Bricks and Bonds

Written for AGBU Impact Magazine 2025 by Araks Kasyan. Photography by Davit Hakobyan and Narek Aleksanyan.

No major renovation had ever happened in this school before. Thanks to AGBU, we have modernized classrooms, heating systems, and created a space where children want to learn. Families who once sent their kids elsewhere are now bringing them back.

For the second year in a row, a few summer weeks have transformed the village of Aknaghbyur, a usually quiet settlement of just over 500 residents in Armenia’s Tavush region, into a hub of energy and excitement.

The reason is the AGBU Arménie, Terre de Vie (Armenia Land of Life) program—an initiative where volunteers from around the world travel from across the globe to help renovate schools, organize educational and cultural programs for children, and bring renewed energy to Armenia’s border communities.

Since its launch in 2011, the program has supported numerous communities in Armenia and Artsakh. In 2024, AGBU volunteers took on the important mission of restoring Aknaghbyur’s only school. Last year, they renovated part of the second floor, and this summer they have completed the renovation of the remaining section, ensuring the entire upper floor is now fully modernized.

“When we first saw the school, it was heartbreaking,” recalls Edgar Voskanian, head of construction for the project. “It hadn’t been renovated since it was built in 1971. The walls were in terrible shape, and children were studying in conditions no child should have to endure.”

Voskanian is no stranger to such work. For six years, he has been working alongside volunteer teams, previously renovating schools and kindergartens in Sarigyugh and Dilijan. But Aknaghbyur’s school, he says, left a particularly strong impression: “I was shocked there were still schools in Armenia in such conditions. Now, thanks to these young volunteers, the children can study in their own village again, instead of traveling to Ijevan every day.”

Indeed, the school had lost students in recent years, as parents preferred sending their children to better-equipped facilities outside the village. But as school principal Artak Arzumanyan proudly notes, that trend is reversing: “Some parents had moved their children to Ijevan because our classrooms were in such poor condition. After last year’s renovations, they brought them back. And with this year’s work—renovated labs, library, and classrooms—we expect even more families to return.”

Today, the Aknaghbyur school has 35 students and five kindergarteners, with four graduates this year alone—a promising figure for a small border community. Arzumanyan says the program has changed village life for the better: “When children see that someone cares enough to come from thousands of kilometers away to build something for them, it changes how they see themselves and their future. This program has given our community pride, and that’s priceless.”

Diana, one of the school’s teachers, shares the same sentiment: “I’ve been working here for 11 years. The conditions were so bad you didn’t even want to go up to the second floor. But now everything has changed. Both the children and the teachers enter the classrooms with far greater enthusiasm. A clean, neat, and well-equipped environment changes your whole mood,” says Diana, whose daughter would rush to the schoolyard every day to join in the volunteers’ activities.

Children’s options for extracurricular activities are usually limited in the village. Some parents have to drive long distances to Ijevan so their children can attend clubs and classes. In such conditions, the impact of Arménie, Terre de Vie goes far beyond physical renovations. Volunteers bring life, energy, and hope, organizing dance and art workshops, sports games, and even “foam parties” that children talk about all year long.

It is no coincidence that on the way to Aknaghbyur’s school, we saw a car full of children coming from Sarigyugh, another community that had previously benefited from the program. Before coming to Aknaghbyur, AGBU volunteers restored Sarigyugh’s schools. “We created a real dynamic in Sarigyugh and we don’t want to lose the connection with the children there,” says program leader Simon Landré.

Though Landré has no Armenian roots, he admits that Armenian culture has surrounded him all his life: “My best friend is Armenian, so since I was a teenager I was surrounded by Armenians. My whole world is around Armenia,” says Landré, who years ago was baptized at Armenia’s Geghard Monastery and received the Armenian name Azad, which means “free.”

Landré joined the program back in 2011 as a volunteer, when it was active in the Berdzor region of Artsakh. Even today, program participants maintain ties with Armenians from Artsakh. Since 2021, AGBU volunteers have supported 267 families, 38 in 2025, who currently reside in Tavush after the forced displacement of Armenians from Artsakh perpetrated by the Azeri government.

Landré explains that besides humanitarian support, the program has three other main components: school reconstruction, activities with children, and education on healthcare and hygiene. “Of course, what we do has positive consequences for the villages—it makes them safer and gives children better learning conditions. But in my opinion, that’s just an excuse, because at its core, the program is about building bonds between the Diaspora and local communities. Many of the volunteers didn’t grow up as Armenians. So the goal is also to bring them here, to connect them with Armenian people, to help them rediscover their homeland, and then encourage them to return with friends or family, or even start new projects,” Landré explains, referring to the volunteers from Diaspora communities. For Caroline, who worked on Aknaghbyur’s school restoration, the journey was deeply personal: “My great-grandparents survived the Genocide and rebuilt their lives in Brazil. Coming here felt like coming home for the first time. I don’t speak Armenian yet, but I feel connected—it’s in my blood. I want my whole family to see this country and understand what I felt here. I already told my mom—pack your things because next year we are going to Armenia. I want to show them everything I saw.”

Unlike Caroline, Gavin, who came to Armenia from Canada, has no Armenian roots. But in the warm atmosphere created in the village, national identity quickly faded into the background. It is touching to see how local children, barely ten years old and speaking no English, try to communicate with Gavin and other volunteers, playing football and dancing together. “My best friend is Armenian and told me about this program. I wanted to do something good and experience a new culture. Armenia is beautiful, and the people are incredibly welcoming. AGBU has taken great care of us, and I feel like I’ve grown so much from this experience,” says Gavin, who also admits he has become a fan of Armenian cuisine.

Ashkhen, who first met AGBU volunteers years ago in Sarigyugh, serves as their cook. After working with AGBU volunteers there for several years, in 2024 she was invited to prepare meals in Aknaghbyur as well, which she gladly accepted. Over time, she says, the volunteers became more than just guests: “The kids adore them. They form bonds, they learn dances, they play sports. And the volunteers become part of our families. I’ve hosted some in my home—they came as strangers but left as family.”

Aknaghbyur’s mayor, Karen Dolmazyan, emphasizes that the school’s restoration was a historic event but notes that the program has brought more than just physical improvements: “No major renovation had ever happened in this school before. Thanks to AGBU, we have modernized classrooms, heating systems, and created a space where children want to learn. Families who once sent their kids elsewhere are now bringing them back. Education is the heart of any community, and this project has given ours a future.”

The volunteers’ presence has also given the village a festive spirit: “It feels like a holiday week. People come out, talk, and watch the work. The children are excited every day,” Dolmazyan says with a smile, as he visits the construction site several times a day to check on both the work and the activities led by the volunteers.

As the volunteers pack up their tools at the end of another long day, village children gather for one last football match with their new friends. The walls may be freshly painted, but the true building—the one of friendships, identity, and hope—is invisible yet enduring.

In Aknaghbyur, thanks to AGBU, a brighter future is not just imagined—it is being built, one brick and one bond at a time.