Diocesan Primate Visits FAR Projects in Armenia

These children “from hell have been the victims of the worst of the worst. From day one the center provides them with a non-sugar-coated relationship with these professional staff members, and tailors an exit strategy so they can safely become part of the larger society,” explained the Primate.

During this rehabilitation process the center has instituted foster parents for a period of time. Ninety families are being trained to be foster parents. “This is unprecedented,” declared the Primate. “These are group homes for 17-, 18-year-olds where they live alone with a family. This is their transition to complete independence.”

“We can’t change the past, but we can change the future.”

During his one-day visit to the FAR centers in Armenia, Findikyan also visited two other FAR projects.

The School for Disabled Children tends to 100 mostly mentally-disabled children from ages 7 to teens, who are cared for by a staff of 22.

As the Primate arrived, there were cameras and reporters everywhere. “I was being treated like a celebrity. It made me a little nervous,” he confessed.

The school is being renovated to build a state of the art Vocational Training Center for children with disabilities, through a generous gift from the Batmasian family of Florida.

The new building will be equipped with rooms for different crafts – carpet weaving, sewing machines, cooking classes, tractors and autobody work, etc. for the training of these children.

While there, many children rushed up to the Primate, hugging him with warm and happy smiles. He was impressed with their clean, well-dressed appearances. In the kitchen, he asked, “What is this?” A child happily replied, “gaghamp (cabbage) salad.”

Findikyan has an innate ability to relate to and communicate with children. “These children have no filter. They are honest, direct, genuine. They were happy to meet and accept me as an equal,” he said emotionally.

After meeting the staff at the FAR headquarters in Yerevan, the Primate traveled to the FAR Soup Kitchen in Nor Hadjin which during Soviet times was the diamond center with multiple factories (now defunct), employing thousands of workers, all of whom are now unemployed.

Many of the men have since gone to Russia to find work. The soup kitchen feeds 160 women and children and a few old men who are fed in two shifts.

The Primate sat at the head of the table after saying a prayer, and had a “delicious meal of soup, meat cutlet and a grain dish. The people were ecstatic, many saying that they were grateful for the bounty they were receiving.”

The Primate met with a woman and her 4-year old son, Vartkes, who has never spoken in his life. As others saw him praying for the boy, several others surrounded Findikyan asking him to pray for their children.

Initially, he said, “I felt uncomfortable being with these needy people. Here I am, I don’t have to worry about where my food comes from. I can buy shoes, clothing, take a vacation.” But then, he confessed, “But, they didn’t see me that way. They relaxed me. I loved being with them.”

“I am so proud, as the Eastern Diocesan Primate that our Diocese is accomplishing these amazing results in Armenia through FAR, the Fund for Armenian Relief,” Findikyan said in conclusion.

To learn more about the organization, visit www.farusa.org.