April is Genocide Awareness month. In mid-April a group of people from the Salem Community congregated in front of Town Hall to raise the Armenian flag and to remember the Armenian genocide. Anthony Karibian spoke about how his grandmother had to hide in caves and basements in the day and run at night for their freedom.

There are many of those stories in the community and the Armenian people are grateful to have survived and to share them.

Pastor Ara Heghinian emphasized that 1.5 million Armenian people died from 1915-1922

and there were thousands before that and many more today that are displaced and victims of oppression. But he also discussed the positive things happening today. A group of 50-60 young people on that same day are gathering for a Youth Conference right in Salem, NH. A new priest was being ordained in Belmont, MA. Life goes on in a spirit of strength and revitalization as people gather together in remembrance and celebration.