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A CAMP AT PROSHYAN VILLAGE
BY CATHERINE YESYAN
http://asbarez.com/105090/a-camp-at-proshyan-village/
Wednesday, August 29th, 2012
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of being at the opening ceremony
of a day-camp at Proshyan village about 12 km outside of Yerevan. We
arrived at around 11:30 a.m. at the village. Our driver took us
directly to the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) center where boys
and girls were playing in front of the two story building.
This was the second year that AYF Youth Corps had put together a
week-long day-camp for kids ages 6 to 15 at the village. The camp was
in the memory of Karot Mkrtchian, a Proshyan son, who had sacrificed
his life in the war 20 years ago.
Kevork Parseghian, the director of the center, welcomed us and told
us we were right on time. They were just about to start the opening
ceremony by taking the kids to the main square of the village where
Karot's bust was erected.
The leaders and counselors of the camp gathered the kids in rows
according to their heights and together we all proceeded on foot
towards the square which was right at the corner.
Just before entering the square, I had a chance to chat with Nareh
Kupelian, one of the camp counselors. She explained that all 14
counselors, between the ages of 20 to 27, were college graduates from
the United States and had come to Armenia as volunteers for AYF youth
corps program to help coordinate day camps in villages throughout
Armenia and Artsakh.
The group had arrived a month earlier from the US and had already
organized two-week long day camps in four different villages. This was
the last camp that they were going to coordinate. Before assembling
all in Proshyan they worked in groups of seven.
As we entered the square I was pleasantly surprised to see how
tastefully it was landscaped, with a lawn in the center and white rose
bushes surrounding it. Karot's bust was visibly placed in the middle
The campers line up at AYF Youth Corps camp
With the kids lining up in front of Karot's bust, the counselors
began to recite patriotic passages to heighten the energy level
and encourage the kids to respond. Watching the scene, with the
colorful flags waving in the background and kids chanting, stirred
up my patriotic emotions.
The kids each received a long-stemmed white carnation, to place at
the foot of Karot's monument. But before flower dedication, they
sang the Armenian National anthem, which integrates the theme of
sacrificing one's life to free the homeland.
We all grew up with the reverberation of the words of our national
anthem, but the meaning of the words had never been so striking to
me than at that moment when I stood there in Proshyan square at the
foot of Karot's bust, and listened to the kids sing in Armenian:
"Everywhere death is the same. Everyone dies only ones. But lucky
is the one who is sacrificed for his nation."
Karot is one of an estimated 4000 soldiers missing in action. The
last time Karot was seen was June 13, 1992, when he was fighting in
mountains of Artsakh at the age of 28. Karot was the commander of
his troop and his friends and subordinates remember that he refused
to retreat in that intense fight in the mountains... Nobody has
heard from him since then.
Every year on June 13, Proshyan village comes together to remember
him and to make sure he is not forgotten, hoping that one day he will
return. He, alongside other Karots, sacrificed his life to fulfill
our dream of a unified Armenia and Artsakh.
I should admit that I was very impressed by the whole affair. I had
not expected to see such an orderly procession and such neat buildings
and landscaping in a village. Later, I learned that Armenians from
the Diaspora have been responsible for rejuvenating the village.
The building that houses AYF has been there since the Soviet time.
The two-story center was renovated recently and has a gym/recreation
room with showers. The center provides weight lifting, boxing and
marshal arts training as well as a folk dance classes.
It was gratifying to see how the Proshyan AYF center, under the
tutelage of Parseghian, is working hard to build future leaders with
strong patriotic dispositions. Parseghian has moved from Pasadena,
California to live in Armenia to fulfill his father's dream who was
an Armenian Genocide survivor.
I'm so glad I had the pleasure of being there and meeting the leaders,
who work day and night for the Armenian cause. This was another
layer of our homeland that I was not aware.
Catherine Yesayan is a contributor to Asbarez. You may reach her at
[email protected] or read her stories on her blog
BY CATHERINE YESYAN
http://asbarez.com/105090/a-camp-at-proshyan-village/
Wednesday, August 29th, 2012
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of being at the opening ceremony
of a day-camp at Proshyan village about 12 km outside of Yerevan. We
arrived at around 11:30 a.m. at the village. Our driver took us
directly to the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) center where boys
and girls were playing in front of the two story building.
This was the second year that AYF Youth Corps had put together a
week-long day-camp for kids ages 6 to 15 at the village. The camp was
in the memory of Karot Mkrtchian, a Proshyan son, who had sacrificed
his life in the war 20 years ago.
Kevork Parseghian, the director of the center, welcomed us and told
us we were right on time. They were just about to start the opening
ceremony by taking the kids to the main square of the village where
Karot's bust was erected.
The leaders and counselors of the camp gathered the kids in rows
according to their heights and together we all proceeded on foot
towards the square which was right at the corner.
Just before entering the square, I had a chance to chat with Nareh
Kupelian, one of the camp counselors. She explained that all 14
counselors, between the ages of 20 to 27, were college graduates from
the United States and had come to Armenia as volunteers for AYF youth
corps program to help coordinate day camps in villages throughout
Armenia and Artsakh.
The group had arrived a month earlier from the US and had already
organized two-week long day camps in four different villages. This was
the last camp that they were going to coordinate. Before assembling
all in Proshyan they worked in groups of seven.
As we entered the square I was pleasantly surprised to see how
tastefully it was landscaped, with a lawn in the center and white rose
bushes surrounding it. Karot's bust was visibly placed in the middle
The campers line up at AYF Youth Corps camp
With the kids lining up in front of Karot's bust, the counselors
began to recite patriotic passages to heighten the energy level
and encourage the kids to respond. Watching the scene, with the
colorful flags waving in the background and kids chanting, stirred
up my patriotic emotions.
The kids each received a long-stemmed white carnation, to place at
the foot of Karot's monument. But before flower dedication, they
sang the Armenian National anthem, which integrates the theme of
sacrificing one's life to free the homeland.
We all grew up with the reverberation of the words of our national
anthem, but the meaning of the words had never been so striking to
me than at that moment when I stood there in Proshyan square at the
foot of Karot's bust, and listened to the kids sing in Armenian:
"Everywhere death is the same. Everyone dies only ones. But lucky
is the one who is sacrificed for his nation."
Karot is one of an estimated 4000 soldiers missing in action. The
last time Karot was seen was June 13, 1992, when he was fighting in
mountains of Artsakh at the age of 28. Karot was the commander of
his troop and his friends and subordinates remember that he refused
to retreat in that intense fight in the mountains... Nobody has
heard from him since then.
Every year on June 13, Proshyan village comes together to remember
him and to make sure he is not forgotten, hoping that one day he will
return. He, alongside other Karots, sacrificed his life to fulfill
our dream of a unified Armenia and Artsakh.
I should admit that I was very impressed by the whole affair. I had
not expected to see such an orderly procession and such neat buildings
and landscaping in a village. Later, I learned that Armenians from
the Diaspora have been responsible for rejuvenating the village.
The building that houses AYF has been there since the Soviet time.
The two-story center was renovated recently and has a gym/recreation
room with showers. The center provides weight lifting, boxing and
marshal arts training as well as a folk dance classes.
It was gratifying to see how the Proshyan AYF center, under the
tutelage of Parseghian, is working hard to build future leaders with
strong patriotic dispositions. Parseghian has moved from Pasadena,
California to live in Armenia to fulfill his father's dream who was
an Armenian Genocide survivor.
I'm so glad I had the pleasure of being there and meeting the leaders,
who work day and night for the Armenian cause. This was another
layer of our homeland that I was not aware.
Catherine Yesayan is a contributor to Asbarez. You may reach her at
[email protected] or read her stories on her blog