On Tuesday, the 19th of April 2011, at 9:30 AM, first to twelfth grades students of Mesrobian High School were gathered in the schoolyard to keep alive the memory of the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide.


The Lebanese and Armenian national anthems were followed by the opening speech made by a twelfth grade student Roupina Tovmassian who came, with her speech, �96 years after the Armenian Genocide� to affirm once again �our vow that is to respect our 1.5 million martyrs, to claim the recompense for our 1.5 million martyrs� blood and dignity and to get back the occupied lands Moush, Sasoun and Van and finally to have the fatherland as a whole�. Then, she continued her speech by addressing her classmates and saying �We will keep going and we will overcome all kinds of difficulties as long as we are the heirs to our martyrs and we don�t have the right to stop even a moment. Each one of us is a soldier of the Armenian Cause and has something to do as much as he can in the fight for the Armenian Cause. Therefore, it�s time we change together mourning into victory that is gained by making collective and common efforts�.

The opening speech was followed by the performance of the school kindergarten teacher and the singer Lisa Svadjian who sang two patriotic songs.


Then, the director of �Voice of Van� radio station, Mr. Avo Guidanian was invited as a guest speaker to make his speech in which he attached importance to the fact that even after 96 years, such gatherings come to prove that the memory of our 1.5 million victims is eternal and that the paintings shown at the exhibition (the opening of the exhibition entitled �Rebirth, Rebuild� took place in the schoolyard where the paintings of 4th to 8th grades students were shown) are out of the traditional black and white pictures and the colors tell already that April 24 has changed from a day of mourning to a day of rebirth. Mr. Guidanian mentioned also the most important things that the new generations must do and which are very necessary in order to defeat another more dangerous enemy which is the risk of fusion. The honorable speaker also incited to attach importance to this case that must become also an important daily principle which is to say �NO� to Turkish products by simply not buying them.


Then, a group of third grade students Celine Ghazarian, Nayiri Yeterian, Sara Tekirian, Cynthia Gemidjian, Stephanie Kouyoumjian and Lucy Fesdekjian recited the poem �Genocide Martyr� after the speech made by the guest speaker, a former student of Mesrobian. Finally, one of the intermediate section students Nayira Baghdassarian closed the event with the song �Armenian Cause�.

At the end of the event, all the students looked carefully at the students� paintings shown at the exhibition.