Meneshian: Javakhk: Summer Fun, Christmas Dream

Snow has fallen. It is the last day of September, and Javakhk’s landscape is white again. In the village of Heshtia, Sisters Haguintha, Datevik, and Serpouhi smile at the beauty before them.  They touch the shimmering, powdery softness and look around their convent grounds, surrounded with trees, and at the meandering, icy stream nearby which flows towards the river Kur. They remember the laughter and excitement of their 300 young charges, ages 6-14, and the tents pitched and filled with camaraderie, fun, and learning right here on these very same grounds. Sister Haguintha explains, “Just a few weeks earlier, the tents—our makeshift summer day camp called the Cardinal Aghajanyan Camp—were filled with children. For three months, June, July, and August, the days passed with such joy for them, for all of us. We had two sessions, one for the younger and one for the older children, and the hours were from 8am to 3 p.m. The children studied religion, Armenian language and grammar, computer, drawing, Georgian language, music, needlework, psychology, and sports. We went on hikes, played games, and took our meals together. On Aug. 30, the last day of camp, the campers, our volunteers (nine village schoolteachers and older teenagers), and we, the Sisters, played our final games. To celebrate the occasion, we dressed the children in matching tee shirts and hats with the name of our camp printed on them. That evening after mass, we had a bonfire and great merriment, thus ending this year’s camp season.  On Sept. 2, we Sisters took 36 of our teenagers, who had helped us during the entire camp season, to Batum to enjoy five days at the Black Sea. The boys and girls had never seen the sea before. They had never even been outside of the village before, so you can imagine what an absolutely wonderful time they had!”