“I am happy to have finally completed the PWI sessions and be part of the cohorts of the alumni. This has truly been a long way for me.

The whole event has been very emotional to me since the first in-person session in Tbilisi was just 1 year after the war in Artsakh in 2020 and the second in-person session in Yerevan was immediately after the war on the borders of Armenia in September. Then, in Yerevan in October I was extremely worried so as everything goes smoothly, and our guests are not much touched by the tough situation we were in. I did my best not to show my concerns, fears or tears and kept the spirit up. Not an easy task, but I managed. Everyone seemed to be happy with the trip and the event when leaving.

Unfortunately, there were always conflicts and there will be more – both on personal level and higher. The knowledge and skills learnt during the PWI and especially the “Do No Harm” methodology have become part of my everyday life as a very constructive and useful tool. I constantly think of it when planning and implementing new activities. One should do his/her best to extend any help they can, but they should always mind not to do any harm, especially when already in a hard situation. The examples of real stories told by the trainer made a great impression on me and all of them were about simple people finding great solutions to complicated issues taking care that no person is harmed or suffers in the result. It is hard, but possible. So don’t be afraid, think higher, voice your ideas and act. This is probably one of my greatest learnings in the PWI.

During the sessions, for me personally, it was very important to share and to talk about the situation in our country and also to hear the other participants’ stories coming from conflict zones. It was also important to learn about the real developments from them directly, and not from the news or social media where one can hardly differentiate the “real truth from the creative lies”. Certainly, it was hard to find the correct words to comfort them as some were indeed depressed or hopeless, but the expression of solidarity, compassion and care was highly important, especially when equally shown to the representatives of the conflicting sides, sometimes hugging them at the same time and everybody in tears. Precious moments that will stay in my mind and heart forever. I think sharing these hard moments makes friendships even firmer and long-lasting.

We certainly also had some fun together touring in Armenia and sharing national music and food. We will definitely stay in touch and meet in future hopefully in other settings and realities, but these days will always stay with us. This is my other great take-away from the PWI.”

Haykuhi Karapetyan, PWI Alumna
Armenia