Author: Kajoyan Gevork

BRINGING SIGHT TO ARMENIAN EYES
Jeffrey Paretchan

March/April 2012

Dr. Anna Simonyan conducts an eye screening at a school.

Dr. Roger Ohanesian examines a patient.

A patient thanks doctors from the Armenian EyeCare Project for a
successful surgery, which was performed free of charge. Left to right:
Dr. John Hovhannisian, Dr. Asatur Hovsepyan, Dr. Anthony Aldave.

The Mobile Eye Hospital

Surgery takes place inside the Mobile Eye Hospital.

Makruhi Raganyan’s son Hakob received laser eye surgery and was saved
from lifetime blindness.

Dr. Thomas Lee treats Armenian infant Hakob Raganyan.

Related Content

Armenia EyeCare Project

Doctors Save Sight of Armenian Infants

AECP Documentary Part 1

AECP Documentary Part 2

“Imagine a crowd of doctors busy around my kid. They tell me that he
will go blind if not operated on immediately,” said Maqruhi Raganyan.

“It was terrible, and I was in panic,” said the mother of 50-day-old
Hakob Raganyan, recalling her visit to a hospital in Yerevan, Armenia,
during the summer of 2010.

Raganyan confessed that she calmed down only after Dr. Thomas Lee,
a visiting physician and director of the Vision Center of Children’s
Hospital in Los Angeles, Calif., approached her and explained in
detail all possible consequences of the disease for her son.

“I really trusted them, because they seemed very experienced people,”
she said. “Finally, I understood that no matter what I feel, I am not
a specialist and I may make a mistake. I will never forgive myself
if my child goes blind because of my mistake.”

In the post-independence years of the early 1990s, Armenia
was described as a “beautiful and tragic place” filled with
bombed-out hospitals, injured people from the war with Azerbaijan,
and disintegrating infrastructure. Cats roamed hospital corridors to
catch mice, and basic medical instruments like scissors were too dull
to cut tissue. If a patient was facing vision loss, there was little
that could be done.

Still today, many Armenians living in the marzes, or regions, outside
the capital city Yerevan are poor. Patients frequently cannot afford
care. And even when care is available in Yerevan, people from the
regions are often unable to travel there. Armenia’s mountainous terrain
and extreme climate reduce access to many parts of the country. Quite
often people are literally stuck at home without help.

In response to these challenges, Dr. Roger Ohanesian organized what
would become the Armenian EyeCare Project (AECP). The Armenian EyeCare
Project Charitable Foundation, an Armenian-American diaspora-led
organization, launched a program called “Bringing Sight to Armenian
Eyes” in 2003 to strengthen the eye-care system and reduce preventable
blindness in the country.

In October 2004, USAID and AECP joined forces. Through the partnership,
USAID/Armenia helped the AECP roll out and scale up a program that
complemented the mission’s goal of strengthening primary health-care
programs in Armenia. The project ended in 2011.

The AECP doctors and the project’s state-of-the-art Mobile Eye Hospital
(MEH) traveled countrywide to provide high-quality eye care in the
regions, covering 90 percent of Armenian’s communities. The MEH is
a semi-truck consisting of two exam areas, a scrub and prep room,
and a surgical room along with state-of-the-art equipment. Patients
can be screened for diseases and undergo cataract surgery and laser
procedures. Since 2004, the AECP has examined 245,000 people, provided
laser treatment or surgery to nearly 10,000 patients in the MEH,
and distributed 36,000 eyeglasses to vulnerable populations.

“We Will Try to Save Your Daughter’s Eyes”

Gevorg Avetisyan recalls the day he brought his daughter Ani to visit
the eye doctor at the Malayan Ophthalmic Center in Yerevan.

“On that day there were a lot of people on our floor in the corridor.

‘Americans are here! They examine patients!’ people were whispering
all around,” he said. “When we entered the screening room, we saw
one tall American guy with his shorter colleague examining patients
surrounded with a crowd of Armenian doctors. Our ophthalmologist,
Dr. Anna Hovakimyan, introduced Ani to them.

“After they examined my daughter, I heard the best words of the recent
years: ‘We will try to save your daughter’s eyes. There is a special
artificial retina prosthesis, which we will implant.’ We were very
lucky on that day.”

Sixteen-year-old Ani now has 30-percent vision in both eyes, attends
school to learn to read and write, and has discovered a passion for
her new hobby-sewing.

The project not only brought American doctors to Armenia, but provided
medical education and training for Armenian physicians in the United
States.

These doctors returned to Armenia and became heads of departments
and conducted training for other doctors in country.

According to Dr. Hovakimyan, Ani’s physician and a doctor at the
Malayan Ophthalmic Center: “The major success was the combined hard
work performed by the [Malayan Ophthalmic Center] medical staff in
restoring the [patient’s] eyesight. It is very noteworthy that all
doctors were AECP fellows trained in the United States. This is really
a great investment and contribution from AECP.”

AECP organized intensive professional re-training of 61 regional
ophthalmologists, as well as training in the basics of ophthalmology
for 57 family medicine doctors and 773 nurses. More than 1,600 primary
health-care providers in Yerevan and the regions have been trained,
which enabled practitioners to diagnose sight problems at an earlier
stage, thereby preventing longer-term vision issues.

“The best thing we’ve gained from this project is confidence,” said
Dr. Alex Malayan, director of the Malayan Ophthalmology Center.

In the past, difficult patients would be sent to Moscow; now patients
come from Moscow, as well as neighboring countries, to get eye care
in Yerevan, he said. “There is no other program like this in Armenia,”
he added.

Overall the project cost $10 million with the USAID share at $1.5
million, leveraging $6 of funding from partners for every dollar put
in by USAID.

Building Local Capacity

In addition to improving eye health and training medical professionals,
the project has helped increase the capacity of Armenia’s Ministry
of Health. It also led to the creation of a database and analysis
of ophthalmological-disease information in Armenia, which had not
previously existed.

Additionally, the partnership exemplified the significance of
Armenian diaspora engagement, said AECP founder Dr. Ohanesian. “Why
do we continue to go back to a country where there is a lot of work,
a lot of effort, a lot of bureaucracy?” he asked, and then answered.

“I remember one child was brought in. He had penetrating injuries
into both eyes. Both eyes became infected. Both eyes had to be
removed. It had happened six months before. I looked at him and I
said, ‘What can I do? He has already had both eyes removed. But he
is crying-is he still in pain?’ And his parents are crying too,
and the interpreter talked to them and he turned to me and said,
‘No, they thought you brought new eyes from America.'”

“That level of trust in what America can do-and what the diaspora
can do-is what keeps us all going,” Dr. Ohanesian said.

The ending was happier for infant Hakob Raganyan. The ad-hoc laser
treatment lasted until 3 a.m., when the AECP doctors and their
Armenian colleagues completed their job. The surgery was a success
and his mother is full of confidence that everything will be alright
for her only child.

BAGIS: TURKEY WOULD RATHER ARMENIA WITHDRAW FROM KARABAKH THAN EUROVISION

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 16, 2012 – 11:52 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey would rather Armenia withdraw from Nagorno
Karabakh than the Eurovision song contest, Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister
Egemen BagıÅ~_ said, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

“Turkey would prefer Armenia to pull out of Nagorno Karabakh, rather
than from the Eurovision song contest. I think they should revise
their decision,” BagıÅ~_ said.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Can Bonomo, the singer
who will represent Turkey in this year’s contest, at the European
Ministry’s office in Ortaköy, BagıÅ~_ said that competing with an
English-language song was the right choice. “I like the song ‘Love Me
Back’ very much. English is a universal language so it is the right
choice to send Turkey’s message to the international community,”
BagıÅ~_ said.

Armenia’s state broadcaster announced the country was pulling out
of the 2012 Eurovision song contest, saying there was “no logic to
sending a participant to a country where he will be met as an enemy.”

BagıÅ~_ said Azerbaijan had earned the right to host this year’s
contest. “It is all technical. When a country wins the contest one
year, it is assigned to host the next year’s contest. Azerbaijan is
a United Nations member state. No country has the right to condemn it.”

GLENDALE MAYOR PRAISES ARMENIAN-AMERICAN MEDICAL SOCIETY

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 16, 2012 – 14:15 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – With less money in city coffers, Glendale needs to
strengthen its partnerships with local community groups and volunteers
to maintain a high quality of life here, said Mayor Laura Friedman
during her State of the City Address Thursday, March 15.

Friedman told a packed room of more than 200 people at the Chamber
of Commerce event at the Hilton Glendale that more public-private
partnerships are the way of the future.

“We need to think of ourselves in partnership with our nonprofits,”
she said before playing a promotional video highlighting several
local groups, including homeless services and healthcare providers.

Shrinking state and federal grants have slashed funding for city
projects by double-digit percentages and the protracted recession has
bruised the city’s local sales tax base in recent years. But Glendale
can transcend the economic crisis if more people step up to volunteer,
Friedman said.

She likened the situation to the aftermath of the 2009 Station Fire
that scorched Glendale’s hillsides, when volunteers came out in droves
to help clean up and support those impacted by the catastrophe. But
instead of a natural disaster, Glendale is in the midst of economic
turbulence, she said.

“The strength of the city is measured by what people can give to the
community,” she said.

The audience applauded as Friedman praised the accomplishments of
several nonprofits, such as Glendale Parks and Open Space Foundation,
Armenian-American Medical Society and Neighborhood Legal Services.

Local nonprofits have also been impacted by the loss of government
grants. Recently, Glendale’s federal funding for community services
and nonprofits were cut by 35%, which means that many nonprofits
that had received thousands of dollars in the past got zero for next
fiscal year.

Glendale can’t expect extra aid from the state, especially as it
redirects millions in redevelopment dollars from city coffers to fill
a budget shortfall, she said. The city also can’t expect more from
a federal government plagued by political gridlock, she added.

“We don’t have time for politics as usual here at the local level,”
she said. “Our business model has to be built on solutions.”

Glendale officials have used the financial issues – underscored
most recently by deep slashes to the budget last year following an
$18-million budget gap – to reevaluate its organization.

“The reality is, the old way of doing things is over,” Friedman said,
Glendale News-Press reported.

CONSTANTINOPLE ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE SUES FOR SANASARYAN SCHOOL

hetq
13:16, March 16, 2012

The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople has filed a landmark
suit in Ankara for the return of the historical Sansaryan School in
the eastern province of Erzurum, this according to a Hurriyet News
report today.

“Some other foundations belong to [minority] communities, but the
Sansaryan Foundation was granted to the patriarchate by philanthropist
Mıgırdic Sansaryan in the 1800s. The administration and management
of the Sansaryan Foundation legally belong to the patriarchate,”
said lawyer Ali Elbeyoglu, who represents the Patriarchate.

The Patriarchate has also demanded the return of other properties
in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas formerly owned by the
Sansaryan Foundation in the lawsuit it filed March 14.

“We are not going to content ourselves with the mere return of
historical buildings. We are also going to demand compensation from
the Foundations General Directorate for all material losses incurred
by the Patriarchate since 1936,” Elbeyoglu said.

The Armenian community currently owns three small foundations across
the whole of Anatolia. If the patriarchate wins its lawsuit, it will
mark the first time that Turkey’s Armenian community has regained
control of a foundation in Anatolia.

Upon the government’s request, Turkey’s minority groups in 1936 gave
the government declarations detailing their real property. Over the
years, however, many of these properties did not remain registered
under the minority foundations’ names, and some were even sold to
third parties.

TURKISH PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE REFUSES TO LAUNCH INVESTIGATION AGAINST PERSON WHO THREATENED ISTANBUL-ARMENIAN FAMILY

news.am
March 16, 2012 | 10:45

The prosecutor’s office did not accept the petition submitted by the
Istanbul Armenian E.A., who was threatened by his Turkish neighbor,
an attorney by profession, following the February 26 anti-Armenian
protest in Istanbul.

E.A. had gone to the Police and informed that an unidentified
person had thrown a white hat cap into their yard on the evening of
February 27. “In the morning I saw that it was written ‘Do not remain
silent against Armenian lies!’ on the cap. There were caps with this
inscription at the demonstration held in Istanbul on February 26. I
checked my home security cameras and saw that the cap was thrown into
our yard by our district’s resident E.Y., who is the attorney of those
people who earlier had threatened me on numerous occasions for being
Armenian,” noted the Istanbul Armenian, claiming that this cap is a
clear threat against and a danger for his and his daughter’s lives.

But the prosecutor’s office did not accept the petition on the grounds
that the aforesaid white cap is not a sufficient evidence to launch
an investigation.

The Istanbul Armenian’s legal representative said they will appeal this
decision. “Why is it that video camera recordings are always considered
evidence, but this time they were not evidence?”, the attorney noted.

ARMENIAN-LANGUAGE COURSES LAUNCH IN DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY

news.am
March 16, 2012 | 11:20

The Sur City Hall of Turkey’s DiyarbakirProvince has commenced
Armenian-language courses.

The City Hall’s respective statement notes these courses were
launched within the framework of its services rendered in a variety
of languages. “Forty-one people are attending the Armenian-language
courses initiated by Abdullah Demirbas, the Mayor of Sur. The courses
will last three months,” the aforementioned statement reads, Haberler
news agency of Turkey informs.

To note, the Mayor of Sur had also published several Armenian tales in
Turkish and Armenian. Demirbas also launched the Armenian-language
tourist guide for Diyarbakir. And the signs placed on the roads
entering Sur include “Welcome” in Armenian.

The Mayor of Sur had stated they were carrying out efforts so that
the Armenian, Kurdish, Assyrian, and other languages develop in Turkey.

“Tragic events took place with these nations in our history. Turkey
must now confront its history and apologize to these peoples,” Sur’s
Kurdish mayor had said.

NORWAY GIVES $1.2 MILLION TO ARMENIA REFORESTATION PROJECT

epress.am
03.16.2012

The Armenia Tree Project’s 18-year effort in tree planting,
environmental education, and sustainable development was rewarded
this week with a $1.2 million grant from the Norwegian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs. The funding will help to underwrite a portion of
ATP’s core programs through 2014, reads a press release issued by
the non-governmental organization based in both Boston and Yerevan.

“One of the primary objectives of our partnership with the Norwegian
government is to mitigate the impacts of climate change,” explains
SEEDS Program Manager Vardan Melikyan, “and we plan to do this through
raising awareness about conservation issues, planting trees to promote
sustainable development in Armenia, and fostering a sense of personal
commitment about the importance of environmental stewardship.”

ATP launched a new program in 2011 known as SEEDS, or “Social,
Economic, and Environmental Development for Sustainability.” It has
allowed ATP to build capacity in its reforestation programs while
improving results through new methods of program delivery. These
include a greater emphasis on community development and investing in
social capital in the areas where ATP is planting trees.

“Over the past 17 years, ATP has been quite successful at getting
things done on the ground in Armenia, and this was made possible
through the support of the Diaspora,” adds Melikyan. “We believe this
grant from Norway demonstrates an investment in our track record and
commitment to excellence, and we hope it will inspire others to join
in support of our mission.”

The Norway funding will provide partial support for some of ATP’s core
programs including tree planting initiatives in towns and villages
throughout Armenia, an expansion of reforestation programs in northern
Armenia, maintenance of recently planted forests, environmental
education programs that train teachers and inspire youth, and community
trainings for sustainable forest management.

In 2011, ATP’s SEEDS Program planted 186,785 tree seedlings on
community lands in Fioletovo, Jrashen, Katnajur, Spitak, and Tsakhkaber
in the Lori region. The SEEDS team also maintained previously planted
sites to improve survival rates by clearing grass around thousands
of seedlings that survived their first growing season.

“We have ambitious plans for 2012,” notes Forestry Manager Ani
Haykuni. “ATP plans to establish new forests in partnership with the
communities of Saratovka and Sverdlov, which have already provided
nearly 80 hectares of land for tree planting. ATP has been working with
local partners to create small community forests. Towns and villages
that are located far from forested areas are given special attention
in this program, since they are desperately in need of green spaces.”

The seedlings for ATP’s reforestation programs are grown in the Mirak
Family Nursery in Margahovit Village and in backyard nurseries in
the Getik River Valley. These newly planted forests are established
with oak, pine, ash, apple, and pear seedlings which are native to
the region.

“In addition to planting trees, ATP’s SEEDS Program also addresses
community development and socio-economic issues in order to mitigate
some of the root causes of deforestation and unsustainable land use.

This includes providing jobs for hundreds of workers in the Lori region
for seasonal tree planting, and partnering with other organizations
who can bring their development expertise to communities where we are
working,” concludes Melikyan. “These jobs mean people can work in their
communities and don’t have to emigrate to Russia to earn a living.”

Photo: ATP workers digging holes for new tree seedlings at an
afforestation site in Spitak (courtesy of ATP)

Photo (insert): Armenia Tree Project managers, from left: Community
Tree Planting Program Manager Arthur Harutyunyan, Forestry Manager Ani
Haykuni, Nursery Manager Samvel Ghandilyan, Environmental Education
Program Manager Manya Gevorgyan, and SEEDS Program Manager Vardan
Melikyan (courtesy of ATP)

SYUZANNE KHARDALIAN’S FILM MOVES TURKISH AUDIENCE

Tert.am
16.03.12

Grandma’s Tattoo’s, a movie by Swedish-Armenian film-maker Syuzanne
Khardalyan, is said to have deeply touched Turkish spectators.

Some of them decided to share their impressions on Facebook after
watching the film in Istanbul on March 15.

“Suzanne Khardalian’s film screened in Istanbul huge hall was full
of people who wanted to watch the film… We waited protest nothing
happened. After screening everybody was tearful, silent and look
at each other faces… I felt myself guilty, I felt myself dirty,”
on viewer said on on the social networking sight.

The film was screened at the city’s French Cultural Center in the
frameworks of the international women’s festival Filmor.

“The screening was a success. You know it would only be one screening
at 19:00, but there were so many people that they put an extra
screening at 20:00 too. The place was full in both screeningFethiye
Cetin (Hrant Dink family’s lawyer), well known academics, in short
“celebrities” of the Turkish oppositionist community was there. 80% of
the audience were women,” reads a post a Turkish intellectual activist.

Before submitting her film to the Turkish public’s judgement,
Khardalian expressed hope it would serve as a platform for a dialogue.

“It is actually an invitation to deal with our deep-rooted taboos,
taboos that have crippled us, both Armenians and Turks,” she had said.

“When making this film, I understood after long deliberation and
reflection that I had to be in this. Although the film is about my
grandma, it is as much about myself. It is about my reality today.”

The film will be also screened in the towns of Canakkale , Hakkari.

NORMALIZATION OF ARMENIAN TURKISH RELATIONS WOULD BENEFIT BOTH PARTIES, GERMAN FM SAYS

armradio.am
16.03.2012 14:34

The Foreign Minister of Germany, Guido Westerwelle, is visiting Armenia
at the invitation of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. The
two Ministers discussed issues related to the further development of
diplomatic, political and economic relations.

Westerwelle noted that Germany is ready to help Armenia deepen its
relations with the European Union and contribute to the settlement
of regional conflicts.

Speaking about Armenian-Turkish relations, the German Foreign Minister
said normalization of relations would benefit both parties.

CONSEIL CENTRAL DES ARMENIENS D’ALLEMAGNE : ” LE PRIX DE LA TOLERANCE POUR ERDOGAN EST INTOLERABLE ”
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 16 mars 2012

L’annonce de la remise au Premier ministre turc Tayyip Erdogan du
prix Steiger a declenche la fureur du Conseil Central des Armeniens
(ZAD) d’Allemagne.

Le prix est pour la tolerance, l’humanite et l’integration de l’Europe
or ” M. Erdogan et son gouvernement font beaucoup de publicite afin
de s’assurer que les immigrants en Allemagne ne s’intègrent pas. Ils
sont favorable a l’intolerance pour les non-turcs et a l’encontre des
ethnies non musulmanes et sont eloignes de l’ensemble des valeurs qui
cimente l’Europe ” a declare le president de la CED Azat Ordukhanyan
dans un communique de presse.

Attribuer le prix a M.Erdoðan est ” intolerable ” au vue du manque
de tolerance et d’humanite du gouvernement Erdogan face a la question
de la minorite des Armeniens.

” Nous sommes toujours en attente, ces 97 dernières annees, du fait
que la Turquie nous permette de faire le deuil de nos 1,5 millions
de victimes du genocide de 1915. Au contraire nos compatriotes sont
soumis a de violentes represailles ” a declare Ordukhanyan.

La remise du prix devrait avoir lieu le 17 Mars a Bochum.