With the experience of this past year, as pain and sadness diminished and determination sprung forth, we have accepted the fact that recovery will be a long, slow process; that cultural differences can be daunting and the lack of technology, human resources and supplies in Armenia a continuous hindrance to any wishful speedy progress.
The first six months of emergency relief, at the time so fraught with complications, now seems simple compared to the enormity of planning intricate projects worth millions of dollars in a country 24 hours distant by plane and practically unreachable by telephone. Unprepared for a disaster of this magnitude we have had to learn many new skills. Confronted by unforeseen problems, each day seems to require new solutions and often costly revisions. But we have learned patience, adaptability and resolve that will, with time, assist us in seeing all our projects realized.
Again we thank our 32,000 donors who have made our Armenia Recovery Projects possible.
Patient Airlift
The AGBU organized and directed patient airlifts in May, 1989 and April, 1990, bringing a total of 62 persons from Armenia to the U.S. primarily for treatment of earthquake related injuries. Patients were treated at 29 hospitals in 10 states where over 250 physicians and 1,200 Armenian-American volunteers assisted in their care.
The patient group was equally divided between pediatric cases and adults, with approximately half (29) requiring reconstructive plastic surgery and the other half (28) requiring orthopedic procedures. Most of the cases (57) had multiple trauma injuries and 28 suffering from crush syndrome. Seventeen were amputees, mostly lower limb; two were bilateral. A young man who suffered from a severe earthquake injury also had an advanced osteosarcoma of the left tibia (cancer).
Upon arrival in the U.S., all patients underwent sophisticated diagnostic evaluations which, in many cases, revealed multiple problems. The lives of the two young women, threatened by advanced osteomyelitis, were miraculously saved by physicians at the Mayo Clinic through repeated wound debridements. Two children and one adult patient, who was working at a Leninakan Hospital as a nurse when the building collapsed, were among those who suffered severe craniofacial injuries leaving their faces totally disfigured, with accompanying auditory, visual and jaw alignment problems. Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and other specialized attention restored both appearance and function. A two year old boy whose car was traumatically amputated during the earthquake went home with a new ear, and his mother, a bilateral lower extremity amputee who arrived in a wheel chair, returned home with him walking in heels. She and 23 others in the group benefited from prostheses, orthoses and rehabilitation training.
All 62 patients were sent back with complete medical records and X-rays for follow-up care in Armenia. The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery unit being established in Yerevan by the AGBU will care for additional follow up needs of these and countless other patients in Armenia.
Participating Hospitals
CONNECTICUT: Hartford Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, The University of Connecticut Health Center, John Dempsey Hospital. MASSACHUSETTS: The Children's Hospital. MICHIGAN: William Beaumont Hospital, Children's Hospital, Henry Ford Hospital, Providence Hospital. MINNESOTA: St. Mary's Hospital/Mayo Foundation NEW JERSEY: Englewood Hospital, Hackensack Medical Center, Holy Name Hospital, Pascack Valley Hospital, The Valley Hospital, The Hospital Center at Orange, The Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, Bayshore Community Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center.
NEW YORK STATE: Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial i Hospital, Wilson Memorial Hospital, Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital I Center, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.
OHIO: Children’s Hospital, Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital.
PENNSYLVANIA: University Hospital Rehabilitation Center. RHODE ISLAND: Rhode Island Hospital. TEXAS: The Methodist Hospital, St. Joseph Hospital. Completed 1990. Patient Airlift Cost: $389,279
Cold Food Storage - 1990/1991
AGBU's major project, a 10,000 ton 60,000 sq. ft. Cold Food Storage plant in Leninakan is underway. After an international competitive bidding process the Danish firm of Intercool was awarded the contract in April, 1990. Working with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Armenia Ministry of Trade, AGBU authorized final architectural plans early June. Construction began late September. Foundations have been poured, 70 crates of building materials, shipped through the port of Talin, Estonia, have arrived on the site (30 additional crates will be shipped in early 91). Completion date is scheduled for late 1991 or early 1992. The facility will include meat, poultry and butter storage units, processing and distribution equipment. Project cost $5,000,000.
Supervision: UNIDO Consultant: John Kulajian.
The July 16, 1990 issue of Time Magazine included an article on the difficulties of providing aid to the Soviet Union. Quote - "Even food aid would be almost useless since the primary cause of the Soviet Union's meat and vegetable shortage is its primitive storage and distribution system." This statement is doubly true in Armenia after all food storage facilities in the earthquake zone (1 /3rd of the country) were destroyed, making regular distribution almost impossible. Although the AGBU Leninakan facility will ease the situation considerably a second cold food storage is needed in the Kirovakan region.
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - 1990/1991
Our second project, the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Training Center has begun with the arrival of two surgeons, two anesthesiologists, seven nurses and one medical biotechnician from Armenia in training at Yale University Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut under the supervision of Dr. Stepan Ariyan. Upon completion of their program they will be joined by U.S. and European surgeons in Armenia for both remedial surgery of the many remaining injured earthquake victims and the training of additional medical staff from the Erevan Medical Institute and local Armenia hospitals. AGBU will provide all U.S. standard equipment for operating room and intensive care units. It is estimated that at least 10,000 injured victims of the earthquake still require treatment. AGBU has received a special grant of $1,400,000 from the U.S. Agency for International Development for this project, $750,000 from the Howard Karagheusian Commemorative Foundation and $250,000 from Miss Leila Karagheusian. Total cost of Project $4,000,000. Completion date October, 1991.
Chairman: Zaven Dadekian Director: Regina Ohanyan Consultant: Annette Choolfaian.
American University -1991/1992
AGBU’s third project an American University in Armenia is scheduled for 1991/92. In cooperation with the University of California the proposed university will specialize in engineering, business management, seismology and computer science. Late June the University of California Task Force visited Armenia to discuss programming and housing with the Ministry of Education. Participants from University of California were Dr. William Frazer, Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs, Ms. Theony Condos, Special Assistant for International Education, Dr. Calvin C. Moore, Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs, Dr. Raymond E. Miles, Dean, School of Business Administration, Dr. Stepan Karamardian, Dean, Graduate School of Management, Dr. Karl S. Pister, Dean, College of Engineering, Dr. Frank R. Wazzan, Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Dr. John A. Marcum, Director, Education Abroad Program, Dr. Armen Der Kiureghian, Professor of Civil Engineering, Dr. Lyman W. Porter, Professor of Management, Mr. Michael J. Bocchicchio, Assistant Vice President, Facilities Administration, Dr. Mihran S. Agbabian, Chairman, Department of Civil Engineering, University of S. California.
9 graduate students from Armenia have been awarded full scholarships for study in Business Management, Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California and the University of S. California. Upon completion they will teach at the proposed American University along with a full complement of U.S. Professors. These special scholarships awarded for 1990/91 total $180,000. The University project is estimated at $600,000 the first year of operation and $1,000,000 the second. Additional Foundation and Government funding will be sought.
Chairmen: Dr. Mihran Agbabian, Dr. Stepan
Karamardian, Dr. Armen Der Kureghian.
Agricultural - 1991/1992
The fourth project, again with the University of California, is an Agricultural Program in Armenia to increase food, dairy and animal feed production. The University of California, Davis Campus, just outside of Sacramento, has been a major factor in the success of California farming. Having inspected the fields, farms and cattle in Armenia last year they found a 30% loss in all production because of poor water irrigation, weeding, harvesting and veterinary practices. AGBU and the Armenian Cultural Foundation have guaranteed $1,250,000 over the next 5 years to fund a $4,000,000 pilot project. The remaining funds will again be raised through foundations and individual donors. The project includes establishing laboratories, model farms, training programs and the shipment of cattle embryos.
Chairmen: Walter Karabian, Kevork Santikian.
