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Hetq Online, Armenia
June 29 2004
Armenian children are neglected in Calcutta
by Aghavni Yeghiazaryan, Edik Baghdasaryan
`We were playing Rugby in the seminary yard and the ball hit me in
the left ear. I felt a stab of pain, and fell into the mud; then the
boys sat me down on the stairs. Then one day when we were playing, my
friend Harutik whispered something in my left ear, I couldn't hear
it, I couldn't hear it at all. Then he repeated it in my right ear
and I heard. I realized that I couldn't hear with my left ear. I told
the doctor. He examined my ear and said that there was nothing wrong
with it. I put medicine into my ear for a few days, and then some
grains of sand came out of it. That was the end of my treatment,'
explains Narek Arshakyan, a student at the charitably-run Armenian
Seminary in Calcutta. Narek was subsequently examined by Doctor
Mirakyan at the Republican Hospital in Yerevan, who told his mother
that it was too late for the hearing in the boy's left ear to be
restored.
The seminary in Calcutta, India was established in 1821 and is headed
by a director appointed by the Catholicos of All Armenians, at the
suggestion of the Board of Trustees. Since 1999, the seminary has
been headed by Sonya John (who is Armenian by origin). Max Galstown,
a member of the Indian-Armenian community, has been sending letters
to us expressing his anxiety about the situation in the seminary
since last February. He says, `This establishment, with a 180-year
history, has been turned upside-down under Sonya John's management.'
Another member of the community, a well-respected woman who had
worked at the seminary with Sonya John, sent a letter to the
Catholicos in 2003 describing John's working style and behavior. She
never received any reply. `Since appointing the director, the
Catholicos has not supervised her work,' Max Galstown wrote us. He
says Sonya John misappropriates donations from Indian Armenians;
under the pretext of allocating money to the hospital, she
transferred 15 million Rupees to the Communist Party of India (of
which she is a member), 30 million Rupees for the construction of the
Armenian Embassy in New Delhi, and so on. `None of the local
Armenians is involved in the administrative matters of the seminary.
We consider it to be a conspiracy against us, and Echmiadzin is
taking part in it,' Galstown writes.
Narek's mother, Susanna Arshakyan, reported her son's hearing loss to
Deacon Tigran from the information department of the Holy See of St.
Echmiadzin. The deacon promised to inform the Catholicos about it.
`The boy has lost his hearing because of negligence; if he had been
examined and treated in time it wouldn't have happened. Our children
are disregarded and neglected there,' Susanna says.
Sixty seminary students came to Armenia in May for a month's
vacation, and were supposed to return to Calcutta on June 18 th . But
only one student, Elisa Matevosyan, and the families of teachers from
Armenia working there went back. The postponement of the return of
some of the students was explained by illness. It is clear that 80
percent of the students who came home for vacation will not return to
Calcutta.
Narek went to Calcutta in 2001, from the Zatik children's home. Narek
has two brothers, and his socially vulnerable single mother decided
to send her son away to study. At the dictation of a Church
representative, she wrote that she had given her consent to her son's
going abroad to study for ten years. She signed another document as
well, but she doesn't remember what was it. `Whatever I signed, I am
not going to send Narek back. I haven't abandoned my child, have I?
If they take the child, they are first of all responsible for his
health. Our children were still standing on their own two feet when
they brought them back, but we'll find out later whether they have
any diseases,' Narek's mother says.
All of the children returned to Armenia with medical records
regarding annual checkups and individual diseases. There is a
separate document stating that they don't have any contagious
diseases and don't carry any infections. But eight children have
already been diagnosed with malaria, and two of them have been
hospitalized in the Nork Infectious Hospital. `They brought the
disease with them; it is too early for local malaria, this is not a
local malaria,' says head physician Ara Asoyan.
Narek is not going to continue his studies at the seminary. The Zatik
boarding school no longer has a place for him. His English is better
than his Armenian, and it will be hard for him to go to ordinary
school, not to mention his hearing problem. Susanna's only hope is
the Church. She believes that the Catholicos cannot remain
indifferent, since Narek studied at a seminary that the Church is
responsible for.
To be continued
http://www.hetq.am/eng/society/0406-kalkata.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
June 29 2004
Armenian children are neglected in Calcutta
by Aghavni Yeghiazaryan, Edik Baghdasaryan
`We were playing Rugby in the seminary yard and the ball hit me in
the left ear. I felt a stab of pain, and fell into the mud; then the
boys sat me down on the stairs. Then one day when we were playing, my
friend Harutik whispered something in my left ear, I couldn't hear
it, I couldn't hear it at all. Then he repeated it in my right ear
and I heard. I realized that I couldn't hear with my left ear. I told
the doctor. He examined my ear and said that there was nothing wrong
with it. I put medicine into my ear for a few days, and then some
grains of sand came out of it. That was the end of my treatment,'
explains Narek Arshakyan, a student at the charitably-run Armenian
Seminary in Calcutta. Narek was subsequently examined by Doctor
Mirakyan at the Republican Hospital in Yerevan, who told his mother
that it was too late for the hearing in the boy's left ear to be
restored.
The seminary in Calcutta, India was established in 1821 and is headed
by a director appointed by the Catholicos of All Armenians, at the
suggestion of the Board of Trustees. Since 1999, the seminary has
been headed by Sonya John (who is Armenian by origin). Max Galstown,
a member of the Indian-Armenian community, has been sending letters
to us expressing his anxiety about the situation in the seminary
since last February. He says, `This establishment, with a 180-year
history, has been turned upside-down under Sonya John's management.'
Another member of the community, a well-respected woman who had
worked at the seminary with Sonya John, sent a letter to the
Catholicos in 2003 describing John's working style and behavior. She
never received any reply. `Since appointing the director, the
Catholicos has not supervised her work,' Max Galstown wrote us. He
says Sonya John misappropriates donations from Indian Armenians;
under the pretext of allocating money to the hospital, she
transferred 15 million Rupees to the Communist Party of India (of
which she is a member), 30 million Rupees for the construction of the
Armenian Embassy in New Delhi, and so on. `None of the local
Armenians is involved in the administrative matters of the seminary.
We consider it to be a conspiracy against us, and Echmiadzin is
taking part in it,' Galstown writes.
Narek's mother, Susanna Arshakyan, reported her son's hearing loss to
Deacon Tigran from the information department of the Holy See of St.
Echmiadzin. The deacon promised to inform the Catholicos about it.
`The boy has lost his hearing because of negligence; if he had been
examined and treated in time it wouldn't have happened. Our children
are disregarded and neglected there,' Susanna says.
Sixty seminary students came to Armenia in May for a month's
vacation, and were supposed to return to Calcutta on June 18 th . But
only one student, Elisa Matevosyan, and the families of teachers from
Armenia working there went back. The postponement of the return of
some of the students was explained by illness. It is clear that 80
percent of the students who came home for vacation will not return to
Calcutta.
Narek went to Calcutta in 2001, from the Zatik children's home. Narek
has two brothers, and his socially vulnerable single mother decided
to send her son away to study. At the dictation of a Church
representative, she wrote that she had given her consent to her son's
going abroad to study for ten years. She signed another document as
well, but she doesn't remember what was it. `Whatever I signed, I am
not going to send Narek back. I haven't abandoned my child, have I?
If they take the child, they are first of all responsible for his
health. Our children were still standing on their own two feet when
they brought them back, but we'll find out later whether they have
any diseases,' Narek's mother says.
All of the children returned to Armenia with medical records
regarding annual checkups and individual diseases. There is a
separate document stating that they don't have any contagious
diseases and don't carry any infections. But eight children have
already been diagnosed with malaria, and two of them have been
hospitalized in the Nork Infectious Hospital. `They brought the
disease with them; it is too early for local malaria, this is not a
local malaria,' says head physician Ara Asoyan.
Narek is not going to continue his studies at the seminary. The Zatik
boarding school no longer has a place for him. His English is better
than his Armenian, and it will be hard for him to go to ordinary
school, not to mention his hearing problem. Susanna's only hope is
the Church. She believes that the Catholicos cannot remain
indifferent, since Narek studied at a seminary that the Church is
responsible for.
To be continued
http://www.hetq.am/eng/society/0406-kalkata.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress