The Land and Culture Organization (LCO) mission is to preserve Armenian historic sites all over the world. Also to connect Diaspora Armenians to their ancestral lands by offering them volunteer work opportunities.

In 1977 a group of young Frenchmen of Armenian heritage led by Gegham Gevonian founded the Land and Culture Organization in France, which soon opened branches in the US, England, and later in Armenia and other countries.

The LCO has organized summer programs - popularly called "Campaigns" - in which volunteers from Europe, Canada, U.S. and elsewhere join together on ancestral sites. They apply their physical energy and mental ingenuity to a variety of tasks in architectural preservation, land cultivation and community development. LCO Summer Campaigns not only afford Armenians the rare experience of discovering their ancestral roots and expanding their cultural horizons, but they also create opportunities that put ideals into action.

The LCO brings a new dimension to the indomitable Armenian spirit. What began over 27 years ago as a modest grass-roots experiment has over the years evolved into a multinational effort that focuses on the Land and the vital role it plays in the struggle for the preservation of its Culture.

For general information, please email: info@landandculture.org. To learn more or to obtain application materials, please visit the LCO Web site at: http://www.landandculture.org.

The Land and Culture Organization (LCO) has begun its 26th annual summer campaign. This year more than 65 volunteers from around the world will join our efforts to preserve and protect Armenian monuments and communities in peril on historic Armenian lands, including present day Armenia, Karabagh and Kessab (Syria). Early July, twenty-six dynamic volunteers from France, the USA and Armenia left for their worksites to start the LCO 2003 summer campaigns. These men and women from the Armenian Diaspora joined a delegation of LCO Armenia to work on the LCO development projects in Armenia and Artsakh.

One of the projects consists of building a solar fruit dryer complex in Ayroum which is located in one of the most spectacular regions of Armenia, Lori. This complex was established by an indigenous NGO called Shen. LCO is working hand in hand with Shen to complete the complex which will provide employment and secure a revenue for more than 20 families in this refugee village. There is also a Foundation consisting mostly of villagers and a representative from each of the organizations involved in the building of the dryers which oversees the work and the redistribution of the revenue.

The second project is held in one of the oldest Armenian cities, Shushi (Karabagh). LCO is completing its three-year commitment in renovating the General Hospital of Shushi. During the past two years, two wards were completely renovated, including the maternity ward where more than 40 children were delivered in the past year alone. The 2003 campaign consists of providing the hospital with running water. This means that the entire pipe system will be redone. It is an enormous task, but our volunteers are motivated and ready to face this challenge.

These volunteers whose age vary from 18 to 65 will stay at the worksite for three weeks. They will visit important Armenian monuments nearby and visit with local authorities and youth groups. They will then return to Yerevan during the fourth week, where they will discover a modern Armenia.

The second group will arrive early August to complete the work that had begun by the July volunteers. All those interested in joining the second group should visit our website at www.landandculture.org and contact us very soon as we only have a few positions left.