InternationalThe 1988 Earthquake: an outpouring of support from California
Published: Saturday December 06, 2008 in Earthquake 20 Years On
Los Angeles - Twenty years ago this month, as the devastating news of the Spitak earthquake reached the diaspora, Armenians throughout the world responded to the catastrophe with urgency. In the United States, the Western Diocese, the Western Prelacy, and the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) were some of the first community institutions to rush to the aid of their brothers and sisters in Armenia. [The work of other organizations, including the AGBU and the Eastern Diocese and Prelacy, is covered elsewhere.]
The Western Diocese organized and sent assistance in the form of monetary and medical relief. An immediate priority was to care for the 12,000 children who had become orphans as a result of the earthquake. Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian, the Primate at the time, set up an orphan-assistance program, through which local community members were asked to sponsor orphans by donating $150 for each child. This amount would secure the orphans' basic needs, from food and clothes to school supplies.
Longtime community benefactors George and Flora Dunaians provided the warehouse of their company, Western Medical, as a collection and processing center from which humanitarian aid - including hospital beds, wheelchairs, clothes, and medicines - were shipped to Armenia.
"Our main concern was to make sure that the victims were receiving adequate medical aid," Ms. Dunaians recalled. "We used a lot of discretion when donations were given to us. We just didn't want to send used junk to Armenia. We made sure that we sent the best medical supplies so that medical personnel would be able to make use of them."
During those early efforts, the Western Diocese named Ms. Dunaians as humanitarian chair of its orphanage fund, entrusting her with the task of ensuring a seamless relief operation. Since 1990, Ms. Dunaians has been to Armenia over 30 times, overseeing assistance efforts from an office at St. Sarkis Church in Yerevan, set up by the Dunaians with the help of the late Catholicos Vazken I.
Dikran Dzoolikian, who became the main liaison at the Yerevan office, has for the past 18 years been in charge of distributing aid to orphans and economically disadvantaged families alike.
"There was complete transparency in all of our work and I am happy to say we had a really great system going," Ms. Dunaians said. "Everyone who has worked with us has been very honest and accountable - we needed to make sure our assistance reached those who were in desperate need. It was amazing to see the network of people come together and make it happen."
In addition to monetary contributions, a great many members of the Western Diocese helped mobilize the Armenian community in Los Angeles. Setrak Kopoushian remembers going to his friends' homes and making phone calls to collect as many donations as he could. He stayed up late into the small hours of the night to work a forklift at the Western Medical warehouse, stockpiling medical supplies and food into shipment containers. He also regularly drove a big truck to the Los Angeles International Airport to deliver relief supplies, which were flown to Armenia on planes provided by the Arm & Hammer company.
"I was willing to help in any way I could," Mr. Kopoushian said. "It was hard hearing the tragic news and not being able to actually be there to help, so here in my town, I rallied my friends and family and put in muscle work."
Rebuilding lives
Responding to a call from Catholicos Vazken I, the Western Diocese and a number of benefactors endeavored to help rebuild five earthquake-damaged cities and towns in Northern Armenia. As hospitals, schools, and entire blocks of apartment buildings lay in ruins, the urgent aim was to restore the infrastructure of the devastated areas and begin rebuilding out of the rubble.
Meanwhile, the Western Diocese's orphanage fund continued to grow. Eventually rechristened the Echmiadzin Children's Fund, the program expanded its mission to focus not only on sponsoring orphans but also helping poor families. Accordingly, basic sponsorship amounts were raised from $150 to $250. Today the Echmiadzin Children's Fund, chaired by Gayane Tatoulian, provides assistance to some 12,000 children, with major support from various Dioceses throughout the diaspora.
In the years following the earthquake, as the needs of Armenia evolved from emergency relief to long-term development, it became apparent to Ms. Dunaians and other benefactors in Los Angeles that more emphasis had to be placed on education and vocational training, specifically in the areas that had been affected by the earthquake. The changing priorities led to the establishment of Developmental Services for Armenia in 1993. Since then, the nonprofit organization has built numerous rehabilitation centers, schools, homes for handicapped children, and the Vanadzor Home for Abandoned Children.
The Western Prelacy, along with the ARS, has also played a pivotal role in providing assistance to thousands of Armenia's earthquake victims. The ARS leadership and an army of volunteers, including Hasmig Derderian, who now serves as chair of the organization's Central Executive Board, carried out the relief effort from the ARS headquarters in Glendale. For months following the Spitak tragedy, the women of the ARS and family members worked day and night at the ARS building on Glenoaks Boulevard, collecting donations and processing shipments of medical equipment, medicines, clothes, and other supplies.
"Our children would be there with us, helping sort out the material and bringing in money they had collected from their school for earthquake victims," Ms. Derderian recalled. "Everybody wanted to help. We would have people stop by the headquarters to give what they could. We even had non-Armenians make donations. It was our responsibility to make sure every item was sent to Armenia."
