This year marks the quarter of century close collaboration between USAID and Peace Corps in Armenia. We are delighted to join our Peace Corps Armenia colleagues in welcoming the 25th group of future U.S. Peace Corps volunteers to Armenia! Over the coming 3 months, the future volunteers will live in Armenian families in Armenian villages and learn the Armenian language and culture before they are officially sworn-in as Peace Corps Volunteers. During their work in Armenia, some volunteers will be engaged in community and youth development activities. And so to help them understand the local civil society, their needs and challenges, on March 29 our Local Solutions Coordinator conducted a pre-service training for about 20 future volunteers in the village of Aygezard, Ararat province. Participants learned about the history of civil society development in Armenia, the differences between civil society organizations in rural and urban communities, and Armenia’s new law on NGOs. The training session was followed by the screening of the "Civic Mechanics" documentary, produced by the Media Initiatives Center under USAID’s CSO Development Program.