The Armenian Weekly school of Abu Dhabi has started its new school year after a delay of two weeks, during which a completely new administration was introduced to manage the school.
Pakrad Balabanian was invited to be the Principal of the school.
The previous Principal and several teachers (one of them with 30 years record service), left the school, after bitter disagreements with certain members of the Council of the Armenian Community (Varchutyun). They were not even awarded letters of acknowledgment or appreciation for their long-term devotion.
The school began on 17th October 2009 with 22 students, less than 50% compared to the past year.
Due to lack of transparency and supremacy attitudes exercised by some members of the Council, the situation in Abu Dhabi is very critical. There are members in the Council who combine the legislative and executive roles (being members of the Temagan and Varchagan bodies at the same time), a situation that gives them immense powers and practically makes them the jury of their own work.
To make matters worse, during the past one year, the Council convened its meetings and took all its decisions with the presence of only 3 or 4 of its original 9 members.
The situation is not different on the level of the four Temagan (Legislative) members of Abu Dhabi, who have never taken any unanimous decision in the past two years. The latest innovation on this level is the adoption of an important project related to the construction of the new Armenian Church in Abu Dhabi with the consent of one Temagan member only, who, by mere chance, happens to be the architect and the major donor of the same church.
The latest announcement of the Council gives hope that the situation will be changed. The announcement talks about possible renaissance in the community with the formation of 5 committees (Armenian Ball, youth, ladies, arts and crafts, Church).
It is curious to see how the same personalities, who could not convene their own meetings in a decent way, will be able now to inspire the people and involve them in the five committees.
Read Aztarar (Kuwait and Arabian Gulf Prelacy's official publication) report on the opening of the school year (in Armenian language, with no reference to the existing problems).
For the teachers….
I understand why no one has posted a comment regarding the recent opprobrious conduct of the council towards the Armenian school scene. The situation left me speechless, dumbfounded and utterly disappointed.
I was born and raised in this community and although living in the United States now, I cannot deny, that the reason why I write, read and speak fluent Armenian is partially due to this heartwarming, once a week, make shift school that functioned on devotion and for which I hold tremendous respect. This is a red flag that cannot be ignored. Hence, I speak as an alumnus, with all due respect, and call for immediate attention to this chaotic and shameful predicament.
The Principal and the teachers have given their heart and soul to this facility and no matter what, they deserve unconditional and absolute appreciation for their selfless acts of devotion.
I personally and humbly salute them and thank them for their time and efforts and reassure them that their work did not go in vain.
God bless you all!
Your Student,
Shaghig Toukhmanian – Festekjian
Oh my! what a mess… How could our community fall so low!…
I've been in Abu-Dhabi for almost three decades now and have seen countless numbers of very respectable and highly valued “vartchoutiouns” and “Temagans” who have successively done a tremendously successful job taking care of the Armenian community of Abu-Dhabi in all aspects but, to be honest to God, I've never during all these years seen such a masquerade as the actual ones….
Are these (or what's left of them after the mass resignations) the people who are supposed to represent us vis-?-vis the other foreign communities?
Are these the representatives we, Armenians, have to confide in and rely on to speak in our name and represent our heritage?
There were times when these two bodies were elected based on their merit and their worth among the Community and they really did a wonderful job, but it seems that, today, they just became seats for sale to the highest bidder (It really seems to me that G. in Kuwait is making quite a bright business out of selling leadership seats and ecclesiastic merits against phenomenal incomes from a so-called Armenian ball where 85% if not more of the attendees were non-Armenians… this of course being the only achievement of our able leaders….).
Nothing has been left intact… the church… the school… the “giragnorya”… the different youth and ladies committees… the various activities we used to have… all is gone… all is but a dark shadow of a bright past…
The actual team, since its sorrowful appointment, has conducted a systematic destruction of all what has been done over the years, bringing down a lovely structure to replace it with a crumbling one under the so-called pretext of improvements to the community.
Volunteer mothers and sisters, who over all the decades since the Armenian school was established, have taken on themselves the oath and burden to educate our children in all the various topics of our Armenian culture, history and heritage and have generously given their time, patience and knowledge to that effect have today been excluded for “not having enough class”, without even a just reward for their dedication…. that is how “classy” our actual team of so-called “leaders” are !…
God forgive me if I'm wrong, I've never in all these years witnessed such an ingratitude as the one shamelessly exhibited by these “leaders” who give themselves today (G. supporting of course) the right to rule our community… talk about “class”!…
All I can say now is it's a real shame! A terrible abomination!
How could our Community fall so low? When shall we see the light again?…
THE VOICE
It is a shameful fact to admit that the once prestigiously active Abu Dhabi “Vartchoutyoun” who successfully engineered and carried out numerous activities in so many different fields has turned out today, under the able and wise “leadership” of its actual committee, into just an advertisement agency for its Northern Emirates counter-part and thereby prides itself sending e-mails announcing events in Dubai, whereas the Abu-Dhabi Community unfortunately slumbers in a forced lethargy shook-up now and then by some scandalous behaviours of those who (I hate to say it) are meant to represent it.
No wonder about it though, looking back at the miserably poor portfolio of this “leadership” over its past tenure and the first year of its second one, crowned only by a so-called “Armenian Annual Ball”, which was anything but Armenian but nevertheless provided “Baron Adenabed” with the necessary funds to buy himself a second term.
I do not mind cooperation between Communities but, as far as my poor English language helps me to comprehend, cooperation is a two-way process between two active entities and not just a “his master's voice” thing, whereby one of the two concerned parties ends up being a “parrot” to the other, limiting its activities to just announcing events out of its own territory, a territory which once was the focus of all others.
Well, anyway, this is just one among many sorrowful state of things in Abu-Dhabi Armenian Community today… Should we ever even dream about an eventual resurrection once the actual “team” packs its bags and leaves the stage floor?…