Planting Seeds of Knowledge and Life
By Dan Atkinson

Watertown Tab, p. 3
December 10, 2004

Watertown's Armenians may be living in America, but they are still trying to improve their homeland. The Armenian Library and Museum's "Plaque Project" and the Armenia Tree Project's tree plantings are the culmination of years of effort.

Haig Der Manuelian, ALMA's chairman, frequently visits Armenia and visits its museums and other areas celebrating Armenian culture. However, he realized most people can't read why objects are in a museum or why a church may be significant, because most nformation is only available in Armenian or Russian - two languages that have not become universally well known, like English.

"It's shocking to me that there's a tremendous amount of historical wealth, but no labels," Manuelian said.

To make Armenian culture more accessible, Manuelian decided to put stainless steel plaques with English descriptions on or in front of 20 of the most significant church sites in Armenia.

Deciding on which churches to honor was difficult, Manuelian said. Two years ago, he and the Armenian minister of culture used an old Soviet map of culturally important areas to figure out how many churches they had to choose from.

"Most countries had a mark showing a point of tourist interest every three or four inches," Manuelian said. "But in Armenia, there wasn't enough space."

Even after he had narrowed where the plaques would go, Manuelian met with occasional opposition.

"Some people are very resistant to change by adopting international languages," he said. "We wanted the text carved in stone at one place, but the manager said 'Stone should have only one language - Armenian.'"

Although all 20 of the plaques were supposed to have been in place by now, the project has been delayed at a few sites. But Manuelian said the plaques currently in place have been successful. He has heard from people in the Rhode Island Armenian community who have visited the churches and were able to learn from the plaques, and he has seen their effect firsthand.

"I went to some nearby churches on an October weekday [this year], which is not high tourist season, but everyone there was in front reading the plaques," he said. "They raved about it."

While Manuelian has been posting plaques, the Armenia Tree Project has been planting trees. The Watertown-based organization was started in 1994 to combat deforestation, and has planted more than 500,000 trees so far. However, the foundation is looking to leave that number in the shade.

"The tree cover is so low that we need to work on a larger scale," said Jason Sohigian, the project's deputy director. "A million trees every year is now our goal."

The project ranges from individual trees to reforesting efforts. After starting out mainly in urban areas, replanting parks and other public sites, the project is now focusing on larger areas, Sohigian said.

Planting larger areas means the project can put more people to work, Sohigian said. The project looks to employ workers from refugee villages to help the people of Armenia as well as the environment.

The foundation is paid for by donors, many from the Boston area, but from around the world as well. Many donors have their tree planted in the memory of a loved one.

"People will donate in memorial of their grandparents who died in the genocide," Sohigian said. "They feel like they're giving life back to Armenia."

For more information on the Armenian plaque project, call ALMA at 617-926-2562.
For more information on the Armenian Tree Project, call Jason Sohigian at 617-926-8733.

Dan Atkinson can be reached at datkinso@cnc.com.

http://www2.townonline.com/watertown/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=143694

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