Knights send $359,200 in medical supplies to Armenia

by Tom Vartabedian

Published: Thursday May 19, 2011

Members of Cambridge's Ararat Lodge, Knights of Vartan. Tom Vartabedian

North Andover, Mass. - To put it bluntly, the town of Chambarak located in rural Armenia needed medical help desperately.

The 17,000 area residents rely on one ill-equipped hospital with insufficient supplies, often sending patients on a 3-hour drive to the capital city of Yerevan for their emergency needs.

With 80 percent unemployed, most residents survive day-to-day by farming and raising cattle. Accessibility is difficult, due to poor roads.

Assistance is on the way, thanks to a shipment of medical supplies worth $359,200, sponsored by the Ararat Lodge of Cambridge, Knights of Vartan, through the International Medical Equipment Collaborative (IMEC), a humanitarian group designed to upgrade impoverished hospitals and medical centers throughout the world based inside the former Lucent Technologies building in North Andover.

"Economically, the town of Chambarak is a disaster," said Jack Medzorian. "Being on the border with Azerbaijan, they are subject to routine harassment by the Azeris who make frequent incursions, crossing the border to steal cattle, kidnapping and torturing border residents, and employing snipers to kill innocent civilians. During the war, civilian targets were bombed, including homes, a kindergarten and the hospital."

Joining Medzorian (project director) on the Armenia Medical Aid Team were: Aurelian Mardiros, Sarkis Gennetian, Varujan Masrof, Albert S. Movsesian, Dr. Nishan Goudsouzian, Haig Deranian, Nishan Mootafian, Richard Cherkerzian, Krikor Shaboyan, Armen Bogossian, Charles Guleserian and Michael Boudakian.

Members gathered at the IMEC plant for their eighth shipment in 10 years. They locked hands and recited prayers as the van left the loading dock bound for Armenia. The shipment is slated to arrive in 6-8 weeks.

Included on the 20 pallets were a complete operating room with anesthesiology, radiology suite, surgical, maternity and special care suites, 12 beds and mattresses, an incubator, along with vital sign monitors and other essential equipment.

IMEC staff and volunteer teams collected, assembled and packed the supplies. A check totaling $21,000 was presented to the group by Knights to cover equipment and supply costs, donated by 75 individuals.

Also collaborating on the project was the United Armenian Fund (UAF), based in California, which financed the transportation costs of the container from Boston to Yerevan, along with SHEN, a non-government charitable organization based in Yerevan, which cleared the way in Chambarak.

The town features a population of 7,000 residents with another 10,000 in the surrounding villages that access the hospital.

Medzorian visited SHEN (means village) last September with his wife Eva and obtained their assistance to coordinate the shipment of a 40-foot container of medical supplies to Chambarak. A follow-up visit to that region for a needs assessment resulted in the latest dispatch.

The shipment follows another valued at $425,000 last spring to the Miasnikyan Regional Health Care Center in Armavir as well as the Yerevan Central Oncology Hospital. Over the past decade, some $3 million in supplies have enhanced the medical climate of Armenia through the Ararat Lodge.

"All this means improved access to health care, better care for mothers, children and infants, and decrease mortally rates in that country," added Medzorian. "Doctors and nurses desperately need upgraded medical equipment and supplies to provide better care for their patients. We have a moral and ethnic responsibility there."

The pity, according to Medzorian, was seeing residents travel outside their town for services, provided they could afford the cost. Visiting these sites gives him a first-hand account of what's needed in these villages.

Transportation alone runs about $10,000. As for the equipment, nearly all is donated by businesses and corporations throughout the country.

Twenty years ago when Medzorian visited Berd just before the Azeri war, it was a vibrant community with 12,000 residents. Since then, the population has been halved with no economic opportunities.

"These people are virtually deprived of proper basic medical care because of poor facilities and supplies," he says. "Most of my contacts aren't with patients but with service providers and they're so grateful at any assistance received. What we send is safe, updated equipment. They consider it a treasure."

An oncology hospital in Yerevan with 650 beds was enhanced with an updated mammography unit. The Medzorians make a couple visits annually to Armenia, checking the progress of their state and assessing other needs. The Yerevan project raises eyebrows.

"I see 20 women a day lined up to have a mammogram," he said. "Before that, there were none. Also sent there were some ultrasound units. Through early detection, women's lives get saved."

Other health centers which have benefitted tremendously with such acts of kindness include: Berdzor (formerly Lachin), population 8,000; Kovsakan, population 4,000; Ishkanadzor, population 2,000, and Moshatagh, population 1,000.

The clinic in Moshatagh is located inside a dilapidated school building where three rooms are allocated for medical needs. Three nurses are working here to assist the surrounding villages. The only furnishings were two beds and no medical equipment until help arrived.

Berdzor is better equipped with eight doctors, five nurse practitioners, a midwife and 10 nurses. The regional hospital there serves the entire area and has the region's only pharmacy over 1,314 square miles. An ultrasound machine is brought from another region once a month. Often, though, patients cannot honor their appointments due to a lack of transportation.

In Kovsakan, the situation is just as bleak. Although it is called a hospital, this facility should not be allowed to function as a health center, according to reports. It can only offer consultations, distribute limited medicine, perform vaccinations, deliver babies and transport serious cases to a regional hospital. The government plans to build a large clinic to replace the present facility.