The Regional Executive Board of the Armenian Relief Cross (ARC) of Syria this week informed the Central Executive Board of the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) that the $100,000 collected as part of the ARS’s “Assistance to Syrian-Armenian Schools Fund” is being distributed to all Syrian-Armenian schools.
According to Anna Hagopian, the chairperson of the ARC of Syria Regional Executive Board, 27 Armenian schools in Aleppo, Damascus, Kesab, Latakia, Kamishli, and other towns have received funds from the $100,000 endowment (see list of schools below). “All the schools outside of Aleppo have been open for months, while the upper classes of the Aleppo schools are held in Armenian centers and in schools located in secure areas. We are hopeful,” Hagopian said, “that conditions will soon be conducive to reopen the grade schools, as well.”
“As we had previously announced, the sums received by the Armenian schools will be allotted to needy students’ tuitions, as well as to the needs of the schools themselves, while also relieving the financial burden on the parents,” said ARS Central Executive Board member Zepure E. Reisian.
In addition to the “Assistance to Syrian-Armenian Schools Fund,” ARS entities around the world continue to raise additional funds for Syrian-Armenian relief. Immediate steps are also being taken by the ARS of Armenia and Lebanon, as many Syrian-Armenians have sought refuge in Armenia and Lebanon.
“The ARC of Syria continues to function in Aleppo and other areas of Syria,” Hagopian said. “After a period of forced inactivity, the ARC has reactivated its dispensary and laboratory in order to meet the existing needs. We have also started a medical assistance center in the Armenian-populated quarter of Suleymanieh. Working against great odds, we energetically continue to help needy families and students, without sparing any effort to extend a helping hand to the children of the ‘Refuge’ (Badsbaran). In the present conditions we are, of course, collaborating closely with the United Body of Immediate Assistance and the Prelacy, particularly with His Eminence, the Prelate, himself.”
The ARS-Armenia Regional Executive Board has formed a committee to manage Syrian-Armenian issues. This committee, which convenes weekly, organizes public gatherings in Yerevan’s “Aram Manukyan” Center, and provides information and guidance on issues faced by Syrian-Armenians residing in Armenia, particularly in the areas of education, health, and legal issues. In cooperation with the “Help Your Brother” Project, the ARS-Armenia Regional Executive Board has shipped much-needed medications to Aleppo, secured through their own efforts and partially received from the ARS-Western USA.
In anticipation of the winter months, ARS-Armenia has also secured food, warm clothing, and blankets for needy families. Narineh Galstyan, the chairperson of ARS-Armenia, is a member of the special committee formed by the Republic of Armenia’s Ministry of Diasporan Affairs to handle Syrian-Armenian issues.
In Lebanon, where community institutions are involved in securing educational and other needs, the ARC has primarily concentrated on social and medical services. The “Araxi Boulghourdjian” Sociomedical Center has provided its resources to, on average, 25 Syrian-Armenian cases daily at the various departments of the ARC.
The Armenian Relief Society is closely following the cases of those college students who left Syria and ended up in Armenia, Lebanon, or elsewhere. Authorities in Armenia have already waived the tuitions for Syrian-Armenian students.
“Twenty-seven ARS entities in various countries were the very first in their Armenian communities to start a fundraising movement to assist the Syrian-Armenian community,” explained Vicky Marashlian, the ARS Central Executive Board chairperson. “The results of that endeavor have already reached Syria and have been allotted to the Syrian-Armenian schools. Our entities and membership continue their fundraising efforts within the community-effort context, while on the ground they actively serve the diverse needs of the Syrian-Armenians.”
“I want to express my deep appreciation to the ARC-Syria membership, still on the ramparts of their duties, doing their very best to serve their people regardless of the prevailing conditions of chaos and insecurity. With the assistance of the global ARS family, ARC-Syria will soon start to supply warm food to needy families, at least twice a week. An initial sum has already been transferred to our ARC colleagues, with the consistent hope that the need for this assistance will end soon. The ARS will continue its discrete endeavors in serving the needs of the Syrian-Armenian community, with a thorough understanding of the seriousness of the present situation, focusing on real needs, giving our very best in a systematic and organized manner,” she said.
Every ARS chapter throughout the world continues to receive donations for the Syrian-Armenian community. The ARS Central office is in daily contact with Aleppo, and is continuously apprised of the rising needs and work being done in cooperation with the all-Armenian fundraising endeavors.
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The following schools have received funds from the $100,000 ARS endowment:
Aleppo: the National Karen Jeppe Jemaran, the National Haygazian School, the National Sahakian School, the National Gulbenkian School, the National Zavarian School, the Armenian Catholic Mekhitarian School, the Armenian Catholic Zwartnots School, the Armenian Evangelical Bethel School, the L. Najarian-Kalousd Gulbenkian School, the Grtasirats-Chemberjian Secondary School, the Cilician School.
Damascus: the National United School, the Holy Translators School, the Sahakian School, the Armenian Catholic “Light” School, the Armenian Catholic “Lighthouse” School, the Armenian Catholic United School, the Armenian Catholic Sisters School.
Kessab: The National “Usumnasirats” United Jemaran, the Armenian Catholic “Hope” School, the Armenian Evangelical “Martyrs” School.
Other: The National Kamishli school, the “Yeprad” School, the Latakia National “Martyrs” School, the Yakoubieh National “Veratznund” School, the Racca National Nubarian School, the Hasakeh National Mesrobian School, the Derik National “Liberty” School, the Ras-el-Ayn National “Martyrs” School.
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