In pursuit of creating awareness about AVC in Armenian communities, AVC Founder Dr. Yervant Zorian visited Geneva, Switzerland, at the end of March to meet members of the Armenian Community as well as active organization leaders.

Mr. Vahe Gabrache, AGBU Central Board member and a prominent Armenian from Geneva, welcomed Dr. Zorian in the community and guided him through the entities of the community. The series of meetings Dr. Zorian had at the Armenian Center of Geneva set the beginning of new collaborations.

Dr. Zorian first had a meeting with the students of the Topalian Wednesday School of the Armenian Center of Geneva. The students were informed about various learning opportunities available via AVC—both for schools/groups and individual learners. During this visit, Dr. Zorian met Annie Mesrobian and NevrikAzadian from the TopalianArmenian School and discussed the possibilities of introducing the AVC hybrid program into the school curriculum; it is plannedthat the hybrid program would startin September 2017 for the two high-level classes of the school.

Dr. Zorian also paid a visit to the St. Gregory the Illuminator Library,also located in the Armenian Community Center at the Armenian Church. The library—with its extensive collection of ancient and new books—has a special place in the preservation of Armenian cultural heritage, and its curator NevrikAzadian was truly motivated to help AVC in its activities of preserving the Armenian language and culture.

Another fruitful tie was created with the chair of the AGBU YP group in Geneva,Rubina Yacoubian. As a young leader, she was very enthusiastic about AVC activities and was inspired to act as an AVC liaison in Geneva to introduce its activities at major events in the city with the help of the AGBU YP team members.

The visit to Geneva was concluded with a productive meeting with the head of the Swiss Armenian Community Nejteh Khachatourian regarding the collaboration with the entire Swiss Armenian Community. A plan was worked on to set the beginning of such a collaboration.

The newly strengthened ties with the Geneva community organizations will be of great help in spreading theAVC offerings in the community and fostering its linkage globally via the AVC connect programs.