Most of the representatives of the host families hosting the participants of the second stage of the 2016 “Ari Tun” Program of the RA Ministry of Diaspora were attending the opening ceremony of the second stage, and some of them also expressed their heartfelt words and attached great importance to the need for the Diaspora Armenian children and youth to live with Armenian families since that is also one of the special ways of helping them preserve their Armenian identity and become familiar with Armenian national traditions. My interlocutor is director of the central library of Nor Nork administrative district of Yerevan, representative of a host family Nazeni Arzumanyan, who said it was her pleasure to introduce a beautiful Armenian girl from Istanbul by the name of Seda Safarian whom Nazeni had grown to love like her own daughter in a matter of days, as Nazeni said later.

Nazeni Arzumanyan

“The “Ari Tun” Program is a very interesting program. In the sense of homeland recognition, it is truly a wonderful program through which Diaspora Armenian children become familiar with their Homeland, visit historic and cultural monuments, stay with Armenian host families and are introduced to Armenian national cuisine, traditions, lifestyles and daily routines.

I had decided to host a young Armenian in my home last year. I have a 23-year-old son, but I decided to host a girl, and that was how it happened. My son was very happy about my decision. We hosted a sweet little girl from Istanbul by the name of Seda Safarian with pleasure and warmth.

We have already gotten to know and established close ties with Seda. She is a very smart, capable, daring, patriotic and modest girl. Seda and I loved each other right from the start. I am friends with her. I have decided to introduce Seda to the peculiarities of my job at the library. What amazes me is that this 14-year-old girl is so patriotic…And she speaks in Armenian so purely!”

Seda Safarian, 14, Istanbul

“I study at Hrant Dink School where we all speak in pure Armenian. I was seven years old when my family and I left Armenia, and that is also the reason why I speak Armenian well. Armenian is our household language. I hadn’t been to Armenia in eight years. I was very interested in this beautiful program and really wanted to participate. I live abroad, but my home is Armenia. When I set foot on the native land, you can’t imagine how loud I screamed “Ar-men-ia”. It was as if my arms had spread. I wanted to hug all of Armenia.”

…As Seda uttered these words, it was as if she relived what she felt on the first day and at the first moment. She got teary-eyed, kept uttering words and shared what she had felt.

Karine Avagyan