Travellers are Unofficial Ambassadors

Do you have an opinion of a country even though you have never visited it? How do you form your views about a particular place, quite aside as to whether it is an accurate or fair perspective?

I came to consider this issue when I was asked to do some work in the former Soviet republic of Armenia in 1994. Armenia is a small, landlocked country in the Caucasian region, bordering Iran to the south, Georgia in the north, Azerbaijan to the east and its longest, (but closed) boarder with Turkey in the south and west. Previously, I wasn’t even sure where it was, but having enjoyed two months of work there in high summer, and another shorter visit in October, I felt very fortunate (indeed privileged) to have been given the opportunity to spend so much time there. The country is exceptionally beautiful, ranging from the relatively arid and flat southern regions, to the stunning mountainous and wet areas to the south and north. The country’s national symbol is the stunningly impressive Mount Ararat, that dominates the country around the capital Yerevan, although thanks to the generosity of Lenin in the early 1920’s (and much to the chagrin of the Armenians) the mountain now lies just over the border in eastern Turkey. The Armenians were proud to tell me that they are the oldest Christian country in the world (predominantly surrounded by Moslems), and the countryside is dotted with many impressive ancient Coptic churches, often cut into inaccessible mountainsides. (They were also proud of reminding me that Winston Churchill was a regular and enthusiastic imbiber of Armenian brandy. I don’t know if this is actually true, but I can certainly understand why: thanks to my time in Armenia, I developed a liking for the stuff, as well as alas, for vodka!)

I found the people in Armenia to be embarrassingly hospitable and friendly. But perhaps uniquely of all the places in which I have worked, I had the immense satisfaction in feeling that not only were they eager to learn about new ideas and concepts, but that they would take away whatever they could and apply it in making their country a better place. It is sad to report that usually, the efforts one makes to help developing countries become stronger and wealthier places is usually wasted: after all the effort and money, things tend to drift on unchanged afterwards. But therein lies another topic for discussion at a later date …

This Armenian determination to succeed was admirable and seems to be based on their history. They are survivors. For centuries they have been surrounded by much larger neighbours, Turks to the west (and east), Persians to the south and Russians to the north. And for several millennia they have battled to retain their independence, with varying levels of success. In the mid-1990’s the country was suffering badly from a triple whammy: the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the ongoing war with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the disputed Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh (compounded by the resulting economic blockade with Turkey), and the after effects from a catastrophic earthquake in the north of the country. The economy was moribund and remained substantially unreformed from the Soviet era, and many major infrastructure projects were suspended in mid-construction. Many still hankered for the illusory certainties of the previous communist times.

So what has all this got to do with being an unofficial ambassador, or one’s views of another country? Well, in my professional capacity there, I was fortunate to travel around the entire country. (Indeed, my translator said that I had probably seem more of Armenia than most Armenians had!) In the course of my travels, I met many local people who had never met someone from the “capitalist, bourgeoisie West”, let alone anyone from Britain. I came to realise that the most enduring impression that these people would have of my country, its culture and its people would be formed by their impressions of me and they way that I treated them. And is this not the case for most of us? Are we not going to make huge sweeping assumptions and form binding impressions about an entire country and its people from our own personal contacts with someone from that place? Sure, the media are also going to have an impression on our perspectives, but I have become convinced that these are likely to be a lot less important that any personal contact that we have with a fellow human being from that country and culture.

And so it is too, when we travel overseas, but in reverse. Whether we like it or not, we are actually unofficial ambassadors, as the people we meet overseas will form opinions of our countries and cultures based on how we interact with them. This is a great responsibility (and privilege) and if we abuse it, others will form negative impressions of us all. Yes, this may be unfair, but it is understandable, for we too are guilty of the same offence! And fortunately, it also works in reverse: leave good impressions and the same will be applied to our entire people! I know that I am not alone in thinking that English football hooligans that claim to be representing their country overseas are in fact a downright disgrace and an embarrassment to the vast majority of their fellow countrymen. Most of us not only wholly disown them, but would be happy for them to be strung up and flogged! I thank others for their tolerance of such behaviour in their countries by these animals and hope that they too understand that we are not all like that, and nor do we condone such idiocy.

The photos here have been scanned in, as in those days, we didn’t have digital cameras! As you can see, Armenia is a mixture of stunning natural beauty and impressive historical sites, littered with extensive and more recent ugly communist era brutality!