’ve seen a picture of the little two-lane bridge at the nearby crossing here (about five kilometers away) and it is inconceivable to me that it could handle a semi, and certainly not two semis side by side.  So even if the two countries could come to an agreement that they could abide by, it would still be at least a year or longer before the infrastructure would be set up to allow the opening to happen, and that is assuming that each side improves their roads, bridges, and customs/emigration stations.  I think that we are talking about years, as Armenia has no money for infrastructure. 

We were stunned by the differences between Armenia and Turkey.  The most notable was how clean and well-maintained Turkey was.  In Armenia people dump their trash (and cars) in any vacant spot; in rivers, streams, fields, streets, etc.  The people do not see “trash” as their responsibility.  They also do not maintain the outside of their homes generally.  Those who own their own apartments feel free to do anything to make their apartment their own without regard to their neighbors.  The result is some of the ugliest apartment buildings imaginable.  Turkey felt spotlessly clean, and beautiful.  Apartments and houses were well maintained and landscaped.  And they were painted in wonderful Mediterranean colors.  There were lots of parks and nice public spaces.  And there is a lot of landscaping alongside roads.  It is obvious that there is a major effort to plant trees.

Another huge difference was signage.  It is easy to find your way around Turkey.  Roads, cities, towns, streets, and businesses were identified attractively and well.  (Better than in the US.)  It helps that in 1928 Turkey replaced the Arabic script by adopting the Latin alphabet (though they don’t use the q, x, and w).  Some of the letters are pronounced a little differently and they have a few enhancements but if you can’t say it, you can write it, and they will understand where you want to go.  In Armenia it would be fair to say that signage does not exist.  To make matters worse many streets have both Armenian and Russian names and some people don’t know both.  When I first arrived and was distressed about the lack of signs I was told that “everyone” knows the name of this or that street.  I quickly learned that I was not “everyone.”

Turkish people generally have very good teeth.  We did not see either missing teeth or gold teeth, which are prevalent in Armenia.  In Armenia about 30% of small food stores are devoted to candy and cookies, something that we did not see in Turkey. 

It is very clear that Turkey has a one foot planted loosely in Eastern culture and one foot planted firmly in Western culture.  Many times I was surprised as I watched a group of young people in Istanbul and thought to myself that they looked as if they were from Southern California.  Armenia’s closest ties are to Russian culture and the difference is startling as it effects dress, manners, and their view of the world. 

My host mother’s father was from Kars, Turkey and several times she has talked about the pain of her family’s forced march from Kars.  And about how bad the Turkish government has treated the Armenians.  So when I walked in the door from my trip I had a difficult time talking about it.  I did tell them that I enjoyed it a lot.  I have not told them how nice the people were and how clean the country was.

Very few people in Armenia travel.   Armenia is about the size of Maryland with 3 million people.  Turkey is about the size of Texas with 70 million people.  Free trade with Turkey and exposure to their Western outlook (as opposed to the Russian influence) can only work to Armenia’s advantage.  I would sure like to see the border opened.  Wording regarding the genocide issue seems to be the current  political holdup.

Peace Corps Week

This past week was Peace Corps Week internationally. With that in mind my community of volunteers planned educational projects at four locations around Gyumri. The first was at an orphanage close to my house, which has about 80 residents from the ages of 4 – 18. I find the place incredibly stressful because of the aggressive behavior of some of the residents and the chaotic feel of it. But we have one volunteer who spends a lot of time there helping kids with their English lessons, and playing games, who as a result has really connected with the kids. As we were getting ready to leave one of the boys, about 16, came into the room we were in with a beer and a smoking a cigarette. In the few hours that we were there we never saw an adult who appeared to be in charge. Fortunately not too many kids showed up for our activities, because the ones who were there were a handful. A constant topic of discussion among us is the cheating that goes on at schools, and even in simple games there was an incredible amount of cheating (as there is in society in general in the way students pay for grades, people “pay” for jobs, police are paid off, etc.) So the struggle was to prevent students from “peeking” under their blindfolds, or preventing other students from “helping.”

(Elizabeth with a student. Typical ceiling fixture, even in my home.)

The second location was an afterschool program for at-risk low-income children, which includes counseling for the children and single parents, a hot meal (often the only one all day), English classes (which the moms are especially exited about because they cannot afford tutors), and job training for the moms. The Catholic Church donated the location, an ex-seminary. The facility is wonderful as is the staff. The program is funded by Caritas of Germany. These children were delightful. 

(Finished masks.

Amanda with decomposition group. 
Judy with students making masks. )

The third location was a school in a small town where a Peace Corps volunteer teaches environmental education classes. The school itself is in miserable condition. There is a terrible stench of urine as you walk in the door. There is no running water in the bathrooms. It is in desperate need of repair. The children and staff were great. We were invited to a children’s performance of spring speeches, songs and dances. It was unbelievably long for kids who were about eight to ten years. They had memorized material that must have taken months. But then the education system here is based on rote learning. After the performance we started our activities.



(Showing off masks.)

(Students on stage for music performance.)

The activities consisted of “Pin the Toothbrush on the Mouth”, making facemasks, which represented endangered species, a food pyramid chart where you tried to guess the healthy foods and their importance, and an activity about waste decomposition. We had a few planning meeting where we eliminated some ideas as being too difficult or too time consuming. We talked about hygiene but felt hampered by the fact that many kids do not have running water in their homes, many use outhouses, and most never see a dentist. So we had to be culturally sensitive to these conditions, which makes it difficult to talk about washing your hands before meals and after using the toilet, and brushing your teeth. Mentioning bathing at all was not possible. (Body odor is a huge problem in Armenia.)

Most of the kids cheated playing the pinning game by looking under the mask. When we “pushed “ their heads down a friend inevitably shouted out directions. The kids had no concept of a food pyramid, so that required a lot of explanation, in Armenian. (Sugar is a major health problem here. Candy and sweets take up 35% of every food store. Diabetes and heart disease are rampant. Tooth decay is prevalent, even in the youngest kids.) Recycling and waste management are nearly unheard of. There has just been a push by a US company here to start recycling so that is a difficult concept for kids to grasp. And in the endangered species activity, most kids at a table copied another child so there was very little originality. There are several endangered animals and fish here as a result of deforestation, water management errors, and pollution. One of the volunteers had his mom send over toothbrushes and toothpaste, so those were the prizes for all participants.

We have one more location to visit, in a rural village. I certainly learned a lot. If we could just tackle one of these issues and make a difference, there would be a major benefit to the country.