TAMAR GASPARIAN REITERATES CONCERNS IN LETTER TO LIGHTHOUSE FOUNDATION
Published: Tuesday December 11, 2012
Dear readers,
Below is my response to Armenian Lighthouse Charitable Foundation
(ALCF). While the organization has tried to intimidate me and turn my
inquiries into a personal matter, I know that people with good judgment
will understand that I have no personal gain or interest. The director
of an organization that is supposed to protect vulnerable and abused
women has actually humiliated and abandoned its beneficiaries.
For example, the director told the reporter of Hetq that Christine,
a former beneficiary, is a “useless member of society” and called her
new born a “sick baby” just because the baby was born with a cleft lip.
Please note that the main problem with this organization is its
director Naira Muradyan and her unprofessional behavior. Yet, nowhere
in its response does ALCF answer my questions about the director
or comment on the humiliating remarks she made publicly about its
former beneficiary.
If you care about women in Armenia who need our support you must
speak up today. One neglected mother is one too many. We can’t
let individuals and, in my opinion, unprofessional organizations
take advantage of our donations and treat their beneficiaries like
“beggars” as Christine claims they were treated at ALCF.
Please read my letters carefully, make your own conclusions and,
most importantly, demand answers from ALCF.
Thank you, Tamar Gasparian
September 5, 2012
To: Seta Ghazarian
Paros “Lighthouse” Charitable Foundation U.S.A.
P.O. Box 3595
Seal Beach, CA 90740
Dear Mrs. Ghazarian,
This correspondence is in response to your letter dated August 31,
2012. As a caring member of Armenian society, I have a responsibility
to bring Naira Muradyan’s questionable and unprofessional actions and
behavior to your and the public’s attention. As well, as a founder
of the organization, you have a responsibility to investigate and
explain to the public why women have allegedly been mistreated in
your organization by Ms. Muradyan.
Before I proceed, I should emphasize that I wrote to you as an
individual and not as the Communications Officer for Fund for Armenian
Relief (FAR). I am saddened and disappointed to see that you actually
involved FAR in your correspondence and copied certain FAR executives
in your response. It is extremely unprofessional of you and I see this
as an intimidation tactic, but unfortunately I have to disappoint you:
your intimidation attempt didn’t work. I will continue doing all
I can to bring attention to this issue and achieve a satisfactory
resolution. Again, my position at FAR has nothing to do with this
letter or my attempt to understand why women were mistreated at your
shelter. I am raising my concerns regarding your organization and
its director Naira Muradyan as a concerned individual.
I am also very sorry to see that you did not understand the purpose
of my letter.
To start, all I did was contact Hetq.am, to explain what Christine
Gevorgyan told me and ask Hetq to investigate the matter. Then I
brought Naira Muadyan’s outrageous behavior to the public’s and your
attention via my open letter in the Armenian Reporter. After all, as an
Armenian and concerned individual, I have every right to question any
injustice or unfairness that has been brought up regarding an Armenian
non-profit organization, whether it is Paros or any other group. All
my questions and concerns were based specifically on Christine’s
story and the article that Hetq.am published on August 10, 2012
(“who-%20are-you?-do-you-know-who-i-am?”.html).
I don’t feel that I need to explain or provide anything else to
justify my behavior. It is a fact that Christine was denied future
care and assistance from Lighthouse Foundation after her baby Angeli
was born with a birth defect. To this day she, Hetq and I have no
explanation from your organization about why Christine and her baby
were not accepted back to the shelter.
As well, other people have confirmed that Naira Muradyan has been
mistreating the women at the shelter. However, these people want to
stay anonymous because Naira Muradyan has threatened them. It is their
right to stay anonymous, and I have no obligation to tell you their
names. In fact, after seeing the intimidation tactic you used against
me by referencing FAR in your letter, I completely support these
individuals’ decisions to stay anonymous. Again, all my questions and
comments to you are based on what Christine told Hetq, and me and how
Naira Muradyan has reacted to the questions asked to her by the Hetq
reporter. You should focus on these aspects. Your refusal to address
these issues could hurt the reputation of Paros. I am simply acting
as a concerned individual. If you are interested to know what others
have to say about your director, please read the comments under the
Hetq article by other individuals revealing Naira Muradyan’s true face.
You are correct in that I did not visit your shelter while I was in
Armenia. However, Christine stated that every time the shelter had
guests or journalists, the women were forced to lie and pretend that
everything was perfect. So why would I take time out of my extremely
busy schedule and visit your shelter if the visit would not be an
accurate representation of how things really are?
Now my questions to you and your organization are as follows:
1. Why was Christine Gevorgyan mistreated in the shelter and
not accepted back after giving birth to Angeli? As an example,
she was ordered to clean the floors while in the eighth month of
her pregnancy. Meanwhile, as Christine mentioned, the shelter has
a cleaning lady who is getting paid to do that work. Also, Naira
Muradyan, the director of the shelter, continuously told Christine
before she gave birth that her baby would be sick, and that she
would give birth to a sick baby. After the baby was born, Naira
told Christine that she would not be allowed to take the “sick baby”
to the shelter. WHY?
2. How do you explain Naira Muradyan’s this statement about Christine,
as cited in the same Hetq article: she is “a useless member of
society.” How can a director of any organization say something so
insensitive and inhumane?
3. How do you explain Ms. Muradyan’s response to the Hetq reporter,
that Christine’s story is not interesting for the public? Instead,
she stated, “There are better stories that are more interesting for
the people.” Are these women just stories for Naira Muradyan and your
organization? Do you choose to help the women based on how interesting
their story is for the public?
4. Why was Nelly Sargsyan, another
beneficiary, evicted from the shelter?
(
social-services.html)
5. Did you know that Nelly ended up giving her child to an orphanage?
Isn’t your organization’s goal to keep mothers and their children
together? What could you tell us about Nelly’s case?
6. Based on what qualifications was Naira Muradyan hired to be the
director of your organization?
7. How does your organization develop and train its employees?
8. How does your organization evaluate and monitor its employees?
9. And last but not least, could you please explain these expenses,
since it is not ?clear from your 2011 990-EZ form how your organization
spent these amounts.
Transfer to Armenia for Sponsors: $32,500 (Did you transfer
sponsors to Armenia?) Transfer to Armenia for Operations: $29,500
(What does operations means in this context and how do you transfer
operations?)?For your benefit, here is an electronic link to the 990-EZ
form: http://207.153.189.83/EINS/264474704/264474704_2011_080d79da.PDF
Mrs. Ghazarian, you had questioned my intentions and motives in
your response to me. However, you must understand that these are
questions and issues that any concerned member of the Armenian Diaspora
would ask. And it is your responsibility to make sure that there is
transparency and communication about these matters, so that Armenians
can have faith and trust in the manner in which your organization
serves its intended recipients and makes a difference within Armenian
society. For this reason, I would appreciate it if your organization
answers my nine questions from above.
Furthermore, I believe that Christine and Angeli were discriminated
and mistreated by your organization and its director Naira Muradyan.
The Hetq article and my conversations with involved people are the
clearest forms of evidence as to where my beliefs are coming from.
Again, your perception of my objectives should not be the main focus
here; what should be important are Ms. Muradyan’s unacceptable behavior
and treatment of Lighthouse’s beneficiaries.
You asked me to respond to you within seven days, and I have. Now,
it is only fair that I ask you to do the same in return.
Also, as both a concerned Armenian and an individual with the right to
freedom of speech in the United States, I reserve the right to publish
any and all communications between us through Facebook, Twitter and
other media outlets, including newspapers, radio, TV and etc. However,
I reiterate that this is done on my own with no reference to FAR.
I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Tamar Gasparian