Editor’s Note: These are the formal remarks that AYF New Jersey “Arsen” Chapter Executive member Niree Kaprielian delivered at the December 3 Camp Javakhk fundraiser in New Jersey.
In 1933, General Karekin Njteh had a dream of uniting our people and forming a place for the youth to thrive from their roots. This is a revolutionary organization that, in the face of assimilation, supports the continued rebirth of a new Armenia.
After the First World War and the injustices the Armenian nation suffered in 1915, the surviving Armenians migrated to other nations in search of peace and opportunity. Today, we are gathered here in efforts to provide support to Javakhk, an Armenian region in Georgia with a population of diasporan Armenians who were also forced to leave their homeland.
Camp Javakhk is a program of the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) that consists of day camps in the towns of Akhalkalak, Akhaltskha, Ninotsminda and Dzalka. These camps are organized and planned by a committee of Armenian youth from the Eastern US. The camp is free of charge for participants. With donors like you, lunch, snacks and school materials are provided. Camp counselors are Armenian youth volunteers who travel to Armenia and Javakhk to connect with their homeland and cultivate bonds with fellow Armenians.
The beauty of this experience is that, as youth from the diaspora of the United States, we go there in hopes of providing these children with the privileges that we are lucky to have here in the states. Here, every year, we send our children to Camp Haiastan, or similar camps, as a way of cultivating their childhood experience that people yearn for and is so easily accessible to us. In Javakhk, this opportunity is not as easily accessible. Year after year, we have hit obstacles and challenges due to the Georgian government and their heavy restrictions on the Armenian population. We experience these challenges for a few weeks, but the Armenians of Javakhk are subjected to these challenges day in and day out, 365 days a year. Despite these challenges, we still go with the intent to provide them an experience that will help them sing and dance and learn about the Armenian culture, history and heritage and be able to be proud and open about who they are.
We visit a place like Javakhk, and we return to the US humbled because, despite the challenges that our brothers and sisters face in Javakhk, there is no one more proud, no one more happy, and no one more willing than the youth of Javakhk. We go with the hopes of giving these young people the hope of a better future, but in reality, when we leave, they provide us the hope that the Armenian nation will survive and thrive no matter where you find it in the world and no matter what obstacles we face.
The reality is that no matter how much or how little these children have, they never forget where they come from.
Our work in Javakhk has given these children hope. It has also given them strength and has shown them that they are not forgotten. What these young people don’t realize is that they have given every single volunteer counselor the same hope and strength in return.
Being Armenian should be fully ingrained in someone. It’s a commitment. It’s a responsibility. It’s not just a responsibility to ourselves; it is a responsibility to honor our martyrs and ancestors. It is our responsibility to our future generations. For if we do not sing and dance and pray, we will be giving the enemy exactly what they want. We have an obligation to advocate for our people and thwart the efforts of our enemies. This is why Javakhk is such an important cause. In numbers we are small, but our capabilities are great.
Time and time again, we have shown our ability not only to rise, but thrive, through the ashes. We can continue to work toward the mission of the AYF-YOARF to create a free, united and independent Armenia.
Niree Kaprielian
Latest posts by Niree Kaprielian (see all)
- “This is not the end.” - September 27, 2023
- The Hope of Camp Javakhk - December 14, 2022
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