For young Armenians today, our homeland can be seen in many different ways.

The petroglyphs, or rock engravings, of Ughtasar can be found all over Yerevan; they are inscribed onto silver jewelry, painted onto coffee cups, traced into hand-made pottery, and they adorn the walls of cafes. Reaching the actual petroglyphs of Ughtasar (“ught” meaning camel and “sar” meaning mountain, due to the resemblance of its peaks to the humps of a camel) can be a bit of a challenge, and as with most of Armenia’s noteworthy sites this provides half of the trip’s excitement and intrigue.

A few months ago when I was in Yerevan, a friend and I found ourselves leisurely strolling down Abovyan Street whilst talking about our immediate experiences of the last few weeks.

The Educational Committee of the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) of Western U.S.A., Regional Executive organized a leadership seminar, which was held on February 20, 2010, at the Western Prelacy, “Dikran and Zarouhie Der Ghazarian” Hall, in La Crescenta, CA. This seminar followed two others, which were geared towards administrative tasks conducted by chapter secretaries and treasurers. The upcoming lecture organized by the committee is a public forum entitled “Voices of Armenian Women in the 21st Century,” which will be held on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 6 p.m. at the Glendale Central Library, 222 E. Harvard St., Glendale, CA.

The continued struggle for freedom of the speech in Turkey and those who continue to struggle to have their say were two of the themes addressed at the second annual Opposite of Silence event organized by the United Human Rights Council (UHRC) on January 15. This tribute to human rights activists in Turkey also marked the third anniversary of the assassination of Hrant Dink.

A lot of things are taken for granted. In our daily lives we wake up, go to class, go to work, check our emails, check our Facebook, go out, live our lives, often times taking the smallest things, usually the most important things for granted. Things like our ability to freely express ourselves, the ability to have opinions, to make them, argue about them. The ability to stand up and speak. The ability to hear and be heard.

The Armenian Youth Federation issued an open letter on Tuesday calling on Los Angeles County Supervisor Antonovich to drop a proposed plan to privatize the Glendale Health Center. As a primary care facility which serves over 3,500 patients—most of whom are uninsured seniors and first-generation immigrants—GHC provides critical medical care to those in our community who need it the most, the AYF said.

The ‘Vahan Cardashian’ Chapter of the Armenian Youth Federation in Montebello announced on Thursday that it will begin offering its annual hands on traditional Armenian cooking classes starting February 3. The classes will be open to the public and will take place every first Wednesday of the month, for six months. Volunteers from the community will give cooking lessons on their specialty dishes.

The images of the disaster in Haiti are being broadcast to all corners of the world, and folks of all ages are worried, concerned, and saddened by the events unfolding after last week’s 7.0 earthquake.

On December 29th, 2009, the United Human Rights Council (UHRC) held a special documentary screening exposing the long-ignored terrors that plague the people of Northern Uganda.

The United Human Rights Council (UHRC) will hold a “Moment of Noise” this Friday, January 15, to pay tribute to the activists of Turkey who have been targeted, harassed and even murdered for their efforts to advance Kurdish human rights, Armenian Genocide recognition, and freedom of speech and equality. The event, titled “The Opposite of Silence”, will feature a blend of art, music, video and speeches.

A broad and diverse standing room only crowd of Armenian Americans recently attended a program highlighting an exhibit commissioned by the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) regarding the heroic service of the Armenian Legion in World War I. The program, entitled “Forgotten Heroes – The Armenian Legion and the Great War,” was held at the Pasadena Central Library on Sunday, January 3, 2010. The program was sponsored by ALMA, the Armenian Rights Council of America and the Pasadena Armenian National Committee and supported by the Pasadena Armenian Youth Federation “Nigol Touman” Chapter.

On the weekend of December 18-20, an international conference of the highest bodies of the ARF’s youth and student organizations took place in Yerevan. Representatives from the leadership of 6 of the ARF’s student associations, 17 of its youth organizations, and 17 of its junior groups were in attendance at the conference

In the florescent-lit Merdinian School Auditorium stood the diplomat from Armenia — a seasoned employee of the the Republic of Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He stood face-to-face with a crowd of some 200 inquisitive Diasporans.