THE SOLUTION THAT IS BEEN GUARDED TENACIOUSLY

 Vahe H. Apelian

Recently I lent my support to  Zareh Sinanyan's statement in favor of non-Armenians from friendly countries immigrating to Armenia. Zareh Sinanyan is in charge of  Armenia Diaspora affairs.

I got a few rebuttals for having made such a supporting statement. I was reminded of the Armenian saying of beating the gardener instead of taking issue with the gardener's gardening.

Someone from Canada wrote: “Please do not give me this story that Armenia is being emptied of its own citizens and therefore it got to resort to suh mesure as to imporing a mixture of friendly nationals”.

Another from South America asked if I was joking.

A person from Syria ridiculed me.

A  Syrian Armenian who lives in Armenia: “Վա՜հէ...ամմա «ույտուրեցիր» հա:” That is to say I am making this amusing make-up using a Turkish word for making it up.

And a few more but all from Diaspora Armenians enjoying the benefit of their exemplary citizinship living in their host countries. The rebuttals were against me for having made my supporting statement and not substantiating a rebuttal against the supporting statement I made.

Coming to figures.:

The Republics of Armenia and Artsakh have an area that is 3.94 times that of Lebanon. 

Individually:

Republic of Artsakh has an area of 4424 sq. miles,  slightly bigger than Lebanon that has an area of 4036 sq. miles and 6.84 million inhabitants while Artsakh has 145,053 inhabitants, that is to say Lebanon has 47 times the population of Artsakh!  

Armenia is 11,484 sq. miles, which makes Armenia  2.9 times larger than Lebanon. The population of Armenia 2.97 million. That is to say the 2.9 times smaller Lebanon has 2.3 times the population of Armenia. 

The noted Palestinian liberation leader Arafat once famously said the solution of the Palestinian issue is in the wombs of the  Palestinian women. The Palestinian leadership was alarmed to realize that the average Palestinian woman now bears on the average 4 children, while the Armenians are nonchalant that the average Armenian woman bears 1.75 children, where selective abortion in favor of males is not uncommon. For a country like Armenia with a decent healthcare, the replacement birthrate is slightly over  2 children.  At this rate, Armenia cannot replenish itself, while hemorrhaging.

The past 30 years have not stopped the hemorrhaging of Armenia. I doubt that the coming years will.

Armenian citizenship is an Armenian’s birthright. Armenians do not have immigration issue to Armenia, save financial assistance. But, the overwhelming majority of Diaspora Armenians do not use their birthright privilege and settle in Armenia.

This demography and trend are concerning. Especially that Armenia has a much broader border to safeguard. Lebnon has only a few tens of kilometers boarder in the south against Israel.

Serzh Sargsyan administration claimed that the population of Armenia will grow to be 4 million by 2040. Astute politician he is, he made no reference as how and from where will he be able to increase the population to 4 million. Zareh Sinanyan, in charge of Armenia’s Diaspora Affairs, appears not be as an astute politician. Instead of carefully tiptoeing around the subject during the discussion it is reported he had with the editor of Aztag daily, said what he said. Two administrations who do not see each other eye to eye, agree on the issue of demography in Armenia and express a need to  increase it.

The reaction to Sinanyan was baffling, especially that it is predominantly  from Diaspora Armenians,  themselves immigrants. Their reaction was astounding, as if Armenia is in an eminent danger facing a torrential flow by non-Armenians to the war-torn country at war with two of its neighbors, and where military service is a must, and those who served remain under call for long. Armenia is economically stagnated and on the verge of breaking apart from its seams because of political animosity. It is a country where most diaspora Armenians avoid settling but strangely also appear also to be dead set against diehard non-Armenians settle there.

Surely immigration is not the only answer but is an avenue. I see due reason for Sinanyan to have said what he said and I support it

The other issue is this culture of rejecting a proposal without substantiating a rebuttal or an alternative. If there is a proposal for an alternate solution, for now those who have it appear to be guarding it tenaciously.

 

 Note: The figures are from Wikipedia.

 

 

The Infijar الإنفجار

Vahe H. Apelian

 

I imagine that almost every noun in a dictionary has synonyms. Although  synonyms are meant to be words that are expected to have the same or nearly the same meaning, but not all of them equally or even nearly convey an event or a feeling or a description. 

 A thesaurus would list synonyms for a noun. Out of the many synonyms noted for explosion, I note the following, blast, burst, detonation, blowout, blowup, flare-up, and others. But none of these words, even the word "explosion", can convey, in my mind, the enormity of what happened in Beirut. In sound, shape, appearance and most importantly as the catastrophic event that, in a matter of seconds, altered peoples’ lives, even the word explosion may not do justice to the destruction that ensued.

Infijar is the sounding of the Arabic word for explosion - انفجار. I thought it’s fair the we adopt the word in our lexicon to characterize the catastrophic explosion that happened in Lebanon on August 4, 2020 at 6:08 p.m. , simply because it remains in a class of its own and it happened in Lebanon, whose official language is Arabic.

Surely the Lebanese and many others will remember what they were doing when the Infijar took place. It happened that I was talking with two friends in Armenia. We had befriended decades ago when we lived in Lebanon. Each of us had gone its own way onto the western shores. They have now settled in Armenia. They asked me to interrupt our conversation and follow the news because something terrible had happened in Lebanon. Never, in my wildest dream, would I have envisioned the devastation that had just taken place. 

By now we know that 2700 metric tons of Ammonium Nitrate that had been in storage in a seaport warehouse had exploded. The infijar is claimed to be the second most horrific event since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagazaki, and is rated as the worst devastating single event inflicted upon a people and a country not in war. 

The catastrophic event was man made due to carelessness. It came to present the bleakest picture possible of the misfunctioning Lebanese state marred by corruption that had led to grass root protests since last year. The protests had led to the resignation of the PM Hariri and the formation of a new “technocrat” government. But  the new government also continued to remain ineffective and unresponsive to rightful demands of  the demonstrators. 

The state and the Lebanese society as a whole remain entrenched in their sectarian ways. Sectarianism constitutes the backbone on which the Lebanese society and hence its governance is founded . Armenians also take pride in the system, noting that they are ranked among the ten largest communities that make up the Lebanese society and hence constitutionally assured representation in the government commensurate to their official demographic constituency. 

The grass root protests first erupted on 17 October 2019. As of day of the Infijar,  293 days had come and gone by but the government remained unable or unwilling to come to a resolution and start addressing the woes of the people.  The government’s inability or unwillingness  to seize the moment and marshal the country out of the abyss, culminated in  the collapse of  Lebanon’s economy. Lebanon became the only country in the Middle East and North Africa that experienced hyperinflation having their money devalue precipitously as the ongoing fear of spreading Covid-19 infection had effectively paralyzed the country as a whole. Such was the prevailing state in Lebanon up to that very moment when the Infijar occurred.

I imagine that in Lebanon, the day after the Infijar was like waking up from a horrific dream only to find out that it is true. I do not think we have yet grasped the enormity of the loss in lives and in property and the incalculable damage inflicted on the people and the infrastructure.

Among the horrific destruction of lives and property, voices are being heard that the Infijar may also shake the very foundation of the Lebanese society and governance and usher it away from its sectarian feudal ways onto a better governance that rewards merit rather than ethnic affiliation, and holds a person responsible and not look away not to raise the rage of the person’s community.

Time will tell if fundamental societal changes and new norms will come about in Lebanon and hence in its governance in the aftermath of the Infijar. Meanwhile, the task at hand is helping and assisting in patching the shuttered lives. 

 

Balloum or the Feast of the Assumption

Vahe H. Apelian

I recently learned from Hagop Tcholakian’s posting that it was feast of Vartavar that the Kessabtsis celebrated among the ruins of Balloum on Mout Gassios and not the feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God (Asdouazazin). However, during my summer long stays in Kessab, the word Balloum was frequently referred to the Kessabtsis celebrating the feast of the Assumption. It is likely that after the annexation of Mount Gassios to Turkey, the word Ballum became associated with the Feast of the Assumption. 

Hagop Toroyan, a graduate of Haigazian Univeristy of Beirut, is knowledgeable in the religious festivities of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He noted on his page that that the “The greatest feast exalting the Holy Mother of God is the Feast of the Assumption. It is also one of the five daghavars of the Armenian (Apostolic) Church. The Armenian Church observes the feast for nine days. The sharagans dedicated to the Asdvadzazin (Mother of God) are among the most poetic and beautiful of our hymnal. On Assumption Day, following the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, the blessing of the grapes takes place.” The feast takes place on the Sunday closest to August 15.

Why are grapes blessed?

I believe the reason the grapes became symbolic of  the feast because grapevines, unlike most other fruit bearing trees, appear not to flower. However, grapevines do flower too but the cluster of the flowers are not visible to the naked eye. Nature might have conceived it that way because grapevines self-pollinate and thus grapes appear to come  on the vines, on their own, without fertilization, and thus best symbolized the immaculate conception of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. The grapes in Kessab mostly ripened by mid-August. Our paternal grandmother Sarah forbade us picking grapes until the fruits were blessed during the feast.

The celebration of the Feast of Assumption in Kessab  took place in the Nerki Guygh village or Eskouran. The village was thought to have been the first settlement at the foot of Mount Gassios that would in time grew to become Kessab. Kessabtsi of all persuasions and religious denominations celebrated the feast together in the open air, under a large oak tree, next to the village spring. Following the ceremonial slaughter of lamb, their meat, along with cracked wheat is cooked in large cauldron for the preparation of the day’s meal, the traditional Armenian harissa. Religious services are performed while harissa is being cooked, which required constant beating the mix with large wooden ladles. The festivities start after the blessing of the grapes.

The main attraction of the festivity is the traditional Kessab circle dance. In my days, it was Hammoud who would enliven the day. Hammoud was an Alevi. After the repatriation of many Kessabtsi, there came about a shortage of labor and a few Alevi families were invited as sharecroppers and were settled in the vacant houses. Hammoud was the patriarch of one such Alevi family. The children of these Alevi families attended the local school and spoke fluent Armenian and were playmates. Many a time, I accompanied his son Mhanna grazing the animals. 

I still picture Hammoud playing his kavala, his twin barreled duduk, with his cheeks fully extended, head tilted on one side, at times leaning forward and at times standing erect, accompanied by the  davul player, the drummer. Every now and then they would stop shout something that sounded “subash”. Bash means leader. At each shouting someone would have handed them money would take the lead of the dancers waving a white handkerchief knotted at one end as he led the dancers for a few rounds. The circle dance thus would go and on and on, with dancers leaving and others joining as new dancers would take the lead. At time the dancers would chant a tune. I do not remember the words but with started with “Hammoudi, Hammoudi…”, which sounded the dancers pleading the two musicians to go on playing. Playing the zurna and beating the davul must surely have been a taxing. Of course, there were the kids at the tail end trying to keep pace with the adults while mimicking their steps. As I look back I realize that there was no commercialization or mechanizing of any sort. It was just savoring the harissa, doing the circle dance and enjoying being together in a festive mood.

On March 21, 2014, the Kessabtsis were forced to abandon their homes and flee as extremists attacked the villages from Turkey. After eight-eight days of exile, on June 15-16, they began returning to their sacked villages to find their houses, businesses, churches plundered and their orchards in ruin. In spite of the harsh realities, they tenaciously observed the feast in August far from the ruins of Balloum, and in the shadow of their beloved Mount Gassios.

Courtesy Hagop Tcholakian

*****

Fifty Years Ago: About President Woodrow Wilson

A glimpse of how the Armenians perceived him. The attached is reproduced from the album devoted to the 80^th anniversary of the ARF.

"Woodrow Wilson, twenty-eight President of the United States was born in Staunton, Virginia on December 28, 1856. He was elected President in 1912 and re-elected in 1916.

Probably the greatest conflict during his administration was not the World War but a constant struggle between idealism and reality; From the posts of President of Princeton University and Governor of New Jersey, Wilson entered the White House unmoved by personal ambition and ideas of political gain. He thought others to be as he was – honest, and sincerely democratic in principles: taking into consideration general human weaknesses, he respected the views of others.

Toward the world, Wilson, historians and political economist, held similar views. Insisting that the government “rests always upon the consent of the governed.” After the World War I he ardently set about to establish a super-organization which would guarantee peace to the world and held nations together with bonds of international morality, good faith and humanity.

The Armenians gratefully cherish his memory. It was one of his fondest wishes to see the Armenian homeland seized by Turkey, returned to its rightful owner, the free and independent Republic of Armenia. President Wilson, in November 1920, in accordance with the provision of the 89^th article of the Treaty of Sevres drew the map of Free and United Armenia assigned to the Armenians an area which included Erzerum, Van, Bitlis, and Trebizond.

Six months earlier, President Wilson had “earnestly advised and requested” the U.S. Senate to accept the mandate for Armenia. “At their hearts”, wrote Wilson, “this great people have made the case of Armenia their own. It is to this people and to their Government that the hopes and earnest expectations of the struggling people of Armenia turn as they now emerge from a period of indescribable suffering and peril, and I hope that the Congress will think it wise to meet this hope and expectation with the utmost liberality.”

Unfortunately his wishes did not materialize."

Vartavar (Balloum, Barloum, Barlamon)

The attached is my translation of Hagop Tcholakian’s posting reproduced on Kessab Educational Association (K.E.A.) Facebook site on July 19, 2020,  describing the onetime celebration of the Feast of Vartavar in Kessab. Vahe H. Apelian

 

Vartavar was celebrated in Kessab, as well as by the Armenians in Antioch, Jisr al Shughur, Latakia and their environs. After 1920 it became a feast of pilgrimage for the whole of the Syrian Armenians. The site of the pilgrimage was Barloum, which was also referred to as Balloum or Barlamon. The feast of Vartavarwas was also known by the name of the site.

The pilgrimage site was located some 2 km north of Kessab, on the southeastern slope of Mount Gassios, at a 1250-meter  elevation from the sea (Mediterranean Sea), not far from the spring known as Teknijok.

On the day of the Vartavar Feast, the pilgrim families would ascend to the site starting Friday. They would clear a site from bushes, stones, and would place either a shed or a tent.  They would bring with them sheet, carpet, clothes, utensils and lots of food. By Saturday evening the site would be filled with the pilgrims. The priest would arrive, mass would be held, lambs would be slaughtered. Cauldrons for cooking harissa would have been set up over fire pits. Young persons and adults would keep watch, chop and feed the fire with wood, and beat the food being cooked. The smell of meat on skewers being grilled over fire would fill the air. The women prepared the side dishes.

The feast would start, the people would dance the Kessab circle dance-delani-and at times the sound of the zurna and on the ongoing dance would go on until dawn. Along with the Armenians from Soueida, Antioch, Ghenamieye, Aramo,  Yakubiyah, and Latakia. Interested  Turkmen and Alevis would also attend. 

On the morning of the Vartavar, the water game would start. They would  water and pour water on each other. They would have fetched the water from the nearby Teknijok spring. The mass would be held among the ruins, along the eastern arched like wall resembling an altar. The harissa would be blessed,. Groups or families would have already fashioned a table. The harissa would come, feasting, camaraderie and circle dancing would go on.

In the evening the pilgrims would descend from the mountain. The women and married men would go their villages and their homes. Many would continue the water games and the dancing on the Kessab square, called Khot. While descending, the more daring would head towards the sea shore through Bashord, and from there to Kaladouran where the fig and the grape would have started to ripen.

The day after the Vartavar was the merelots, that is to say visitation to the grave site of beloved departed and lunch would be held at the home in their memory. Beggars from the Ordu and other place, would come and go house after house to collect their offering for the poor.

After the annexation of Sanjak in 1939, this great pilgrimage site was annexed to Turkey with the Teknijok spring falling right on the demarcation border. The Vartavar pilgrimage and the feasting ceased. It was attempted to have the feast and the celebration held in Kaladouran at the Saint Kevork chapel and rekindle the feast. But it was of no avail. Nowadays Vartavar is a religious service, although some continue to refer it as Balloum.

Hagop Tcholakian, from his volumes 1 and 2 sequel titled “Kessab”.

*****

ՎԱՐԴԱՎԱՌ (Պալլում, Պարլում, Պարլամօն)
Այս տօնը, ինչպէս ամբողջ Քեսապի, այդպէս ալ Անտիոքի, Ճըսըր Շուղուրի, Լաթաքիոյ շրջակայքի, իսկ 1920էն ետք, ամբողջ Սուրիոյ հայութեան համար համաժողովրդական ուխտագնացութեան օր եղաւ: Ուխտավայրը Պարլում կը կոչուէր (նաեւ Պալլում, Պարլամօն): Ուխտավայրի անունով ալ կը կոչուէր տօնը: Ուխտավայրը կը գտնուէր Քեսապէն շուրջ երկու քիլոմեթր հիւսիս, Կասիոս լերան հարաւ-արեւելեան լանջին, ծովէն 1250 մեթր բարձրութեան վրայ, Թեքնեճօք կոչուող փոքրիկ աղբիւրէն ոչ հեռու: 
Վարդավառին ուխտաւոր ընտանիքները հոս կ'ելլէին դեռ Ուրբաթ օրուընէ , ուխտավայրին շուրջ տեղ կը գրաւէին , կը մաքրէին իրենց տեղը փուշերէ, քարերէ, վրան կը զարնէին կամ շուք մը կը շինէին: Անոնք իրենց հետ կը բերէին ծածկոց, կարպետ, հագուստեղէն, պնակեղէն եւ առատ ուտեստ: Շաբաթ երեկոյեան ուխտավայրը կը լեցուէր բազմութեամբ, քահանան կը ժամանէր, ժամերգութիւն տեղի կ'ունենար, ուխտը կ'ընէին, մատաղացուները կը զենէին: Հերիսայի կաթսաները դրուած կ'ըլլային յատկապէս անոնց համար պատրաստուած կրակարաններուն վրայ: Երիտասարդներ եւ այր մարդիկ մինչեւ լոյս կը հսկէին հերիսայի կրակին, փայտը կը բերէին, կը ջարդէին, հերիսան կը ծեծէին: Խորովածի հոտը լեռը կ'առնէր: Կիները սալաթ կը պատրաստէին: Կը սկսէր կերուխումը, ապա կը փչէր զուռնան, շատ անգամ սրինգը ու Քեսապի Տիլանին մինչեւ լոյս կը տեւէր: Տիլանի կը կոչուի Քեսապի շուրջպարը: Ներկայ կ'ըլլային նաեւ սուէտիացի, անտիոքցի, ղնեմիացի, արամոցի, եագուպիացի, ղնէացի եւ լաթաքիացի հայեր, ինչպէս նաեւ շրջակայ գիւղերէն թուրքմէն, հոռոմ եւ ալեւի հետաքրքիրներ: 
Վարդավառի առաւօտուն կը սկսէր ջուրի խաղը (ջրուիլը), իրար կը ջրէին, իրարու վրայ ջուր կը թափէին: Ջուրը Թեքնեճօքի աղբիւրէն բերած կ'ըլլային: Պատարագը կը կատարուէր աւերակին մէջ,արեւելեան խորանաձեւ կիսապատին առջեւ: Կ'օրհնուէր հերիսան: Ամէն խումբ կամ ընտանիք արդէն պատրաստած կ'ըլլար իր սեղանը, օրհնուած հերիսան ալ կու գար, ու կրկին կերուխում, կատակ, բարեմաղթութիւններ եւ շուրջպար: 
Երեկոյեան ուխտաւորները կ'իջնէին լեռնէն: Կիներն ու ընտանիքի տէր մարդիկ կը ցրուէին իրենց գիւղերը , իսկ շատեր ջուրի խաղը, երգն ու պարը կը շարունակէին Քեսապի հրապարակին մէջ՝ Խոդը: Աւելի խիզախները լեռնէն կը սահէին դէպի Պաշօրտ, անկէ Գարատուրանի ծովեզերքը, ուր թուզն ու խաղողը «նշանած» կ'ըլլային: 
Վարդավառին մեռելոցը ընդհանուրին համար հոգեճաշի օր էր: Ատիկա գիտէին շրջակայ այլազգցիները: Անոնց մուրացիկները Չանտուրէն, Օրտուէն, Պետրուսիէէն, Մուսելէքէն կու գային ու տուն-տուն կը մտնէին բոլոր գիւղերը՝ հոգեճաշէն բաժին հաւաքելու համար: 
1939ի Սանճագի կցումով քեսապցի հայոց այս մեծ ուխտատեղին կը մնայ սահմանէն անդին, իսկ Թեքնեճօքի աղբիւրը ճիշդ սահմանագծին վրայ: վարդավառի ուխտագնացութիւնն ու համաժողովրդական տօնակատարութիւնները կը դադրին: 
1939ին Պարլումի ուխտավայրը Թուրքիա մնալէ ետք, մտածուած է Վարդավառի ուխտագնացութիւնը եւ տօնակատարութիւնը կատարել Գարատուրանի ծովամերձ Ս. Գէորգ ուխտատեղին, մանաւանդ որ Պարլումի ուխտագնացութեան վերջին օրը , պատարագէն եւ ճաշէն ետք երիտասարդները սովորութիւն ունէին խմբովին ծով երթալու: 1960ական թուականներուն Գարատուրանի եւ Քեսապի եկեղեցիներու թաղական խորհուրդները փորձեցին վարդավառի ուխտագնացութիւնն ու տօնակատարութիւնը Ս. Գէորգ մատրան մէջ վերապրեցնել , բայց կրկին աւանդոյթ ստեղծել կարելի չեղաւ: 
Վարդավառը այժմ միայն եկեղեցական տօն մըն է, թէեւ բարբառախօսները տակաւին տօնը կը շարունակեն կոչել նախկին ուխտավայրի անունով՝ Պալլում: 
Նիւթը առնուած՝ Յակոբ Չոլաքեանի «Քեսապ» Ա. եւ Բ. հատորներ

Will it be a Victory or Ongoing Skirmishes?

Vahe H. Apelian

 

Sometimes in my childhood, most likely in the 1950’s, I remember that the beaches in Lebanon closed and swimming was not allowed due to fear of polio virus. Apparently people could contract the virus swimming.

It was during the summer of 1921, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was enjoying sailing and swimming at their lake cottage his wealthy parents had bought in New Brunswick, Canada when he manifested symptoms and could no longer hold himself in water. He was diagnosed having been afflicted with the debilitating  “infantile paralysis”, i.e. polio.

At the time, FDR was dashingly handsome 39 years old upcoming politician. Polio virus , which affected mostly children, had not spared him. He removed himself from politics and immersed in rehabilitation believing that by strenuous exercise he will overcome his paralysis. He never did and remained dependent on others for his basic needs.

Resolute, determined, he had a heavy iron support fabricated that clenched his legs up to his waist and when locked, it would hold his body erect and he could manage taking a few steps aided, especially by his son. The rest is one of the greatest achievements of human spirit.  Historians regard him as one of the great U.S. presidents.

Polio is a highly infectious virus that mainly affects children. It was one the world’s most feared disease in the early 20th century. It is reported that in the U.S alone, it paralyzed 15,000 persons every year, until Dr. Jonas Salk discovered and had the polio vaccine approved for use in 1955, a decade after FDR’s death. The vaccine lead to 99% decrease in the polio worldwide. A decade letter Dr. Albert Sabin discovered the oral version of the polio vaccine. 

For all practical purposes human endeavor vanquished the polio virus.

Will Covid-19 vaccine vanquish the virus?

Viruses are living things. Two properties characterize them. Their antigenic properties, that is to say the armor they wear; and their virulence, the genetic material the armor protects that causes the havoc. Our bodies recognize the armor as foreign and attack it ferociously. That is what the vaccines do. They help our bodies set up its defenses against that particular armor in advance. In case of polio virus, the armor remains the same. But in case of influenza virus, the armor undergoes changes. Hence we are advised to have influenza virus vaccine every year to prepare our bodies to fight the possible new armored influenza virus, but with polio virus, we need not.

It remains for science to find out in more details about Covid-19 and the way it works. Will it be polio like or influenza virus like? Our vaccination frequency will change accordingly. Scientific understanding and the discovery of an appropriate cure naturally take time and do not lend themselves to fast solution we seem to have grown expecting. Our impatience for fast solutions and resolutions just do not cut it. And we should beware of those who “promise the moon”. 

Having said so, it appears that we are making progress on the Covid-19 vaccine front. Moderna labs, initiated by Noubar Efeyan, is reported to be on the front line and is reported making progress. He is an entrepreneur who hold a PhD degree in biomedical engineering from MIT and is a graduate of the Armenian Evangelical College high school in Beirut.

Vaccines are not the only arsenal we have. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), causing AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficient Disease Syndrome),was recognized in 1981. There is no HIV vaccine yet. It is estimated that 32 million people have died of the HIV/AIDS related diseases. But also, about 38 million people live with the disease and maintain a productive life thanks to advances in medications and their use.

It will not surprise me that along with vaccine, medical science will discover medications that will help us fight the Covid-19 virus. In the end our salvation is science and in the scientists who mostly remain away from the limelight and toil in the laboratory which, by the way, stresses labor and not oratory.

 

Armenian Evangelical College: a Tribute

Vahan Zanoyan

In a personal email, Vahan Zanoyan had voiced his tribute to the Armenian Evangelical College we both attended. Vahan is younger than I and was in the lower classes. I took the liberty of translating and attaching it  along with his tribute in Armenian. 

 

““Our class in the Armenian Evangelical College was an admirable mix. Among my classmates were Norayr Eblighatian, the son of a prominent A.R.F.-er; there was also Yessai Aghbashian, the son of a known communist. There were Evangelical, Apostolic and Catholic students. There was one Greek. We studied and grew up with an Armenian spirit with the full sense of the word. The Armenian Evangelical college had found a way teaching Armenian language, literature and history without arousing ideological and parochial issues among the students.”

 

“ՀԱԳ-ի մեր դասարանը հիանալիօրէն խառն էր։ Դասընկերներուս մէջ էին Նորայր Էպլիղաթեանը, յայտնի դաշնակցականի որդի, ինչպէս նաեւ Եսայի Աղպաշեանը, յայտնի համայնավարի որդի։ Կային Աւետարանական, Առաքելական եւ Կաթողիկէ աշակերտներ։ Կար մէկ Յոյն։ Եւ մենք ուսանեցանք եւ մեծցանք հայկական ոգիիով, բառին բւին առումով։ ՀԱԳ-ը ձեւը գտած էր հայոց պատմութիւն եւ հայ լեզու եւ գրականութիւն ուսուցանելու առանց  կուսակցական կամ յարամւանական հարցեր ծագեցնելու աշակերտներուն մտքին մէջ։” 

“

*****

 

The Armenian Evangelical College was established in 1923 as the first post genocide Armenian high school in the diaspora. Its mission has been to  impart to the students an Armenian Christian education. For the next two decades or more it remained the only Armenian academic institution whose students were right away accepted to the American University of Beirut to further their education. 

The high school is nowadays known as “TheArmenian:Հայ Աւետարանական Գոլէճ,Arabic:المدرسة الأرمنية الانجيلية العالية) was founded in 1923 in Beirut, Lebanon. There are three sections to the school: a kindergarten for children aged 4–6 years, a primary section for children 6–12 years and a secondary level for those aged 12–18 years.” (Wikipedia)

Dr. Zaven Messerlian, who is a graduate of the AEC was the principal of the school since June 17, 1967 for the next 50 years, until his retirement in May 2017. He continues his affiliation with our beloved AEC.