On April 29, a few days after the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, AGBU AVC brought together descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors from different parts of the world to share their untold family stories of survival and hope in an event titled “My Armenian Story of Survival”.
During the event, AGBU AVC e-learners Marjorie K. Nanian (USA), Karine Armen Kurkjian (USA), Armine Samarco (Canada), Naira Hrayryan (Armenia) and Florencia Demirdjian (Argentina) shared gripping stories about the lives of their grandparents who had witnessed the atrocious massacres at the beginning of the 20th century.
AGBU AVC Founding President Dr. Yervant Zorian and AGBU AVC Senior Online Instructor Ani Dekirmenchyan also presented the stories of their ancestors through valuable family photos and films. The event was moderated by AGBU AVC Education Team Manager Marine Khachaturyan along with Ani Dekirmenchyan.
In his welcoming remarks, Dr. Yervant Zorian mentioned AGBU AVC’s role both as a creator of community and as a family, “We are here to talk about our individual families in the AVC family itself. To speak about the victims, our ancestors, us, as descendants of survivors, and the resilience that we have today and that we learn from.”
While telling their stories, the event speakers presented family photos, fascinating archived documents and films about their ancestors.
Near the end of the event, Juan Kechkian, one of the event attendees said, “I just want to highlight the fantastic, amazing job that AGBU AVC is doing to support Armenian culture! I am taking classes (at AVC). I learned Armenian when I was in Elementary school in Argentina. Now that I have more time, I am relearning it. It’s really a great work to preserve Armenian culture, which is the most important thing that we, survivors, can do.”
As part of the AGBU AVC mission to unite students from all around the globe, “My Armenian Story of Survival” created the opportunity to share personal stories with others. These events help preserve the collective memory of our nation and highlight our strength, resilience, determination, and ability to overcome even the most dramatic crises.
The individual stories and the materials provided by the event participants can be accessed here․
