With the continued collaboration of the wonderful people at the Syunik Development NGO, children from the Vayots Dzor region and the internally displaced from Artsakh take biweekly dance and/or choir classes. The Atken Armenian Foundation funds this project thanks to Professor Dora Sakayan's fundraiser at the beginning of this year (2021) on the occasion of her 90th birthday anniversary. Through the arts, these vulnerable children not only find hope and empowerment, but our experience in the region has repeatedly shown the benefits of the arts in building resilient and meaningful communities.
As our great friend Celeste Nazeli Snowber so eloquently expresses in her recent book of poetry The Marrow of Longing (get your copy today—it is an exceptional read and part of the proceeds go to the AAF), though we each have our own independent voice, if we join this polyphony to create harmonic beauty, we will find resilience and power from the ancestral tones in our bones!
