LOS ANGELES—Every academic year, the 11th grade students of Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School are fortunate enough to be part of a two week educational field trip to their homeland, Armenia, during the month of May. This trip to Armenia has become a long standing tradition that is a culmination of the years of Armenian education, edification of Hye Tahd issues, and the immersion into Armenian culture and traditions that are embodied in their educational life at Pilibos. As students embark on this trip, they are not just visiting their homeland, they are bringing together their identity as an Armenian student, individual, and true representative of an Armenian in the diaspora.
While this experience is an amazing opportunity and a fundamental part of their Armenian education, the cost associated with this trip makes it difficult for some families to participate. For some students, it is with the assistance of individuals and organizations that they are able to make this lifelong dream and once in a life time opportunity a reality. The Levon Habeshian Foundation is one such gracious organization that was ready to offer assistance in order to make this important journey a reality for several Armenian students.
Adam Guemidjian writes of his experience, “The Levon Habeshian Foundation was a blessing that came into my life, allowing me and several other classmates to visit our homeland. The scholarship program allowed us to take major steps forward in securing the necessary funds needed in order for us to participate in this incredible trip. I will never forget the moment when my classmates were busy examining a landmark, and I felt the need to separate myself from them. I began to stare at Mount Ararat and continually asked myself why our majestic mountain was not where it truly belonged. This moment will forever be engrained in my memory. This educational trip is what allowed my classmates and me to view life from a different perspective, from the eyes of an Armenian living in Armenia, facing these kinds of questions on a daily basis. I believe every Armenian living in the diaspora needs to visit Armenia in search of making a difference in the world. It was a humbling experience, to say the least. I gained numerous life lessons and experiences that I could not have received in any other situation. An opportunity to visit your homeland with all your friends and teachers could not have been passed up; however, if it was not for LHF, I could not have ever had this experience. I would like to thank everyone, who has put the time and effort into creating The Levon Habeshian Foundation Scholarship to help students like me complete their lifelong dream to visit their homeland.”
A message from the Levon Habeshian Foundation
Levon Habeshian viewed life with a Red, Blue, Orange lens. From his youth in Los Angeles to his final years in Armenia, he was first an Armenian, and then everything else. We established his foundation to continue his strong desire to assist the youth of Armenia and its rebirth.
Rose & Alex Pilibos is the school Levon attended through middle school, and where he returned to teach as a young adult. The Levon Habeshian Foundation is very pleased to have assisted 2013 Pilibos students in their class trip to Armenia, and will continue to support organizations and activities that promote Armenia and its youth.
“The Levon Habeshian Foundation is one such gracious organization that was ready to offer assistance in order to make this important journey a reality for several Armenian students.”
Typical of Levon what he would of done. I know he is amongst us.
I have met him him in the 80’s 3y regional camp in L.A.
Many thanks to the Levon Habeshian Fund for assisting Pilibos students on their journey to the homeland.
I knew Levon Habeshian – having met him in the late 1980s at AYF Camp Big Pines. As cited in the article – he did indeed view life with a Red, Blue and Orange lens. Levon is missed.