I read the creative thoughts of my 12^th grade student, Lada Arzumanyan about the “What are YOU doing for Karabakh?” pan-Armenian movement launched by the RA Ministry of Diaspora.

Karabakh is a heavenly land for everyone. It seems as though the sky in Karabakh is the soul, essence and temperament of the kind and impartial Armenians of Karabakh. It is a land that has been able to show some of its wisdom, but will continue to remove and make the whole world “explode”.

“I am a particle of you, a particle of your earth. In my veins runs the blood that is mixed with the great ideas of patriotism, love for the nation and becoming a hero. Every day, I live for you, wake up in your lap and feel satisfied with your scent, the smiles of your kind people and even the look of tiredness on their faces.

I will place a new stone on each of your stones so that I can build my country. Your ruins will rise again from the ashes, and my country will be rebuilt. Today, the only way I can help you, think about your future and heal your pain is by studying well and growing up to become a good person. The brave sons raised with the spirit of the land won’t let the archenemy set foot on this land. I want to rely on you, always be in your lap, kiss your sacred and ancestral cross-stones and be worthy of the land consecrated with the blood of the sacred martyrs.

My dear Artsakh, I really dream of becoming your worthy child. Your suffering is my suffering. I also feel happy and take pride in the endeavors of your sons. I live so close to the border, and I am always with you and our soldiers. After witnessing the war in April, I really felt the desire to visit the tombs of all of the martyred heroes of our days and express my gratitude to them for the fact that we are living here, on the motherland of Artsakh.”

I look at the picture that my student recently sent me, but don’t want to show the smiling girl. I find this picture of her lighting candles, and I hear the murmur of the prayers of all of us to God for everlasting peace.

Merited teacher of Artsakh,

Armenian language and literature of

Vladimir Balyan Secondary School of Martakert

Natasha Poghosyan