aiwa sf newsletter june 2014 published

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AIWA – Armenian International Women’s Association –SF Affiliate’s Newsletter JUNE 2014

My experience at AIWA for the last few years has changed the way I look at the world. AIWA empowered me in many

ways, helping me gain a new perspective and appreciation for every-thing taking place around me. Incredible support from

various corners of the community inspires our dedicated team to continue building on what we have created with passion.

This newsletter highlights the impact of AIWA-SF’s ongoing initiatives, and updates are provided on all our active programs

and sponsorships, including Mer Hooys educational programs, after school English program in Dsegh village, English program

at “Bridge of Hope” in Dilijan, and business skills training opportunities for women entrepreneurs. We are also in the process of developing

health education initiative to carry out in rural Armenia soon. This long-envisioned and much-needed undertaking will be focused on the

preventive aspect of the health care and management in the country through knowledge advancement.

AIWA-SF continues to explore new opportunities, addressing the needs and interests of women and young girls in Armenia, preserving its

commitment to the vision that has been set since its inception – empowering women through creating educational and employment

opportunities for them to grow, progress, improve, achieve and succeed.

We are very pleased to feature Anita Serebrakian in this issue, sharing with you her journey of sending both of her children, Ani and Arman,

to the Olympics.

Dear to our heart, this newsletter also asks the community to come together to support Karine Baghdasarian, a Bay Area young mother, as

she battles a very aggressive cancer.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Gaiane Khachatrian

President, AIWA-SF

WELCOME TO THE AIWA – SF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE!

Kohar Der Simonian, M.D.

Dr. Kohar Der Simonian serves as Assistant Clinical Professor in both the departments of Family and Community Medicine and the Obstetrics and Gynecology at UCSF. She is the reproductive health faculty lead for the Family Medicine Residency program, and serves as Director of the TEACH Program which provides curriculum development, professional advocacy, and training support in reproductive health for family medicine residents. Dr. Der Simonian completed medical school at the University of Vermont and residency training in Family and Community Medicine (UCSF Family and Community Medicine). She completed a fellowship in Reproductive Health at the Beth Israel Family Medicine Residency Program in New York City.

Hasmik Arzumanyan, M.D.

Dr. Arzumanyan is a board certified Endocrinologist working at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center Prior to her joining Kaiser, Dr. Arzumanyan served as an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California Davis Health System. She completed her residency program in internal medicine at Sinai Hospital of Johns Hopkins University, followed by the completion of a fellowship program in Endocrinology at Stanford University.

Ani Tajirian, M.D.

Dr. Ani Tajirian is a dermatologist and Mohs Micrographic Surgeon in Oakland, California. She completed medical school at Alpert Medical School - Brown University, and residency training at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. She went on to do a fellowship in Mohs Micrographic Surgery and procedural dermatology at the University of Vermont. Her interests include dermatologic surgery, early detection of skin cancer and laser surgery.

Christine Soussa-Saghatelian

Christine is an accomplished Business Executive with expertise in sales, marketing, business development, branding and contract negotiations. An entreprenuire at heart, she is owner of Dadiva Shop, an online store. She studied at Pepperdine University and has a double major in English with an Emphasis in Writing and Rhetoric and Political Science with an Emphasis in International Relations .

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FEATURED STORY

A FAMILY AFFAIR: ANITA SEREBRAKIAN’S JOURNEY OF SENDING HER CHILDREN TO THE OLYMPICS’

By Christine Soussa-Saghatelian

I had the pleasure of meeting with Anita Serebrakian. On a sunny day, over a coffee

we chatted about her journey as an Armenian Mom who has sent both her children to the

Olympics. Anita was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to America in 1980s, she got married to

her boyfriend from back home (her current husband) and moved to Detroit so she could

support her husband as he completed his medical residency.

As we start chatting, I am struck by her calm demeanor. The Serebrakian family has

experienced an incredible journey, not once but twice! In 2010 Anita’s youngest daughter Ani

represented Armenia in the Olympics hosted in Vancouver, Canada. Most recently her son Arman

represented Armenia in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Both are alpine skiers, and Anita says her

kids grew up “as twins”.

When asked how skiing became the sport of choice, especially for a California family she shared that California is actually an ideal ski state.

Many top Olympic medal winners are from California: Julia Mancuso, Jonny Moseley, to name a couple, it’s a shame that California universities do not

support the sport and thus many athletes, like both her children, seek higher education out of state.

She accredits her husband for transcending his passion for skiing to the family. Her husband, Armen, has an innate love for skiing and taught

Anita how to ski. With a giggle she says “she learned so she could keep him company”. After they had kids, it was only natural that their children learn the

sport as well, so they could have something fun to do as a family. By the time Ani and Arman were 4 and 6 they were already competing on the Northstar

Racing Team. It turned out that both kids showed great potential, they were “more than just a good skier”.

And from there, their love, passion and dedication to the sport grew. Rain or shine, their winters were devoted to skiing; Anita jokes saying “we

would tell our local Armenian friends, please don’t forget about us, we are free starting April”. During the months of December – April they would spend

every Thursday-Sunday in Lake Tahoe so their children could ski, train and practice. She says that because both her children kept good grades, throughout

their education schools were okay with Ani and Arman being absent from school on Fridays. Since they could only train on the weekends, her husband

kept them on track. They would play tennis to stay fit and dry land train with their Dad’s coaching.

By the time the kids were 10 and 12 they had qualified for the World Jr. Cup hosted in Whistler Canada. Anita says this was a “huge honor” for

her at that moment she said if the kids wanted to stop then Armen and her would have supported that, but since her kids loved it and since they showed

exceptional potential, she would support them unconditionally.

The Serebrakian love for skiing is a true Family Affair. As they would spend their weekends in Lake Tahoe they started to make dear friends, and

this made both the competitive and personal side of the sport fun. I am struck by her routine. She adjusts herself and says “okay this was my routine,

those days I had so much energy. We would leave for Tahoe on Thursday night and the kids would be on the slopes by 8:30am on Friday.” My favorite

part of this story is when she starts speaking about food saying “I had the menu planned, as an Armenian mom, you know we don’t do convenient food

and I didn’t want my kids eating outside lunch. So I would have 3 days of food ready. When the kids would come down from the slopes into the eating

area the whole cafeteria would smell like Armenian food. Other kids would look at Ani and Arman and wish they had a home cooked meal. Since we are

Persian Armenian many of the other families would ask ‘why is your rice always a different color’. So in many ways I showed my support by being present

and by feeding them”.

I asked her, when did things change, when did the Olympics’ become an option? She said in January 2005 Arman was about to be chosen for the

USA Olympic Team, but around then he had an ACL injury and couldn’t join. At that point she switches into Armenian and sitting upright she says, “you

know the Armenian saying ‘chka chareek arantz bareekih’… Yes, Arman was upset but this ended up being the best thing because he was able to go to

college.” Arman went to the University of Colorado at Boulder and excelled academically and athletically. He was on the NCAA Ski team for 4 years and

afterwards was also the Assistant Coach to the University team. She says right around that time, we learned that Arman and Ani could represent Armenia,

“with that news a light bulb turned on in Armen’s head”.

Family Affair – Continued on next page

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Family Affair –Continued

Ani represented Armenia as one of the first and only female Armenian skiers in the 2010

Olympics in Vancouver. You can see the elation of pride on her face and hear it in her voice as she

speaks of the journey and what it represents.

She says Arman’s experience was different, “he was not selected for the Armenian team,

despite being the top ranked male Armenian alpine skier in the world. Thus, he chose to enroll in

medical school after completing his undergraduate education, and two years later decided to take a

year off to pursue his dream one final time. “He had to start all over” with a jolt of pride she says,

“and he did it!” She speaks of her son’s remarkable dedication, athleticism and of the Armenian

community, who through social media, fundraising and word of mouth raised over $50,000 to help

send Arman to the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Another favorite story Anita shares is about an Armenian Mom’s heart…

I asked her what it felt like to watch her children. She responded that after both her children had

few incidences on the slopes, and she would see her children come down the mountain on a

stretcher, she stopped watching. “As a mom, my heart would come out of my mouth, so I would

not watch them, I just couldn’t”. Then she smiles and says, “but the Olympics’, I watched! I would

rock myself back and forth and talk to the TV”, as she tells the story she starts rocking, “I’d say

‘Go Ani, slow down’, ‘Keep it up Arman, turn”, with a giggle she says “I don’t know if I was talking

to them as a coach or if I was talking for me”.

Speaking of Sochi she says the experience was unbelievable. As many Russians do not

speak English she was comforted and surprised at how many Armenians there were in the city of

Adler, where almost 60% of the population is Armenian.

I asked Anita what advice she would give to Moms, and after thinking a moment she said:

- If you see potential in your children, do not stop it because of your own selfishness,

but support and mold it

- Embrace it, whatever IT may be

- Make it fun

- Teach your children that there is a place for everything, you can do everything in the

right time

In closing Anita says, “when I think about the journey I throw up my hands and say ‘OH MY GOD!’

It’s been incredible. As an immigrant living in the US people encouraged us to get our

children involved in sports, because it would open doors to good colleges. My children are both

remarkable Olympic Athletes and their athleticism didn’t open doors to University, so do things that

are fun and natural for your family. Above all always love and support your family, that’s what Mom’s

do”.

AIWA-SF congratulates the Serebrakian family, and applauds Anita’s unconditional love

and support to her family and children. Many congratulations to Ani and Arman for

representing Armenia and for being such an incredible role model to other Armenians!

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Women Entrepreneurs in Rural Armenia

AIWA-SF Sponsored Pilot Seminar in Yerevan

In its continued effort of promoting the professional growth of women in rural Armenia, AIWA – SF sponsored an educational seminar for women entrepreneurs in Yerevan, organized by Homeland Development Initiative Foundation (HDIF), through the Paros Foundation's 100 for 100 Projects for Prosperity. Almost 50 female entrepreneurs representing ten regions of Armenia, along with Peace Corp volunteers and Armenia based NGO employees, had the opportunity to learn about Armenia's taxation regulations. The seminar was received very well by all producers that attended, including, Berd Bears, Talin Dolls, Goris Crochet, Vardenis Sewing, Kapan Crochet, Margahovit Woodcrafts, Goghovit Knitts, Chinchin Sewing, and Spitak Bags.

AIWA-SF representative in Armenia, Lucineh Kassarjian, reported that the first in its kind seminar was filled with lots of energy and enthusiasm, leaving the participants with the feeling that they finally were part of something very important, which brought out a sense of self-sufficiency and independence. AIWA-SF will continue sponsoring such training opportunities for women to achieve the artisan self-employment growth and job creation plan.

Women Entrepreneurship Program (WEP)

AIWA – SF continues to support the growth and the success of the Women Entrepreneur Program (WEP), an umbrella project of AIWA that is implemented by the American University of Armenia (AUA). For the last eight years the WEP program created platform for innovative women entrepreneurs in Armenia, teaching them skills and strategies needed to start a business and succeed in it.

We are pleased to announce the 6 winners of the WEP 2013 program, out of 32 young participants, who joined the program bringing their unique entrepreneurial ideas to have the opportunity of becoming successful business women in the future. Silva Yuzbashyan, with her Syrian-Armenian Cuisine business, and Anna Zakaryan with her Nursery Growing African Violets took the first two places. Ayta Santurian, with her Armenian needlework, and Sona Sahakyan, with her ExpLori Camping Area in Stepanavan, were the second place winners. Askhen Chaljian, with her Handmade Trinkets, and Tatevik Avetisyan, with her Eco Architecture and Design Studio in Yerevan, were granted the third place. “The WEP program gave us the opportunity to get away from the devastation in Syria and focus on what to do to rebuild our lives”, remarked, Silva Yuzbashyan, the first place winner for her business plan at WEP program at AUA.

Raising Confidence through Education: Disadvantaged Teenage Girls at the Mer Hooys Program AIWA-SF continues to support the educational programs at Mer Hooys, including Computer and English classes. The affiliate receives monthly learning assessment reports from the teachers, and recommendations. The girls areimproving their English and are encouraged to practice English in their daily communications. The girls are also honing their computer skills and learning software applications. AIWA-SF and Mer Hooys are grateful to those, who help both

organizations give the disadvantaged young girls the opportunity to be

equipped with knowledge and skills, in order to have means to take care

of themselves when they leave the Center.

JOIN AIWA – SF [email protected]

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Building Bridges for Brighter Futures

“Bridge of Hope” in Dilijan

The “Bridge of Hope” was first established in Yerevan in 1996, and

now includes four branches in Tavush Province, including

Noyemberyan, Ijevan, Dilijan and Berd. In addition to offering speech

development, social skills trainings, art and physical therapy to the

Armenian youth with special needs, the Dilijan branch also serves as

a community space that hosts and leads seminars and discussions on

gender equality, environmentalism, and volunteerism for local

youth.

AIWA – SF is pleased to support the creation of English Program at “Bridge of Hope” in Dilijan to promote learning for 75 students and 23 female staff members, as well as, creation of employment for Christina Aslanyan, young Armenian woman, who is enthused to bring her knowledge and energy into the classroom, fulfilling her own professional aspirations.

Promoting Hope at “Bridge of Hope”

With AIWA – SF affiliate’s support,

Christina Avanyan has been appointed

to teach English language at “Bridge

of Hope” in Dilijan.

Christina was born in Karachina, Azerbaijan, and moved to

Armenia at the age of 5. She graduated from Vanadzor State

Pedagogical Institute majoring in English language. She taught

English for several years at Dilijan State College (a vocational

high school), and is now very grateful for the opportunity of

bringing her knowledge and experience to “Bridge of Hope”,

gracefully embracing the challenges faced in working with

students with disabilities. Christina’s philosophy is to

encourage the minds to think, the hands to create and the

hearts to love!

.

After School English Program at Dsegh Village

This is the spirit that exists at the After School English

Program in Dsegh village. As they say “A picture is worth

thousand words”. All we can add is that the English teacher,

Mrs. Anush Ghorkhmazyan, makes learning an exciting

experience for the students through her interactive teaching

approach. Vocabulary quizzes, proverbs, poems, songs and

drama are part of her weekly curriculum, which are

considered to be creative methods for foreign language

acquisition. Mrs. Ghorkmazyan does not have any children,

however she has 40 spirited students that she treats the way

she would have treated her own children.

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AIWA-SF Empowering a Remarkable Teacher Whose Influence Can Never be Erased

Teaching is an Adventure for me!

My students and I always look forward to our English classes. Teaching English is not simply a paying job, it

is an adventure for me. It is a gratifying experience both professionally and personally, and for that, I thank

AIWA-SF from the bottom of my heart! They gave me the opportunity to do what I love at a professional

level, meanwhile make a difference for the youth in our scenic village of Dsegh. We have tourists in our

beautiful village almost every season, and very recently, some of my students accompanied a tourist group

during their visit to Hovhannes Toumanyan’s museum, a distinguished Armenian writer, and witnessing my

students communicate with the visitors in English language, validates the work that I do. We are very fortunate to have rich library resources,

which I use to help students develop their reading comprehension, grammar knowledge, building vocabulary and working on their

pronunciations.

While we focus on academics, we also find time to celebrate the holidays. On February 14th

we celebrated the Valentine’s Day, and my

students made March 8, Women’s International Day, a special one for me. They pleasantly surprised me when I stepped into a beautifully

decorated classroom and heard them recite the “Mother o' Mine” poem by Rudyard Kipling. They are not simply learning another language,

they are developing good habits and values. We are now working to put together a play “The Master and the Laborer” by H. Tumanyan. The

students can’t wait to perform in our village community!

Anush Ghorkhmazyan

Health and Wellness of Women in Armenia

Under its newly adopted initiative, intended to address the health and wellness of women in Armenia, AIWA-SF created an opportunity for women entrepreneurs, travelling to Yerevan from various regions to attend the business seminar in February of 2014, be screened for health conditions. We worked with the American Armenian Wellness Center (AAWC) in Yerevan to carry out this mission. Follow up arrangements are being made for those women, who have been diagnosed with health conditions.

It was reported that 90% of those women never had medical screenings before. The

unfortunate reality is that women tend to have checkups only when the health

situation is dire and most of the times irreversible.

AIWA-SF will make continued efforts to provide such

opportunities for women in the future, with the longer-

term objective to help them understand that health

screenings are important for maintaining good health.

Under the same initiative, AIWA-SF continues to address the needs of the domestic violence victims in Armenia through securing their health screenings upon arrival to the shelter. About 20 to 30 victims that are sheltered each year with the support of Women Support Center (WSC) in Armenia, will closely be monitored for health conditions at the AAWC in Yerevan.

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The Strength of Armenian Women in the Time of War

The Unsung and Unrecognized Heroes Many Armenian women fought in the Artsakh Liberation War in the Nagorno-Karabakh

years ago, some of them serving as nurses, saving lives, others simply joined to fight in the

front-line for their country. A few miraculously survived and returned home, to a future

threatened by poverty, unemployment, and loneliness.The once courageous fighters, are

vulnerable and shattered human beings today, barely making the two ends meet, living in

extreme poverty, devastated, neglected and with no hope for better future. They do not

receive any support from the Armenian government, no recognition for their contributions

to the war, and continually struggle to create stability for themselves and their families.

AIWA-SF was able to locate some of those mistreated veterans, to provide immediate

financial support for their basic needs, with a longer-term objective in mind, helping them

and their families in a more meaningful way in the future.

Manushak Abgaryan, among survivors, raised her twin daughters, Arusyak and Suzanna, without any support, after losing her husband.

The vivacious teenagers have music aspirations, attending Avet Gabrielyan’s Art School in Yerevan, with a big dream to have their own

music studio one day. The mother continually struggles to pay for their tuition at the art school, and reached out to AIWA-SF for help.

With the generous contribution of long-standing supporters of AIWA-SF, Rouben and Sofia Amirbekians, the organization was able to

provide tuition assistance to the disadvantaged teenage girls, giving them the opportunity to continue their music education, graduating

next year, with the hope to realize their dreams in the future.

These heroes have a unique perspective that is outside of the accepted role of an Armenian woman, and AIWA-SF team is content to be

able to help them, reviving that hope that they lost long ago.

Please meet the brave, at the same time, helpless women, and listen to their absolutely heartbreaking stories in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuTabGrWg2Y

Rewarding Hard Work and Determination Two of the students at Mer Hooys English class, Lilit and Varsenik, demonstrated high performance in learning the language, and progressed fairly quickly, standing out among their peers. With the intent to keep them continually challenged, encourage and promote their continued academic advancement, the girls have been separated from the other two groups, who have their own pace in learning.

“Success is possible if we work hard, and do our best”, said Lilit, who loves to read, and whose favorite writer is Aleksandre Dumas. “I am very passionate about reading, but my long-term objectiveis to become an accountant, and be the best specialist in my area that I can be”.

“Receiving higher education is one of my highest priorities now”, shared Varsenik with her English teacher, Ms. Gayane Shmavonyan. ”My goal is to pursue an undergraduate degree in English with a minor in Spanish. Securing a promising future in my professional life is imperative for me, however being surrounded by a loving family and devoted friends is equally essential for living a happy and meaningful life. I hope I am not asking for the moon”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuTabGrWg2Y

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Promoting Professional and Personal Success of Women: Interactive Educational Seminar on

Emotional and Social Intelligence

AIWA – SF held an interactive educational seminar on emotional and social intelligence in collaboration with Irene Gyulnazarian Educational Fund for Armenia (IGEFA), a non-profit organization, established in 2003, in memory of Irene Gyulnazarian, with a mission to support academic and cultural institutions in Armenia. Irene was an amazingly gifted young woman, whose life was cut short by a tragic car accident.

Dr. Ruzanna Ohanjanian, the founder of IGEFA, and California licensed Clinical Psychologist, Educator, Executive Corporate Coach, with over twenty years of extensive experience led the seminar, introducing the participants different aspects of emotional intelligence, and explained the steps in developing emotional competence, highlighting the fact that the organizations learning to operate with emotional competence will remain vital and dynamic in the competitive marketplace of today and the future. Her explanation of emotional intelligence as a vital ingredient to being a good parent and a partner generated many questions from the participants. Both organizations, AIWA – SF and IGEFA, share the notion that in today’s challenging work environment, the better individuals read themselves and their environment, the better they will be able to manage stress, relationships, and obstacles, hence the seminar to address it. The proceeds of the seminar went to support a young Armenian mother fighting an aggressive cancer.

Battling Lymphoma – AIWA-SF Asks for Support for Karine Baghdasarian Karine Baghdasarian is a 32-year-old single mother. In December 2013, she was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma, and has undergone several rounds of chemotherapy at Kaiser Hospital, however she did not go into remission. Karine is not giving up her hope that she will fight the deadly disease. “I hope and pray that this does not happen to any parent out there, because there is no way to stop fighting and tell your child that you are going to leave them”. - Karine

AIWA-SF affiliate has been very supportive of Karine and her daughter since she has been diagnosed with the disease, and the organization is now asking broader community to help Karine reach her $100,000.00 goal as she seeks treatment at the Stanford Oncology Center. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to Karine through AIWA - SF, please follow this link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NA5Z9343TLHG2 . Thank you!

We pray for a miracle for Karine and her daughter…

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NA5Z9343TLHG2

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AIWA – SF Affiliate’s Treasurer Speaks at the Institute of

Internal Auditors International Conference

in Armenia

Marina Gouchian, a Certified Public Accountant

(CPA) and Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), was

invited to be a guest speaker at the Institute of

Internal Auditors (IIA) Annual Conference held in

Armenia on May 15, 2014. Established in 1941, the

IIA is an international professional association with the mission to provide

dynamic leadership for the global profession of internal auditing through

providing comprehensive professional educational and development

opportunities, standards and other professional practice guidance, and

certification programs, educating audiences on best practices in internal

audit, and bringing together internal auditors from all countries to share

information and experiences. Globally, The IIA has more than 180,000

members, who work in internal auditing, risk management, governance,

internal control, information technology audit, education, and security. Ms. Gouchian spoke about internal audit and fraud, providing general

guidance to participants to comply with professional standards, highlighting

the fact that fraud negatively impacts organizations in many ways -

financially, reputational, and through psychological and social implications.

Marina is a Senior Manager of Internal Audit at Safeway, a Fortune 100

company. Prior to joining Safeway, she was an Assurance Audit Manager at

the Ernst and Young Palo Alto office, where she led financial audits for

major high-tech and biotech companies.

Marina was born and raised in Armenia, earning her MBA in Finance at the

American University of Armenia, and B.A. in Economics from the Institute of

Economics in Armenia.

Making Difference in the Lives of

Disadvantaged Teenage Girls: Helping

Them Believe in Themselves

Newly Appointed Executive Director at

Mer Hooys Program

Ms. Syuzanna Juharyan joined the Nakashian Children’s Support Center in Yerevan in February of 2014, to carry out the responsibility of the management and the overall implementation of the Center’s programs, ensuring inclusiveness of the interventions and the responses to the needs of the beneficiaries. Ms. Juharyan holds a Master of Science degree in Social Work and Social Administration from Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, and a BA degree in Sociology from Yerevan State University (YSU). She currently serves as a faculty member at the Department of Sociology at the YSU, teaching case management, social group work, and history of social work. Prior to joining Mr Hooys, Ms. Juharyan worked with Fund for Armenian Relief and Children’s Support Center Foundation (FAR Children's Support Center), serving as an Expert in Development and Implementation of Integrative Social Services in Armenia. “My mission at Mer Hooys is to bring the girls to an understanding that life creates obstacles and opportunities at the same time, and it is their choice on which of them to rely and go forward”, remarked Ms. Juharyan. “Through the assistance of our multidisciplinary team, the girls can develop into self-controlled, self-confident, all-round educated young women and responsible citizens. We are grateful to AIWA-SF for providing educational opportunities to our girls in developing English and computer skills. Our ongoing and future plans are targeted to promote higher education, participation in diverse historical and cultural events, social and educational trainings and help the girls shape their future”.

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AIWA –SF asked Armenian Women in the Bay Area Community:

WHAT MAKES ARMENIAN MOMS DIFFERENT?

Here is what they had to say:

Being an Armenian mom is a difficult task – Keep the heritage, culture and meet the

communities’ expectations. Armenian mom’s would love to have the best for their

children, we give things up for them, we sacrifice our life to please our children.

Kherat: Have patience, Faith and trust your children through God’s blessings.

Armenian Mom’s love their family more than they love themselves; their love is

unconditional towards their children.

~Beirut, Lebanon 1956

An Armenian Mother should develop the

following in her siblings, love of family,

community, religion and Armenian culture. She

should make sacrifices for the wellbeing of her

family. Finally she should encourage the

preservation of the Armenian heritage for

future generations.

~ Astrakhan, Russia 1915

Love her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Takes care of family by providing food, of course Armenian, made with love. ~Beirut, Lebanon 1929

A young girl born and raised in Armenia of my generation thrived to possess all key characteristics aka "good wife and Mother". In my case I took this concept to the next level by diligently crafting my capabilities to fulfill the best role model as wife and mom. To be a "Good or exceptional mom" in the Armenian culture the characteristics are defined as being educated college degree, domestically versed cooking, cleaning, caring, loving, forgiving, intelligent yet humble, always willing to compromise when necessary to keep peace within the household. Strong faith in God and family unity...always doing right by those you love and give endlessly because in the end we rely on each other for trust, humility, courage, strength to withstand all obstacles of life as it occurs...The key component of Armenian mothers is the very element of deep connection with their children and family members for life...will fight to preserve to the end no matter what the consequences... ~Yerevan, Armenia 1955

My first thought was remembering my mother and what she did for her two children.

I think after having children, their number one priority becomes planning their life

around the children. Sometimes, the father feels left out, because the focus of their

wife is one hundred percent on the child. Armenian mothers want to be involved in

their child's life, their school, friends, interests, and activities. Seeing their

children happy and healthy gives them the biggest joy of their life. An Armenian

mother will put their children's needs ahead of anything that is happening in her

life. My mother always called my brother and me her two stars in the sky, and that is

how I feel about my children.

~Tehran, Iran 1955

Keep our culture which includes language,

religion, food, traditions, etc. Implant Armenian

spirit in our kids and make them proud of their

origins. Teach them to pass it on to our next

generation.

~Abu Dhabi, UAE 1981

If you are an Armenian Mom and hire a

cleaning service, you clean things before and

after the cleaners are done.

~Baku, Azerbaijan 1983

Provide moral, emotional, financial support to every individual in her home while protecting her children. It is critical to have a God centered home and establish the importance of faith, family and the Armenian spirit. An Armenian Mom creates a home of love and laughter while ensuring that her family unit remains intact throughout all of life’s phases. ~Yerevan, Armenia 1947

With tremendous value on faith, family,

language, food, etc. Armenian Moms do

everything with love, patience and in God’s

Grace.

~Athens, Greece 1920

aiwa sf newsletter june 2014 published

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