gyumri, it was 20 years ago today / գյումրի, քսան տարի այսօրից
How can I explain this to you? I arrived in Gyumri, Armenia, in 1995 to teach English at the Lord Byron English School #20 as a Peace Corps volunteer. It had only been seven years after the Spitak earthquake and the city still lay in rubble; entire block upon city block lay in heaps; schools, factories, shops with their roofs caved in, one wall standing, twisted heaps of machinery in the dirt; all the trees in the city had been cut down for fire wood the previous winters; a stray dog with a mangled leg froze to death under my window one night, her stump peppered with infection …
… and yet Gyumri will always be my adoptive home. I am not Armenian but the people of that city took me in regardless; I couldn't even speak Heyerin very well but everywhere I turned I met kindness and curiosity in the face and mind boggling grief and pain. For all those simple acts of kindness I will always be grateful. The people of Gyumri are, indeed, blessings …
… so, let me urge this; the good people of the Catholic aid organization Caritas have put together several videos illustrating the plight of those most at risk who still live in Gyumri and the Spitak region — the elderly and orphans. I am sure this year has been economically difficult for many people, I know, but if you choose to give a donation to a charity anyhow, I urge you to consider Caritas or one of the other aid organizations that help the underprivileged in Gyumri. Thank you.