"Inspired by Camp Haiastan"

The recent issue of Armenian Weekly brings the story of Alexander Demirdjian, a teen from Long Island who attended the Armenian-oriented Camp Haiastan in Franklin last summer.

In his article he describes how the Camp was his first real exposure to the ongoing conflict. Every day the camp hosts what they call Hye Jahm, or Armenian hour, when campers learn about Armenian history and current events in Armenia. Prior to this exposure, he said he had little awareness of the Artsakh War and the threats to both Armenia and Artsakh, a long-contested area.

Upon his return home, when he learned that his Broadcast Journalism Club could be a forum for a research project, he sought to focus on this topic. Warned of the challenges by his mother and forced to seek approval from the school, he nevertheless persisted. Eventually he was able to get in touch with people within Armenia and Artsakh and conducted interviews by Zoom as well as learning about the history of the region and of the conflict.

Pushback from the school made sure his coverage wasn’t too one-sided. The result, titled, “The Humanitarian Crisis You Don't Know About,” according to the Armenian Weekly, is now posted on Youtube.