In an interview with Hayern Aysor, Chairwoman of Homenetmen Almelo Chapter Anita Gorgisian and Vice-Chairwoman Patil Dadourian talked not only about the scout camps, but also the issues on keeping the young Armenians of Almelo focused on Armenia and other issues concerning the Armenian community.

They had come to Armenia to participate in the 7^th Homenetmen Group Leaders Assembly held from July 27 to 31.

Anita Gorgisian-Chairwoman of Homenetmen Almelo Chapter

“I came to Armenia to participate in the 7^th Homenetmen Group Leaders Assembly. Homenetmen Almelo has scouts and athletic groups. I mainly deal with organizing the scouting activities. We gather and hold discussions on Sundays four times a week. Currently, we have up to 100 scouts, who can be between the ages of 4 and 18.

Our strategy is to help Diaspora Armenian youth, transmit knowledge, give them detailed information about the life of a scout and familiarize them with Armenian culture and history.

We really want to further strengthen bonds with Armenia through our visits. By coming to Armenia, the scouts express their concerns and wish to contribute to Armenia’s development and even consider repatriating.

In 2018, Homenetmen will be marking its 100^th anniversary and is already making preparations.

The main challenge facing young Diaspora Armenians is mixed marriages. They have the spirit of an Armenian and speak Armenian, but it is hard to keep them from making the decision to get married to foreigners. However, we do carry out activities for national preservation in an attempt to prevent them from assimilation.”

Patil Dadourian-Vice-Chairwoman of Homenetmen Almelo Chapter

“Awakening in the young Armenians of Almelo the love for the Armenian language is one of the issues on our agenda.

Let us not forget that there are no Armenian schools in Almelo and there are only Armenian Sunday schools that have 100 Armenian students. Six classrooms have been opened for children of different ages.

In May, we organized a five-day camping event dedicated to the four-day war that took place in April. We dedicated one of the days of the camping event to Artsakh during which the youth listened to a lecture devoted to the history of Artsakh and the situation created in Artsakh and Armenia as a result of the military operations that Azerbaijani troops unleashed. The scouts were very attentive during the lecture.

I can surely say that they are more aware of the nation. After the lecture, the scouts got emotional, approached us and asked us to take them to Artsakh during the camping event in 2018.

We work closely with other Armenian scout groups in the Diaspora with the motto “Rise and Raise”. We are all aware of the fact that if we don’t help and support each other, we will not achieve success.

During the visit to Armenia, we also met with RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan. During the meeting, we discussed issues concerning the Armenian community of Almelo, national preservation and close cooperation with Armenia. We felt stronger after the meeting with the Minister.”

Gevorg Chichyan