Canadian Armenian photographer, Hrair Hawk Khachrian was recently in Armenia. On Friday December 3, 2004, The Land and Culture Organization seized the opportunity to invite Hawk to screen his film entitled "Desicration". The film focused on the current status of the ancient Armenian cities.

More than 30 LCO volunteers and friends attended the screening after which Hrair Khachrian answered questions and discussed his many trips to the historic lands and Javakhk. He described how the destruction was an ongoing process in Western Armenia and how the remaining monuments were left in a hopeless condition. Hawk is very well known for his exceptional photos of the people and landscape of the Republic of Armenia, Nagorno Karabagh and historic Armenian lands.

Glendale, CA - At every funeral and memorial service, a person's date of birth and date of death is given, separated by a dash (-). Neither the date of birth, nor the date of death is important. What is important is the dash (-). The dash is what represents the life and work of that person. The memory of Surpazan Mesrob Ashjian and the continuation of his work in his absence will allow his spirit to live forever in our hearts.

Over 800 community members were gathered on Friday, December 10, 2004 at the United Community Church to pay tribute to Surpazan Mesrob Ashjian, his life and his ideals, on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of his death.

Organized by the Hamazkayin Western Regional and the Land and Culture Organization (LCO), under the joint Auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, Western Diocese and His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, Western Prelacy, with Master of Ceremonies Prof. Richard Hovannisian, the memorial service honored Surpazan's spiritual strength and humble presence with which he blessed and touched all.

Through personal accounts by Archbishop Derderian and Archbishop Mardirossian, academic inquiries by Prof. Rita Vorperian, and intellectual reflections by LCO guest speaker, Mr. Kegham Kevonian, the resonating message of the evening was that Surpazan Mesrob Ashjian's contributions and service to the Armenian Church and Nation will continue his legacy and keep his memory strong.

The evening was graced with a performance by the Hamazkayin "Kousan" Choir conducted by Prof. Ara Manash. Slide and video presentations of Surpazan Ashjian's life concluded with footage on the Faith and Heritage movement that he envisioned: the youth of Armenia taking responsibility and pride in their churches and monuments.

The Faith and Heritage campaign, which LCO has committed to supporting and continuing in his memory, started four years ago when the Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian conceived to connect today's Armenian youth with their ancestral heritage. He gathered about 150 young volunteers from Armenia, hiked and cleared the areas surrounding historic monuments such as Noravank, St. Khach in Arkaz, Tsakhats Kar, Shadin, Smbadabert, Zorats church and Gndevank to name only a few. The hikes were sometimes challenging and the heat unbearable, but the results were far more gratifying. Armenia's youth rediscovered their own land and their own history, taking ownership of their cultural heritage and awakening their spirit to preserve it. This is the mission of Faith and Heritage.



Archbishop Ashjian was one of the founding members of the Land and Culture Organization (LCO) USA chapter as well as the LCO chapter in Armenia in 1994. The LCO first became involved in the Faith and Heritage project in 2003. Dr Gevorg Yaghjyan, President of LCO/Armenia chapter, explains, "It is in the good memory of Surpazan that the Land and Culture Organization proudly sponsored the 2004 Faith and Heritage program for this year ..." He adds, "Mesrop Surpazan truly understood that through volunteerism, individuals could be brought together not only to serve, but also to learn from their experiences and come out with new and valuable relationships." Dr. Yaghjyan notes that "...attracting a new generation of volunteers who are mentally and physically prepared for service plays a central role in fueling the future corps of active Armenian volunteers in Armenia".

The Land and Culture Organization, in addition to its many projects in historical homelands and Armenia, is dedicated to the Faith and Heritage project and is establishing a fund in the late Archbishop's memory to insure the continuing efforts to discover and preserve Armenia's ancestral heritage.

For more information about the Land and Culture Organization and all its activities, including Faith and Heritage, contact us directly by e-mail info@landandculture.org

On November 6, 2004 from 3pm to 10pm a group of LCO veterans namely Armen Tamzarian, Anais Kadian, Laura MacAulay and Varant Yessayan held a one-day only photo exhibition-fundraiser at Espace Ars Longa, 2320 rue Mont-royal Est in Montreal, Canada.



Over 200 visitors attended the show. The room was filled with emotions and many memories for other LCO veterans who attended the show. There were tears, laughter and pride in seeing photos and installations of everyday life in an Armenian village.

This team of four who initiated this project had volunteered in the village of Shatvan southeast of Lake Sevan and just near the border. They had participated in LCO’s efforts to renovate the two-story school in this village populated mostly by refugees who had fled the massacres in Azerbaijan during the NKR conflict in the late 1980’s early 1990’s.

The village has a population of 840. There are 126 students who attend this school. The organizers have decided that all proceeds will go towards furnishing the classrooms, and buying school supplies for the students of Shatvan.

Archbishop "Surpazan" Mesrob Ashjian was a scholar and author of our past Armenian history. He was a leader in the activities of daily life, religious, social, and cultural. He understood the importance of investing in our youth for our future. He honored our past, lived in the present and worked for the future.

True friendship, like sound health, is seldom valued and appreciated until it is lost. The Hamazkayin Western Regional and the Land and Culture Organization (LCO) are honored to organize and pay tribute to their friend on the occasion of the one year anniversary of his death. This event is open to the public and held under the joint Auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, Western Diocese and His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, Western Prelacy. The Master of Ceremonies for the evening is Prof. Richard Hovannisian. The program will include guest speakers, Mr. Kegham Kevonian, Land and Culture Organization, Paris, France and Rita Vorperian, Ph.D. The program includes performances by Hamazkayin “Kousan” Chorale, conducted by Prof. Ara Manash and slide and video presentations of Surpazan Ashjian’s life.

Please join us on Friday, December 10, 2004 at United Community Church, 333 Colorado Blvd., Glendale, CA at 8 PM, as we honor Surpazan’s spiritual strength, humble presence and gentle humor with which he blessed and touched us all.

On October 22, 2004, LCO-Armenia held a membership meeting at its office on Varatnats 5 where it welcomed twelve (12) new applicants in the organization. The President of this chapter, Dr. Gevork Yaghjyan briefly described the success of the 2004 events and activities as well as presented new plans for the years ahead. He also invited the members to propose fresh new ideas to the board.

This meeting was followed by a veterans’ reunion where local and repatriate LCO members were introduced to one of the newest LCO repat, Julia Martiesian. Julia, who has been volunteering in Vanadzor, Armenia for the past 12 months through the Armenian Volunteer Corps (AVC) is now preparing for a new challenge in Shushi, NKR. She is preparing to work on a community development project with a fellow AVC volunteer. She introduced her new project and welcomed the participation of fellow LCO members.

If you are interested in finding out more about this community development project, please contact Julia directly at martiesian@alum.dartmouth.edu.

"Beast on the Moon" depicts the lives of two Armenian genocide survivors, beginning in 1921 after a portrait photographer meets his "picture bride" with whom he wants to rebuild or resurrect a small fraction of his annihilated family and save them from oblivion.

Kallnoski's 1995 drama has been produced around the world in regional theaters and is due to open in New York City in March 2005.

The production was directed by Rachel Chaves, Heartland's Jean Scharfenberg Award winner, and featured Dan Irvin, Katy Lacio and Greg McGrath.

Also scheduled were two post-performance responses to the play.

The first, on Oct. 23, is a panel discussion featuring Jared Brown, playwright and retired chair of IWU's School of Theatre, and Emine Evered, who has taught courses that concern historical and social dimensions of the Middle East.

On Oct. 24, a discussion will be led by Mark Wyman, an ISU distinguished professor emeritus, whose specialty is the immigrant experience, and Shushan Avagyan, a poet and Armenian citizen doing graduate work at ISU. Shushan is an LCO veteran who has volunteered in Karintak in 1999 and 2000.

The outgoing trip (10-13 October, 2004) to Artsakh for performing some operations at Shushi Hospital, as well as at the Stepanakert Republican Hospital had been planned this August, when our group examined more then 60 patients and chose potential candidates for surgery. A list of 15 patients was made, some recommendations were given (e.g., splint wearing etc.).



Dr. Vigen Khachatryan, MD was informed about the group-staff (what kind of specialists) a week before the trip. Correspondingly, all patients were prepared for surgery (analyses, patients’ histories).

DAY I. The group, consisted of Dr. Gevorg Yaghjyan, MD, PhD (plastic-reconstructive surgeon), Dr. Hovsep Shamakhyan, MD (burn surgeon, Head of the Dpt. of Combustiology, Yerevan), Dr. Mushegh Israelyan, MD (anesthesiologist, Head of the Anesthesiological Service of NKR Army, who is working now at the Cardiosurgery Center in Yerevan), and David Barseghyan (PGY 2, plastic surgery), left Yerevan for Shushi on Sunday for the starting of fair work Monday morning.

DAY II. After the examination of patients the operation list was made for the following 2 days. Anesthesiologist checked the integrity of necessary equipment and surgeons collected sets of necessary instruments for these cases.

Eight patients were operated:
- 2 patients with keloid scars and flexion contracture of the shoulder.
- 1 patient with post-burn scars of the scalp (alopecia).
- 1 patient with bilateral syndactyly.
- 1 patient with keloid scar of the shoulder.
- 1 patient with Dupuytren contracture.
- 1 patient with digital nerve and flexor tendon injury.
- 1 patient with de Quervain’s disease.
Range of patient age was 3-56 years.

The newly repaired OR was not ready for performing surgery yet, but I’d like to note the overhauling of this building. All operations were held in the OR, located on the maternity block floor. Operation table (UMAF) and pulse-oxymeter (ACMAO) were the equipment, which completely correspond their destination. Bad lighting, old coagulator and very old narcosis machine + the absence of defibrillator highly decrease functional value of this OR. We brought with us the following equipment and supplies to manage these operations: pulse oxymeter, pneumatic tourniquet, suture materials, and lidocaine.

DAY III. Consultations of patients and 2 operations at Stepanakert Republican Hospital, where the preliminary work was done by our former resident – Dr. Igor Zakharyan, MD:
- 1 patient with Dupuytren contracture: during this operation we performed digital neurolysis and arteriolysis using microsurgical instruments, donated by ACMAO in 2003.
- 1 patient with old nonunion radius fracture.
The photos during these operations were taken with digital camera, donated to the Hospital by a LCO volunteer – Shant Minas.

While we were performing the surgery, Dr. Shamakhyan began conducting the lectures in the auditorium of Stepanakert Maternity House. He presented 6 lectures, each 1 hour (Burns treatment, Infusion therapy, First aid during burns, Post-burn rehabilitation etc.). After finishing the operations I presented a lecture on the use of flaps for the treatment of burn defects.

I’d like to note good organizing of the seminar. All participants were previously informed by MoH of NKR, so the main part of them was from the regional hospitals, which is very important. Shushi Hospital differed markedly, because it participated in seminars with all its’ staff.

DAY IV. Dressing the wounds of patients of either hospitals. Giving of the necessary recommendations. Immediately before returning Yerevan was a little meeting – discussion of the trip, planning of the future trip and tendencies of such actions...

Dr. Gevorg V. Yaghjyan, MD, PhD

Dr Gevork Yaghjian is the President of LCO-Armenia. He has been an active member with LCO since the late 180's when LCO started its first Summer Campaign in Armenia. Dr Yaghjian has been instrumental in the relations between the Shushi Hospital and the LCO. Fro more information about LCO-Armenia activities you may reach him directly at gevork@landandculture.org

"These people are so rich in spirit, money doesn’t matter for survival. Now I understand where my parents and all our traditions have come from."
Taline Yelena Yepremian, Shoushi 2004, CA, USA