National, International, Armenia, and Community News and Opinion

12 The Armenian Reporter | April 11, 2009
Community
Looking to the next generation in Armenia: agbu focus 2009
honors Hye Geen Pregnant Women’s Centers
Some of the hundreds of mothers and children in Armenia who have benefited
from the agbu Hye Geen Pregnant Women’s Centers.
CHICAGO – Since 2001, each
agbu focus weekend has paid
tribute to a specific agbu program
that has touched the lives of
young Armenians. Looking to the
next generation in Armenia, agbu
focus proudly honors agbu Hye
Geen by dedicating its 2009 fundraising
campaign to benefit the new
Pregnant Women’s Center in Talin,
Armenia. The Talin Center will be
the third of its kind in Armenia and
the first in that city. agbu focus is
a biennial weekend event designed
for young Armenian professionals
from all over the world to congregate
and share their international
perspectives, as well as provide a
venue to showcase notable contributions
and achievements made by
agbu’s diverse youth-oriented programs.
Building on the impressive
achievements experienced during
the premiere weekend in New York
in 2001, agbu focus has since united
more than 1,500 young Armenians
from cities around the globe,
with weekends hosted in New York
(2001, 2007), Montreal (2003), Miami
(2005), and now heading west
to Chicago. Additionally, well over
$125,000 has been raised for many
agbu programs, including Generation
Next, the Scholarship Program
and the New York Summer Intern
Program.
From July 16-19, 2009, focus will
welcome hundreds of Armenians
to Chicago for this unique celebration.
Rooms have been reserved at
the Westin Michigan Avenue Hotel
and a special discounted rate
is available for reservations made
only through agbu beginning in
mid-April. Plans have also been
set to host the Gala Evening, the
highlight of the focus weekend, at
the Art Institute of Chicago’s new
modern wing, which is set to open
this summer.
Established by the agbu Hye
Geen Committee of Los Angeles
in response to the country’s high
infant mortality, lack of nutrition
and the shortage of resources for
potential mothers, the first Hye
Geen Pregnant Women’s Center
opened its doors in Gyumri in
2002 with the encouragement of
the Republic of Armenia’s Minister
for the Protection of Women and
Children.
Two years later, a second center
in Vanadzor was opened. This year,
the Hye Geen Committee plans
to open its third center in Talin,
which is in desperate need of help,
as many villages in the region are
poor and practically abandoned.
These community-based health
resource centers provide critical
pre-natal care to pregnant women
who often suffer from malnutrition,
lack the funds for proper medical
care, and have little access to accurate
health information. Expectant
mothers who gather daily at the
centers benefit from vital medical
exams, a congenial social atmosphere,
individual meetings with
counselors, nutritious meals, and
vitamins provided by Hye Geen.
Center participants are recommended
by local clinics and spend
4-5 hours a day at the facilities.
Meals are prepared and served by
the women themselves in order to
encourage good nutrition habits
which are taught by the trained
center staff. Each center has three
local employees on staff, including
a social worker, who work with the
women to ensure that their babies
are born healthy.
Various medical personnel are
invited to the centers periodically,
or as required, to monitor each
woman’s progress and needs. The
superintendent of the centers,
Nara Sahakian, who is a lecturer in
psychology at Yerevan State University,
travels from Yerevan for
weekly visits to each center and ensures
that each facility is operating
at its utmost.
To date, hundreds of healthy babies
have been born to the mothers
who have participated in the programs
at the agbu Hye Geen Pregnant
Women’s Centers.
agbu focus believes that every
child born in Armenia deserves a
chance at a healthy life unfettered
by preventable medical issues.
Honoring agbu Hye Geen’s latest
project, focus has launched a largescale
pre-event fundraising effort
to ensure that the Talin Center will
open with all the resources it needs
to carry out its mission of serving
the pregnant women of Armenia.
Since 1994, agbu Hye Geen in
Southern California has worked to
preserve and honor achievements
of Armenian women, provide a
forum for them throughout the
world, promote their role in family
and society through research, education,
and advocacy, and provide
overall support to empower Armenian
women as carriers of the Armenian
cultural heritage.
Established in 1906, agbu is the
world’s largest non-profit Armenian
organization. Headquartered
in New York City, agbu preserves
and promotes the Armenian identity
and heritage through educational,
cultural and humanitarian
programs, annually serving some
400,000 Armenians on five continents.
connect:
agbu.org/focus 1-212-319-6383 x128.
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