Lilit Hakobyan is a Global Master Trainer from Armenia who works for the Children of Armenia Charitable Fund (COAF) as a Civic Education Program Manager.
COAF works to secure a future for children in Armenia’s impoverished rural villages through improved education, healthcare, community life and economic conditions. Since 2015, about 250 students attend COAF Aflatoun clubs and learn about the topics which are crucial for their futures. Lilit shares her experiences with teaching Aflatoun programming and watching young people’s mindsets towards savings and budgeting transform:
“As a trainer, the issues that Aflatoun refers to are the ones that I consider critical and always address as an educator. Being a part of the Aflatoun network gives me an opportunity to develop my professional skills and find various creative approaches to address the issues we face every day. I am eager to learn and teach more about values such as social justice, diversity, solidarity, gender equity.
Seeing Changes
Lilit loves the Aflatoun programme because it is a way to “Better yourself. One learns about being a responsible family member, friend, student, community member and a citizen of the universe. It opens the mind for diversity and to discover one’s own self in more depth. You learn your own way of a sustainable lifestyle and try to follow it. Aflatoun is not only about how to save money and resources, but about why to save them. And here comes consciousness and responsibility toward the society you are a part of.”
During one of the lessons on consuming and saving resources one of the students of the Aflatoun club said, “Cut down shopping to save your future. She was stressing the importance of saving the natural and human resources that are being used in the production chain. Seeing this impact on the students’ mindset inspires me”.
Interested in reading more experiences of other Aflatoun’s Global Master Trainers? Read more in our Blog.