NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.—Merrimack Valley will join communities throughout the world in rallying around efforts to aid Armenians caught in the turmoil currently taking place in Syria.
A visual aid presentation titled “Armenia Unseen: Among the Mountains, Valleys, and Villages,” will be given by photojournalist Joe Dagdigian, who makes annual trips to his beloved land of Ararat documenting unusual sites.
The program will also include an update on conditions in Syria by Rev. Karekin Bedourian, pastor, St. Gregory Armenian Church, a native of Kessab, Syria, which continues to remain at risk.
The dinner-program will take place on Sat., Feb. 23, at 6 p.m., at St. Gregory Church, 158 Main St. All proceeds will be given to the Syrian-Armenian Relief Fund.
“Conditions are rapidly deteriorating in that battered land,” said Rev. Bedourian. “Schools and churches are being destroyed. People are at unrest. We owe it to ourselves to come to their aid and support a necessary cause. My heart goes out every day to the families who have been tormented, including my very own.”
Dagdigian’s talk will surround photographs he took during his trip to Armenia last summer.
“Most of these sites are almost never visited by travelers,” he said. “They include places near the center of Yerevan which are largely unknown, even by residents in that locality.”
Pictured are monasteries in the province of Lori, accessible only by hiking, along with rare scenes in Artsakh (Karabagh).
“Traveling through the clouds over high mountain passes toward Megri on Armenia’s southern border, there is spectacular scenery and dedicated patriotic villagers,” Dagdigian added. “Included is beautiful scenery at the Cosmic Ray Division’s research station atop Mount Aragats, active excavations at Yerevan’s Shengavit 4th-century millennium BC archaeological site, and Sisian with its rich history and art school.”
Dagdigian is a veteran member of the Lowell ARF, which is sponsoring the event, and also belongs to the Boston Chapter of the Knights of Vartan.
His pet project deals with the Cosmic Ray Division in Armenia, a scientific research station on Aragats, having raised thousands of dollars for that cause.
Last year, Dagdigian launched an Armenian history course at NAASR; a portion of the proceeds benefitted the Shengavit Historical and Archaeological Cultural Preserve in Armenia.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students and may be purchased at the door.
Tom Vartabedian
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