by Lisa Boghosian Papas
From earthquake relief efforts to ACOM, Vahram and Valentine Kardashian's impact has rocked Minnesota's Armenian Community
When the news of the 1988 Yerevan earthquake rippled around the world, Vahram and Valentine Kardashian experienced a shock of a far different magnitude.
While watching television in the comfort of their Plymouth, Minnesota home, the Kardashians noticed their phone number and address scroll across the news channel screen. For the next 48 hours, the couple was flooded with phone calls and mail from people across the state interested in providing aid to earthquake victims in Armenia. "We couldn't believe it," says Vahram. "We were completely surprised to see our number and street being given out on the air."
As one of the founders of the Armenian Cultural Organization of Minnesota (ACOM), the largest non-political non-profit Armenian organization in the State, Vahram, second term president, had been operating the organization from his home since its inception. So when the news media went to coordinate the earthquake relief efforts on behalf of all Minnesotans, they did what anyone else would do.... they went to the yellow pages, found the only listing under "Armenian" - ACOM, then wired the address and telephone number attached with the organization to all media sources. Who could have guessed what was to follow.
To further complicate matters, the State of Minnesota, despite having officially declared earthquake-aid as a priority, was as unprepared as the Kardashians to have private citizens collecting donations on its behalf. Within days of the donation blitz upon the Kardashian home, Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich arranged for several toll free telephone lines to be installed in the Minnesota government center, as well as establish a bank account to house the funds. Volunteers were rallied, and in the end Minnesota donated over $100,000 in earthquake aid.
But for the Kardashians, their efforts did not stop there. In addition to raising money for relief, the State, with the help of the Minnesota reserve guards, collected winter clothing at the local armories. Through volunteers, like the Kardashians, clothing was sorted, packaged in large crates and wrapped in plastic to prepare it for its flight to Yerevan in two large military planes. The Minnesota based 3M Corporation also sent plane loads of medical supplies to Yerevan. The Minnesota Kidney Institute sent teams of doctors, nurses, dialysis equipment, and maintenance personnel to treat the victims. In addition, the University of Minnesota, requested by Dr. John Najarian, offered to treat children in the pediatric department of the hospital. In the end, the Governor asked Vahram to accompany the commissioner of trade and economic development, David Speer, on a trip overseas to see the catastrophe firsthand and discuss ways in which the State could help.
"In November, I went to Yerevan with the commissioner and a man from Minnesota who had developed pre-fabricated walls from wood pulp," says Vahram. "The walls had been tested for fire, shock and even floods, and withstood them all. The idea was to bring a team from Minnesota to Yerevan, set up a factory, and help the Armenians construct homes. A team of four could put together a house in one day using these walls. After meeting with several Ministers, including the Prime Minister, we were close to signing a contract to begin the project. About the same time, trouble began in Azerbaijan and the project was put on indefinite hold."
In another attempt to help Armenia, Vahram was offered a large cow known to produce tremendous amounts of milk from a renowned philanthropist. Unlike the Minnesota cows, which eat corn to survive, these cows only need grass. Along with the cow, the benefactor was willing to give tubes containing the cow's reproductive fluids to the Armenians-- a donation totaling between 12 to 14 million dollars. After offering the cow, and the technology to build a dairy industry in Armenia, the idea was turned down.
After years and tremendous effort to help their fellow Armenians abroad, the Kardashians have since turned their attention to more domestic activities relating to their heritage. In addition to ACOM, the Kardashians are committed to building an Armenian Apostolic Church for residents in the Twin Cities. As chairman of the Parish Council from 1997 until this past January, Vahram has worked with the Armenian Diocese to organize Armenian Church services at St. Paul's Episcopal Church four times a year. Having recently relinquished his chairmanship, Vahram is now trying to raise money to construct a freestanding Armenian Church in the area.
Originally from Egypt, the Kardashians met at the American University in Cairo, where Vahram was studying math, science and education, and Valentine was studying social sciences and education. After their marriage in 1954, Vahram was offered the opportunity to help one of the doctors from the Naval American Medical Research Unit in Cairo set up a cardio-pulmonary laboratory at the University of Missouri Medical Center in the States. Put on a first preference quota list to leave Egypt, the Kardashians moved to America, where Vahram worked in the lab, taught astronomy, and obtained his master's degree in physics. Valentine worked at the University as well, while raising their two children, Vega and Vaughn. Their third child, Viguen was born in Minnesota where Vahram took his family in 1960 after he accepted a position in research with Honeywell Inc. Until he retired in 1990, he had acquired more than 17 patents for security and aerospace devices he'd developed.
"When we first moved to Missouri," says Valentine, "the prejudice was horrendous. I had a teaching degree, but because of my accent I could not get a teaching job. However, I landed a job as an administrative assistant to the director of the "Freedom of Information Center" in the Journalism department at the University of Missouri. When we came to Minnesota, things were far better. We never felt any discrimination. The people are nice here, and from the first day, our neighbors welcomed us. I'll never forget when my cousin came from New York to visit us one year. We took her to a dinner theater and in the restroom I started talking with the lady next to me at the sink. Afterwards my cousin asked how I knew that lady. I told her that I didn't know her. She was surprised how friendly strangers were to one another. That is Minnesota."
In the past 39 years since they've lived in Minnesota, the Kardashians have been joined by a few of their family members from Egypt-adding to the diversity and numbers of this small Armenian Minnesota community. Nairy Digris, Vahram's niece, came to Minnesota with her parents in 1966 from Cairo. Fluent in French, Armenian, Arabic, Italian, Greek, German, Spanish and Portuguese, Nairy accepted a position in the international marketing division of General Mills, where she has been working for the past 32 years. Since her arrival, she has been an integral part of the Armenian community, participating in the Festival of Nations as well as leading the Armenian Dance Ensemble which is composed of fifty percent non-Armenians.
"The hardest adjustment for me in the beginning," explains Nairy, "was the distance in getting around. It was hard not just having cabs available to take me places, like in Egypt. I was also disappointed that there was no Armenian Church, school or organization. And there were only a few people whom I could speak the Armenian language with."
It was in that vein that Vahram decided to start ACOM-- to draw together the Armenians in the Minnesota area and develop friendships. "In 1980," he says, "my children were in high school and college and they didn't have any Armenian friends. I talked with my friend, Aram Charchian, from Memphis Tennessee, who said they had started an Armenian cultural organization there. I thought that we could do the same in Minnesota."
Calling a number of Armenians on the phone, the Kardashians organized the group and helped establish its non-profit status. Since the groups' inception in 1980, lessons in history, language and dance have been offered to ACOM members. They have also invited guest speakers to discuss current issues, and participate each year in the Festival of Nations. In the beginning, the organization met at the home of the Kardashians. More recently, it has been meeting at the Center for Performing Arts, now owned by an Armenian.
With all aspects of life complete-Armenian and American-the Kardashians don't have any plans to leave the State. "We like everything here," says Vahram. "The cold can get to you. But after a big storm, we wake
