WATERTOWN, Mass.—The Mer Doon (or “Our Home”) NGO has been providing care for 18- 23-year-old “aged-out” female orphans in Armenia for the past 8 years. On Sat., Nov. 10, the organization held a benefit dance at the St. James Charles Mosesian Cultural and Youth Center, featuring the Richard Hagopian Ensemble and a special appearance by longtime advocate of Mer Doon, Nuné Yesayan.
The event began with a warm welcome by Mer Doon founder Julie Ashekian, and founding president Tigranuhi Karapetyan. A short clip followed, detailing one girl’s journey and experiences in the home. A music video then featured many prominent Armenian pop singers, singing on behalf of the organization.
The Richard Hagopian Ensemble performed Armenian songs well into the night, with the exception of a brief three-song performance by Nuné Yesayan. Several of the Ensemble’s tunes were sung in Turkish, however, upsetting some members of the audience.
Donation cards were placed on each table for attendees to contribute. Within just two hours of the festivities, one man had pledged $20,000 to Mer Doon.
For more information on Mer Doon, visit www.mer-doon.com.
Lilly Torosyan
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Ms. Torosyan did a good job of highlighting the fundraising dance for Mer Doon in a very short article with one exception. One point seems inconsistent and lacking context.
Many people where very upset that they could not get into the event because of the room capacity limit (~450). Many people were upset with the difficulty parking due to the large crowd. Only a very few questioned the few turk songs. Yet only the songs were mentioned in the article.
Armenian music as experienced by the Armenian community in America could be grouped into 2 categories. 1) modern eclectic ‘pop’ music from the RofA. 2) folk songs of the 1910 era. The music our grand and great parents brought with them as they fled massacre included some turk folk songs. This music has been frozen in time and preserved by the diaspora. In fact most Armenians in the RofA have never heard them.
So are we capable of hearing a few turk folk songs from 1910? Yes. Would we prefer not to hear them? Yes. But they are part of our history. And the ones selected by the Richard Hagopian Ensemble were fun. The songs were enjoyed by the vast majority of the crowd (as compared to the capacity limit and parking).
So we still make, sell, buy and eat ‘yogurt’; even though we know in our hearts it is madzoon. Mer Doon is a very successful program that keeps young orphaned women off the streets. The cause is noble. It deserves our support . At least more precise editing.