The “Dziternak” camp, organized by the Gugark Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church and held on an annual basis, has concluded.
This year as well, the Gugark Diocese’s “Dziternak” and “Hrant Dink” children’s and youth camps, with the blessing of the Primate of the Gugark Diocese, His Grace Archbishop Sepuh Jouljian, successfully fulfilled their mission of rest, recreation, and educational upbringing for children.
This year the camp welcomed approximately 1,300 children from the cities of Yerevan and Spitak — children from underprivileged families accompanied by the Sisters of Mother Teresa, as well as from the Bible Society, the COAF Children of Armenia Fund, the “Family” charitable organization of Gyumri, World Vision Armenia, the Greek community of Armenia, the “Eornekian” school of Etchmiadzin, Yerevan school No. 182, the cities of Tashir, Vanadzor, Alaverdi, and Stepanavan, Javakhk, Tbilisi, Artsakh, and dozens of villages of the Republic of Armenia.
Student and youth groups and organizations also spent their vacation at the camp.
This year, at the invitation of Archbishop Sepuh Jouljian, young Armenians from Constantinople also visited the camp. The young people from Constantinople made pilgrimages to Sanahin, Haghpat, Odzun and the tomb of Catholicos Saint Hovhan Odznetsi, Gyumri, Harichavank, Lake Sevan, and Haghartsin.
This year, the President of the Republic, Armen Sarkissian, visited the “Dziternak” camp while on a working visit to the Lori region and was hosted at the Gugark Diocese’s chancellery on 21 July. In August, the Governor of Lori, Andrey Ghukasyan, the Mayor of Vanadzor, Mamikon Aslanyan, and the Head of the Lori Region’s Department of Education, Culture, and Sports, Rafael Harutyunyan, also paid an official visit to the camp.
In addition to their daily routine, the campers always had the opportunity to participate in hikes, excursions, theatrical performances, and concerts by the “Vardanants Descendants” brass band. Each shift of the camp spent its vacation in its own special way, yet the principles developed by the camp and its full agenda formed the foundation of all shifts and the guarantee of effective work.
Through the Holy Father’s perseverance, efforts, and the patriotic devotion of a number of benefactors, the camp grows more prosperous and beautiful year after year, and as a result, the number of those wishing to vacation at the camp increases day by day.
The “Dziternak” camp will continue to grow more prosperous and beautiful in the coming years and to welcome our beloved children and youth.
