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8th Inter-Homenetmen Jamboree in Byuragan, Armenia
In July 2006, Scouts from Homenetmen went from being just “Homenetmen Scouts” to being the Iraqi contingent for the 8th Inter-Homenetmen Jamboree in Byuragan Armenia.
Linked below are a few of our photos from the recent jamboree. To obtain a full-sized copy of these photos, or to request a CD of our other photos, please send an email to iraqihayer@yahoo.com with your request.
Baghdad 23 July 2006
We were in Homenetmen club in Baghdad, where we farewell our parents and friends. we started preparing for departing Baghdad to Yerevan. In the morning the buses which we traveled by, were ready in the club, So it was the time to head back to the way to Tehran the capital of Iran.
Iran 25 July 2006
The trip to Tehran lasted for 28 hours but as a matter of fact we didn't get bored because the views were amazing. We arrived Ararat marzaran in the morning where we got very good treatment by their Scout and by the Ararat Club administration and soon every thing was ready for our accommodation. We are much appreciated to those fellows for their good reception.
Tehran 27 July 2006
In the morning after having breakfast we had visited the Armenian Cathedral and we had met the archbishop(Srpazan Hayr) and his Majesty had gave each one of us the Holy Bible. After that we had visited the Alek Press office (The Armenian newspaper which is issued in Tehran) we had been introduced to the workers and their daily work in the office.
Tehran 28 July 2006
In the morning we were dressed our officialdom clothes and participate Ararat scout ceremonies, so we had a day with these nice people, after the lunch we began packing up our bags and prepared to leave Tehran and to continue our way to Yerevan our dream city.
Tehran 29 July 2006
In the morning we left Tehran with our friends (Ararat scouts) and we continued our way to Armenia.
Yerevan 30 July 2006
we were in Yerevan in the afternoon. first we met our Iraqi friends who lived in Yerevan and we had our lunch together.After that the buses were ready to pick us to Campsite in Byuragan(were we stayed there for 10 days) After taking some rest we started preparing the tents then we met the other scouts who came from different parts of the world.
Camp_The first day_Monday 31 July 2006
This was the first day of our camping which is hold on every four years. Our team started their special work (making this special panagooms logo) which surprised the whole and for the nice work they had put this logo in the gate of the camp, we had celebrate and took some photos.
Camp – Visit to Garni & Geghart – Tuesday 1 August 2006
Today was our first excursion from the camp. The campsite was divided into 16 buses, with Iraq being with Armenia. We had a long drive to Garni, but didn’t feel it as we spent the whole time singing & dancing, learning scout songs from around the world. The entire campsite visited the Garni Temple – a temple from our Pagan days that has been restored. We took a group photo outside it and visited the stalls outside that were selling Lavashak and home-made jams. We had brought a number of small toys with us, and we distributed them to the children in the village. From here we got back into our buses and headed to the Geghart Monastry. This Church has been built into the side of the cliff – half of the church walls are from the actual mountain, and the other half are bricks. Legend has it that the “Geghart” (the spear that pierced Christ) was kept here for safe-keeping during the centuries. We had a picnic lunch by the creek, then moved into the church to light candles and say prayers.
Campfire was run by London and Greece, who showcased scouting songs from their country. Greece also performed an authentic version of the Zorba, which was nice to watch.
Camp – Visit to Yeraplur and Tsisternagaberd – Wednesday 2 August 2006
We spent the morning in the campsite, catching up on our washing, and meeting people. After lunch, we got dressed into our scout uniforms for a visit to Yeraplur and Tsisternagaberd. Yeraplur is a war memorial and contains a war cemetery for our war heros – Not only the famous ones like Zoravar Antranig, but also the young heros from the war over Nagorno Kharabagh. It was a very solemn occasion while we read their tombstones – many of those who had died were 19 or 20 years old – younger than a lot of people at the camp. From here we visited Tsisternagaberd – the memorial for the Armenian Genocide. As we marched there, reading the names of the cities that had been destroyed, everyone was lost in their own thoughts. We renewed our scout promise and took our group photos beside the everlasting flame.
Camp – Visit to Lake Sevan – Thursday 3 August 2006
Everyone would agree that today was the most fun we had during the camp. All 650 scouts went to a beach at Lake Sevan. This area of the beach was closed off to all outsiders – imagine 650 scouts singing, dancing and swimming at the beach. We ate Ishkhad Tsoog – the famous Lake Sevan fish, which tasted beautiful and danced for many hours.
As we returned late to the campsite we were unable to have a campfire this night.
Camp – Gyumri and Community Service – Friday 4 August 2006
Today was a day dedicated to community service. We drove to Gyumri through Spitak (the city devastated by the 1988 earthquake) and saw the reconstruction effort that had taken place. People were no longer living in shipping containers, and the city was filled with modern buildings.
Once at Gyumri, we were directed to the Monastery of Marmashen. The original church hadbeen built in approximately 986 and had been restored over the years. Our job was to clean the rubbish that had been dumped at the site over the years. Once we had finished, we had a well deserved watermelon. We then spent some time exploring the site, including walking through the old cemetery with ancient tombstones. It was so close to the Turkish border that our telephones roamed to Turkcell! We returned to the campsite and after dinner had a singer entertain the scouts.
Camp – Yerevan – Saturday 5 August 2006
The whole campsite descended onto Yerevan today. We split up so that every group could follow their own interests. We also saw our Iraqi friends who live in Yerevan now, sometimes we were very happy to see our Iraqi friends in the most places where we go, and sometimes suddenly we become sad because of the war which took place in Iraq and destroyed everything even our relationships with our friends and day by day we lost another friend because of the bad situation in the country.
Tonight was our turn to run the campfire – together with Kuwait, Jordan, France, Lebanon and Australia. It was a varied program which included plays about Telirian’s trial, life in post-war Iraq and scenes from a Jordanian Wedding. There was also the usual scout songs and skits that keep us all entertained.
Camp – Echmiatsin & March in Yerevan – Sunday 6 August 2006
We started off the day by visiting Echmiatsin & the “Veharan” (where the Catholicos of All Armenians lives). Although the Catholicos was not present we met with Archbishop Avedikian, who provided his blessing and received gifts from the scouts.
After lunch we travelled to the Opera Square to begin our march to Republic Square. It was exciting to march through the city, with the crowds cheering us on. From Republic Square we marched onto Shahoomian Square and boarded our buses to return to the campsite.
Camp – Khor Virap - Monday 7 August 2006
While the scouts had free time this morning, the leaders were taken to another campsite down the road for a meeting with Homenetmen Central Committee. Each leader gave an update on the status of scouting in their own country, followed by their views on where scouting was headed.
After lunch we headed off to Khor Virap, the place where St Gregory the Illuminator was kept prior to Armenia’s conversion to Christianity. Although we were not allowed to enter the actual “Virap”, we said our prayers and took photos at the base of Ararat.
Campfire that night was by Armenia and USA.
Camp – Visit to Sardarabad – Tuesday 8 August 2006
The day started with a trivia competition between each country. There were a few problems as arguments reined about how many countries in the United Nations, and the number of eyes that a bee had, however it did give each country a chance to prove their scouting knowledge.
The leaders from each country then exchanged gifts, providing valuable mementos from each country. This was the catalyst for the big exchange of gifts between all the scouts – it was like a giant bazaar with t-shirts, scarves, badges and hats being swapped all over the place.
After lunch we gathered onto the buses again, heading off to Sardarabad. We marched to the memorial and then gathered for a concert to be performed by the scouts from each country. Although at times it was hard to see the performers, we all had a great time listening to the singing and music from each country. We also had the chance to taste authentic Lavosh and Yoghurt.
Camp – Closing Ceremony – 9 August 2006
Today was a sad day for all of us – the camp was coming to an end and we would have to say goodbye to many of our friends today. We gave out more gifts and walked around the campsite saying our goodbyes. Campfire was similarly sad, especially when we ended with the “goodbye song”.
Camp / Yerevan – 10 August 2006
We woke up early, packing up our campsite to go to Yerevan. every one was tired ,after two hours we reached Yerevan. our friends invited us to stay few days with them in their homes. After staying five days with our lovely friends it was the time to say goodbye to them and leave our beloved country to return back to Baghdad.
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