Photo: Shunt Jarchafjian, left, with students after his October 27 talk at Santa Monica College. He speaks at five East Coast universities from November 10 to 16.
GLENDALE, Calif. — Shunt Jarchafjian, founder of Lorik Humanitarian Fund, will speak at five universities on the East Coast from November 10 to 16, describing the years he lived in Artsakh through the 2020 war, the blockade that followed, and the September 2023 offensive that drove more than 100,000 Armenians from their homes.
The tour comes as the Glendale nonprofit opens a new year of scholarships for students displaced from Artsakh and starts judo classes for children in Bertavan, a village on Armenia’s northeastern border.
Jarchafjian lived in Artsakh from 2020 until September 2023. At each campus he plans to talk about what he saw, the difficulties families still face after being forced into Armenia, and the work of keeping Artsakh’s history and culture intact. He is also asking students to take part in that work.
The dates:
- November 10 — George Washington University, Washington, D.C., at 7 p.m. in Elliott School Room 111.
- November 11 — Columbia University, New York.
- November 12 — Fordham University, New York.
- November 13 — Rutgers University, New Jersey. The invitation included with the announcement bills the stop as RASA’s Armenian Cultural Night, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the LSC Gathering Lounge.
- November 16 — Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
The trip follows a talk on October 27 at Santa Monica College, hosted by the college’s new Armenian Students Association. Jarchafjian spoke there about Artsakh, what displacement has meant for families, and the programs Lorik is running.
Six students receive new scholarships
Lorik has begun this year’s payments through the Aznavour Saghyan Scholarship Fund. In the first round, six students received $5,924 combined. Three of them are children of fallen Armenian soldiers.
Last academic year the fund gave 114 scholarships totaling $60,810. How many more students are helped this year depends on what donors give.
The money goes toward the cost of university for families who lost their homes, their work, and their community in September 2023. The fund, named for Aznavour Saghyan, is one of Lorik’s main programs, together with permanent housing, small-business grants, children’s arts and sports, medical help, and cultural preservation.
The organization said it wants to reach more students as the year goes on, especially those under the heaviest financial strain, and is accepting gifts to the scholarship fund.
Photo: Viktoria Panyan with her Aznavour Saghyan Scholarship certificate. Six students have received $5,924 so far this academic year, including three children of fallen soldiers.
Photo: Davit Harutyunyan, one of this year’s scholarship recipients. His certificate lists an award of 450,000 drams.
Judo classes begin in Bertavan
In Bertavan, in the Tavush region, Lorik has opened a program it calls Judo on the Border. Classes have started, and the fund has bought and handed out 28 judo uniforms. Sose Balasanyan, a judoka from Artsakh, is teaching the children.
The aim is regular training for children in a border village, built around discipline, fitness, confidence, and staying with a hard task. The program is part of Lorik’s support for families displaced from Artsakh and for communities elsewhere in Armenia.
Photo: Children in Bertavan with the judo uniforms Lorik Humanitarian Fund distributed at the launch of Judo on the Border. Twenty-eight students have received gis.
Photo: Instructor Sose Balasanyan, center, with students in the Bertavan judo program.
Housing, grants, and an arts studio
Alongside the scholarships and the new judo classes, Lorik has helped 15 displaced families into permanent housing, five of them families of fallen soldiers, and has given 23 small-business grants. In Gyumri, the Artsakh Tsil Arts Studio offers free arts and culture classes to more than 50 children.
Lorik Humanitarian Fund is a Glendale nonprofit that assists families forcibly displaced from Artsakh and vulnerable communities in Armenia. Information is at www.LorikHF.org.
