Sunday School Friends Take Their Mission to Armenia

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.—Through much of their young adult lives, Nairi Hovsepian and Victoria (Tori) Kulungian were model Sunday School students at St. Gregory Armenian Church.

Victoria ‘Tori’ Kulungian (left) and Nairi Hovsepian appear right at home in Armenia overlooking the capital city of Yerevan, where they spent the summer on four work-related projects.

Aside from their religious education, they learned all that was offered them about Armenia. When the opportunity came to visit the land of their ancestors last summer, both girls jumped at the chance.

The trip, arranged through the ACYOA and Armenian Service Program, was more work-oriented than casual, taking the pair to remote areas and turning them into young missionaries.

By the time their 20-day junket ended, they worked at a soup kitchen, helped build a home for impoverished victims at the Fuller Center outside Yerevan, conducted a service project at the Gyumri & Octet Music School, and taught English classes and art at FAR Children’s Center, otherwise known as the Fund for Armenian Relief.

They met the Vehapar, His Holiness Karekin II, in Etchmiadzin, got dowsed with water during a religious ceremony typically held 100 days after Easter, and connected with their family roots, especially Nairi.

At Sadarabad, her great-grandfather General Dro Kanayan led the siege at Bash Abaran and Karakelese, ultimately ushering in an independent republic.

Another tender moment occurred at Tatev vank, where they sang sharagans at one of the more remote, yet exquisite, sites in Armenia.

In all, nine students made the journey, seven of them girls.

“I read stories about this and heard my family talk about it,” said Nairi. “Seeing this memorial in person was very emotional for me. The same could be said for Mount Ararat and other sites along the way. I was living the history I had learned at Sunday School.”

With neither one fluent in Armenian, by the second week, they were able to communicate better with the locals. Pictures of them hugging children at the FAR Center were shared during an Armenian Christmas celebration at their church Jan. 6.

“We’re such a technology-focused country, it was an eye-opening experience to see the children living off basic necessities,” Kulungian reflected. “What was special to them like cameras were not as special to us.”

Kulungian’s grandmother (Virginia Shrestinian) also made her first trip to Armenia in September and got to share the experience with her granddaughter. While there, she visited with a niece, Sharistan Melkonian, who has made Armenia her home together with family.

“I also ran into her in Yerevan,” smiled Tori. “We’ve been Facebook friends and spent time together there. It really enriched my heritage and created an awareness about my culture I had never before envisioned. “

Tori is a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire, majoring in business management. She graduated in 2012 from Andover High School, where she resides with parents John and Susan Kulungian, both active members of the church.

This is the church her grandparents also attended, and where grandfather Ara Shrestinian served as choir director and deacon for many years before taking ill. She has remained active with the fall festivals and picnics. For several years, Tori organized and led a “Coats for Kids” campaign throughout the winter months, collecting more than 150 coats one year for the local community.

“I returned from Armenia with a new appreciation of the world, its environment, and a wealth of new friendships,” she described. “We’ve developed networks with other participating students from around the country.”

Nairi is a senior at Westford Academy where she plays ice hockey and serves as a peer counselor for incoming students. She hopes to pursue a nursing career in college.

Her mom Nina sings in the choir and dad Vartkes belongs to the Board of Trustees. In 2011, her essay garnered first place in a contest sponsored by the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee of Merrimack Valley.

Nairi has been a camper and counselor at St. Vartan Camp and attended St. Nersess Seminary. She is also employed at a pediatric doctor’s office and volunteers at Emerson Hospital in Concord.

“It meant a lot to see the country through my own eyes and not the way it was described to me,” she pointed out. “What impressed me was seeing the different ethnic groups that were also touring Armenia. There were plenty of cold showers, but warm hearts.”

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Tom Vartabedian

Tom Vartabedian is a retired journalist with the Haverhill Gazette, where he spent 40 years as an award-winning writer and photographer. He has volunteered his services for the past 46 years as a columnist and correspondent with the Armenian Weekly, where his pet project was the publication of a special issue of the AYF Olympics each September.