CYMA – Canadian Youth Mission to Armenia

CYMA - Canadian Youth Mission to Armenia - is a volunteer run humanitarian and student exchange program in support of the Republic of Armenia created by Archbishop Hovnan Derderian and Ronald Alepian.

CYMA, the Canadian Youth Mission to Armenia, is a Canadian, volunteer led humanitarian and exchange program focused on redevelopment, community projects, humanitarian aid distribution and student exchange. CYMA was founded in late 1992 through a collaboration between Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, then primate of the Canadian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and university student Ronald Alepian.

1993

The first CYMA "mission" took place in the summer of 1993 when 24 young Canadians spent a month in the Ararat region of the newly independent Republic of Armenia. The mission had three main projects:

The construction of a primary school. A 5,000 sq ft (460 m²). building left uncompleted after the fall of the Soviet Union was renovated and furnished in under 4 weeks by the volunteers and opened in late August 1993. It continues to operate today. Distribution of aid to border villages affected by the War in Karabakh and to children and orphan members of the CFFA - Children's Fund for Armenia. Visitations, aid and humanitarian relief to poor families in the Ararat Region.

1994

The summer of 1994 saw fifty participants from several cities across Canada, as well as individuals from Europe and the United States. These volunteers chose to take part in the renovation of a school and a monastery, establish a day camp for the young victims of the Nagorno-Kharabagh war, present a Christian outreach program, conduct home visitations and collect statistical data and anecdotal evidence regarding the forced Armenian exodus from Azerbaijan. Most importantly they chose to share and connect with the locals to raise spirits and give them hope to endure those difficult times and look forward to a brighter future.

1995

In a meeting with local school board officials, CYMA leaders identified Afshar High School for Honor Students as the main project. Local officials began renovating the building in the hopes of creating a school for higher learning to prepare bright and promising students in the region for university education. In September 1996, the school opened and the villages in the Ararat Region began to train their youth for the future. The alumni of the "Nor Tbrotz" school of Istanbul, Turkey donated a substantial amount of money for the realization of this project. The year also witnessed the start of the new Christian Outreach Program and Education, see below.

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