The Paros Chamber Choir performs for Daniel Pearl World Music Days

On 26 October 2009, the Paros Chamber Choir performed at the Naregatsi Art Institute in Yerevan as part of the Daniel Pearl World Music Days. The US Ambassador in Armenia, Marie L. Yovanovitch attended the event and offered her remarks. The program included songs by Komitas, E.Hovhannisian, T.Mansurian, H.Odabashian, K.Zakarian, I.Stravinsky, D.Bortnyansky, G.Faure, and L.Spevacek. The audience was truly inspired by the highly professional and emotional performance of Paros.

This concert organized by the U.S. Embassy in Armenia and the Naregatsi Art Institute was part of Daniel Pearl World Music Days, an annual global event affirming the ideals of tolerance, friendship and our shared humanity. World Music Days is inspired by the life and work of journalist and musician Daniel Pearl, who would have celebrated his birthday on October 10th. Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002.

Paros, the award-winning Armenian choir mostly consisting of disabled singers, joined people around the world in a tribute to all the visionary men and women who use the power of music to lift peoples of different backgrounds and beliefs above the differences that set us apart. Through their music, the Paros singers reaffirm their conviction that humanity will triumph and harmony will prevail.

Armenians Rise to Victory in
Adobe Youth Voices International Photo Competition

In May 2009, Adobe Youth Voices, a global youth media initiative, in collaboration with WKCD (What Kids Can Do), asked youth worldwide to submit pairs of photographs that capture what is challenging and what gives hope in the world today – from their unique perspective.

Learning of the Photo Competition by Adobe, several students from Manana Youth Center submitted their photographs for consideration along with hundreds of other entries from around the world.

In September, the winners of round one of the Competition were announced and Hovnan Baghdasaryan, 13, a student of Manana Youth Center was selected as one of the ten winners.

My brother Moushegh was always a role model for me. When he was only 14, he won an award in the Photoshare competition and I thought I would never be able to achieve that too. I am 14 now, and my photos were selected as winners, too! I feel very proud.
	Everything for Sale  Because of the financial crisis, all the factories in Nor Hajn are closed, and people sell all their property to get money for living. All these papers are announcements about selling something: apartments, houses, garages, furniture, etc.    Dignity Little Davit, who lives in the same town, does not want to sell his toy car and dreams of owning a big, real car one day.

Interestingly, half way around the world in Tasmania, Australia, 17 year old Katherine Goudsouzian, also of Armenian heritage was also notified that she too was selected as a winner in the Competition. 

I am proud to say that I am of Armenian descent and I did notice one of my fellow winners was from Armenia. I thought was really wonderful that Armenia was represented! It is really lovely to be able to contribute to the representation of Armenia and the arts.
Streets of Saigon This photo was taken in Saigon, Vietnam while on a family holiday. I was on the second floor balcony of a bakery called Tous Les Joiurs at the time, after a long day of sightseeing. I took this photograph through the large mass of messy telephone wires that were outside the building and down onto the busy traffic of Saigon. The atmosphere at the moment I took the picture was breathtaking, the roar of the chaotic traffic below and the beeping of horns, but looking past all this you could see the poverty on the streets, the beggars in the gutter. The streets of Saigon are a place of poverty and lack of opportunity.
Two for a Dollar I took this photo just outside the Siem Reap, Cambodia. I was in an ancient temple with my family at the time when I heard footsteps and a little voice behind me saying two for a dollar, miss, wooden flutes, two for a dollar. I turned to see a very pretty, young local girl holding several cased wooden flutes in her hand and a bag full of them over her arm. She told me how she goes to school in the morning and then comes to the temples in the afternoon to sell flutes to the tourists. I bought two of the flutes.

The photos of 8 other young photojournalists from the Manana Youth Center were commended in the Competition through a special category that recognized outstanding single photos.

Many of the photos that the students selected to enter into the competition were taken in the city of Nor Hajin as part of a Bay Area Friends of Armenia (BAFA) funded project to engage the children of Nor Hajin in after school activities through multimedia. The Manana Youth Center conducted a workshop with support from BAFA and paired students from the Manana Youth Center with students living in Nor Hajin. Each team took photos of the town and residents of Nor Hajin. Together they were able to tell the story of life in Nor Hajin through their individual perspectives, Said Ruzan Baghdasaryan, Executive Director of the Manana Youth Center.

Congratulations to all the winners and especially to the Manana Youth Center and to the Bay Area Friends of Armenia. This collaboration and delightful outcome is exactly the kind of outcome we promote through our efforts with outstanding NGOs in Armenia.  Said Peter Abajian, Executive Director of the Paros Foundation, a Principle Sponsor of the Manana Youth Center. 

To contribute to the Manana Youth Center, or for more information, please visit their website at www.MananaYouthCenter.org.