Hiking

Another event of the summer included a hike through the forest. The youth had three goals for this event. First, they wanted to study the nature.  Second, they wanted to have fun. Third, they wanted to clean the parts of the forest that they’d pass through. To fulfill goal one, they invited their biology teacher, Mrs. Bagramyan, and asked that she accompany us during the hike.  To fulfill goal two, they took food with themselves for a fun picnic.  Lastly, to fulfill goal three, they took empty bags so that they could collect all the garbage.  Mrs. Bagramyan accepted the invitation and volunteered to come with us. Mr. Sarukhanyan, the painting and sculpture teacher, and Mr. Asryan, the physical education teacher, also accompanied us to the hike. Harut Gevorgyan and Narek Vahanyan were the two subcommittee members responsible for organizing this event. They were responsible for making announcements about the hiking day as well as approaching Mrs. Bagramian to request that she accompany us.   


The hiking started near the school and ended in a neighboring village called Shahmasur. When we arrived as the suggested picnic site, the youth assessed the place only to determine that it was not a proper place for food consumption since it was dirty.  The youth started complaining about how dirty the place was and suggested they would not like to eat their food in that location. This presented an ideal situation for me, as I had been asking them to please clean after themselves since the beginning of the Initiative. I took this opportunity to talk to the youth again about taking care of the environment that surrounds us. I pointed out that if they didn’t clean after themselves, other people would have to.  I suggested that nobody liked to live in a poorly maintained site and everyone needed to do their part in the upkeep and cleanliness of themselves.  We ended up finding a great location atop a mountain for our picnic.  After lunch, we headed back to Tsmakahogh.