Yes, you read that right! The Prime Minister of Armenia came to our school on Friday to watch a play put on by the students.
Our History teacher had been working with the students for several years, to put on a historical play. And it just so happened that her grandson, Manuk, a 12th grade student would play the lead. Some said he had been working on his dialogue on and off for two years.
Much to the surpise to the the rest of the staff at school, our History teacher invited the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to watch the play. We didn’t think in a million years that he would say yes to a small rural school in the mountains. But he did!
I think we only had a few days notice that he was actually coming so the school did everything it could in a short time to beautify the place. Parents even came in to clean classrooms (even though no one went into them while the PM was here). Even the village worked on cleaning the streets for the PM’s motorcade.
The play was only an hour, shortened because of the Prime Minister’s busy schedule, but the students did an amazing job, especially 12th grader, Manuk. Even though there were a lot of actors from the 7th to 12th grade, over half of the lines were his. And he nailed it!! Kudos to him, the other students and his grandmother teacher.
But the even more amazing thing is that during the school director’s opening remarks, it was all about the Peace Corps. She was telling the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education, and the audience (made up of mostly other local and regional government officials) that this play was just one of the many projects the school were doing.
For example, she said, that early in the day a group of Peace Corps volunteers had come to visit the school in preparation for their teaching practicums next week. And that, Jim Damico (me), was a volunteer who had been working here for a year helping both the students and teachers with English. My co-teachers were shocked but happy.
But just as quickly as he arrived, once the play was finished, he said a few words, posed for a picture and left to do other important things. All the teachers and staff were happy that it had all worked out great but also a little relieved to get things back to normal. ha ha ha
As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. Even in a small school like ours, remarkable things can happen when we come together. I’m inspired to keep working hard to help my school and my village. Though the Prime Minister’s visit was short, its impact will stay with us. So, you never know who you’re going to meet when you’re a US Peace Corps Volunteer!!!
