Cher the Armenian - Armenian Reporter

Whether herhair is blue,black, blond, orplatinum, herpenetration andsoulful Armenianeyes were what sether apart as anindividual whilegrowing up. Whileorganizing hertrip to Armenia,Cher demandedthat she be flownto Ankara, so thatshe would demandthat the blockadebe lifted.“All the men were in there,” shesays. “Some of the men were playingchess, but they didn’t have anycoffee and they didn’t have anytea. But they were just in there.They were playing their chess.They were talking. They were alldressed properly, maybe a little bitof tatters but so dignified. And itwas the first time I thought, I’man Armenian, I’m proud.”Refugees from AzerbaijanCher recalls visiting a large room,where masses of Armenian refugeesfrom Azerbaijan were huddledtogether.“It was like a big dormitory, a bigbuilding,” she says, “but they werepartitioning themselves withblankets, and that’s what they had.They kept saying, ‘Please go backto America and tell them what’shappening.’ And I kept thinking,‘Oh my God. If I went to America,nobody would care.’ And that wasa hard thing.”In America, after Cher’s trip, themedia did care – if only for onenews cycle. ABC’s 20/20 broadcasta report about Cher’s visit and theplight of her people. Newspapersand news services chronicled herjourney and shed light on thestruggles of the landlocked republicwith economic and energyblockades and unrest on its borderwith Azerbaijan.“Her trip was reported in hundredsof newspapers and magazinesaround the world,” says Mr.Sassounian. “I wanted to publicizeworldwide Armenia’s plight backthen through the media and gaininternational exposure and sympathyto Armenia’s many, manyneeds, both economic and political.I wanted to show Cher thehardships that the Armenian peoplewere living under.”One of the stops Cher madein Armenia was at an orphanage,where she handed out Barbie dollsand recalled the six months shehad been placed in an orphanageby her mother when she was two.People magazine reported that Cherhugged each of the kids and saidwhen she was growing up she hatedBarbie and considered the dolla blond bimbo, but realized at theorphanage that the doll was useful,because it brought smiles to kidswho had never had a new toy.“The kids were so adorable,”says Cher, sitting on the 16thfloor of the Four Seasons Hotelin Beverly Hills. “They’d beenthrough so much. But they werelike any other children. I knowthat there was a lot of emotionaldistress, and they’d beenthrough a lot; but we were there.We were just playing, havingcake and whatever they liked. Itwas a big party, and they had agood time.”Among Cher’s stops on whatPeople magazine called “an emotionallycharged” trip was a stopat Yerevan State University,where she told the students shedidn’t know why she had cometo Armenia. People magazinereporter Susan Cheever wrotethat in front of the crowd, Chergrasped her mission and was asparkle of hope for the studentsand the nation.“Most Americans have no ideayou are here,” Cheever reports Chertelling the university students.“The most important thing I can doArmenian Reporter Arts & Culture 2/16/2008C11