This is a story of UWC Dilijan’s first-year student Garni and her grandmother. It’s a sad and at the same time beautiful story about home and hope, about Armenia that is in the hearts of people all around the world.
I was born and raised in Lebanon. All my life, I heard stories about how Armenia looked like. I was taught Armenian poems, songs, dances, literature. I was always told that I was Armenian and would one day return to the country that was unrightfully snatched from my hands, that I would find a home there. But I didn’t.
What I saw was completely different from what I was taught. People around me were too idealistic about “home”. I didn’t belong. But that doesn’t make me an outsider. That doesn’t mean that my Armenian identity is different from that of others. Diaspora Armenians don’t simply say that they’re Armenian, they live by it. They spread awareness every day, they love their culture a bit more than they have to, they lift each other up, they build communities and they believe in what they haven’t seen. They are an embodiment of confusion and beauty. The emotions they feel are genuine and nothing can take that away from them. We are more than what happened to us.
My grandmother has never been to Armenia, yet she has lived every day building her own Armenia and making it her definition of home. This is her story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PynEciRMHd4&feature=youtu.be
Sofia Shapiro
Communications & Engagement Manager
