Welcome to the second episode of an exciting project, in which I, Christopher Crowson, a participant of the Birthright Armenia program, am conducting interviews with the Birthright Armenia alumni who are currently based in Gyumri. In these interviews, I hope to get our listeners acquainted with the Gyumri alumni, see what they are doing after their Birthright Armenia volunteer service and hear what kind of insights they have into ‘real life’ in Armenia.
In today’s episode we are joined by the amazing Anaheed Sarian! Coming all the way from Sydney, Australia, Anaheed has made the brave and inspiring decision to make Gyumri, Armenia her new home. In early 2021, following the turbulent times triggered by the global pandemic and the terrible loss of Artsakh, Anaheed felt the time was right to come to Gyumri as a Birthright Armenia volunteer. She has remained in the cultural capital of Armenia ever since and has been engaged in an extremely innovative line of work, having developed a successful sustainable fashion brand which you can find here.
In this particularly heart-warming episode, Anaheed recounts the touching story of why she decided to repatriate in the regions of her homeland, how she hopes to contribute to the resurgence of the textile industry in Gyumri, which practically disappeared with the dissolution the Soviet Union and gives future and current volunteers encouraging advice regarding remaining in Armenia after volunteering. Anaheed, you are an inspiration, we cannot thank you enough for coming to speak to us!