Patient
Stories
Summer Camp.
“Jambar” in Armenian.
It means just about
the same thing
the world ‘round.
There are no international
boundaries to the
exhilaration children
feel when, at the
end of a June day,
they hear that
last school bell
signifying that
school is out for
the summer and
they look forward
to a vacation from
homework and exams
and fun with friends
and family.
And Armenia is not
much different
where there is
a very special
camp the EyeCare
Project visited
in August for eye
screenings. For
the past 10 years,
Camp Siranoush,
founded by Serpazan
Abraham, Archbishop
of Syunik, Diocese
of Armenian Apostolic
Church, has provided
disadvantaged children
from vulnerable
families and orphanages
throughout Armenia
a respite from
the lives they
lead the rest of
the year—a time
to be kids for
a couple of weeks.
They have an opportunity
to appreciate nature
and the environment
and to create cherished
memories that are
essential to a
child's personal
growth.
During the summer
the camp has four
three-week sessions
with almost 150
campers at each
session. Located
in a wilderness
area about a mile
outside Hermon—a
village of about
120, the camp is
30 miles away from
Yeghegnadzor, the
capital of Vayots
Dzor. Built in
1994 on the site
of an old Soviet
camp for “well-to-do”
children—with funds
donated by Mrs.
Siranoush—the camp
is a four-story
stone building
with dormitories,
a cafeteria and
playgrounds. The
grounds are filled
with swings, merry-go-rounds,
basketball, volleyball
and football where
the children spend
almost all day,
every day, playing
sports and games.
One of the things
that makes Camp
Siranoush a little
different is that
they attend to
the children’s
physical health
as much as their
emotional and spiritual
health. A full
state-of-the-art
dental clinic,
founded by Dr.
Vicken Garabedian,
is on the camp
grounds. Finding
that almost every
child has serious
dental problems—about
99 percent of their
teeth require work—U.S.
dentists donate
their services
and each child
receives a complete
check-up and treatment.
This year, Dr. Robert
Garabedian, a Fresno
dentist who has
volunteered for
the past five summers,
contacted the EyeCare
Project and asked
us to provide eye
screenings for
the children.
An Eye Screening Team,
consisting of two
physicians, Drs.
Lilia Avetisyan
and Lilit Vardanyan,
and nurse Heriknaz
Markaryan, saw
100 percent of
the campers—142
children—ages six
through 16, in
two days on August
9-10, 2004. At
the same time,
another team of
AECP physicians
was working down
the road in Hermon—a
village populated
by refugees from
Azerbaijian, living
in extreme poverty.
What the AECP team
found were 66 children,
or 46 percent of
all campers, with
one or more identifiable
eye disorders or
diseases. Forty-four
of the children,
or 31 percent,
had various forms
of eye infections,
primarily conjunctivitis
and believed to
be of allergic
origin. Twenty-five
of the children,
or 18 percent,
had refractive
errors and wear
prescription glasses.
Of the 44 children
with eye infections,
33 were diagnosed
with Spring Catarrh,
an allergic inflammation,
which characteristically
flares up in the
spring. Hence
the name, “Spring”
Catarrh.
Sadly, many of these
conditions are
preventable and
many are related
to malnutrition
and a lack of basic
hygiene. The AECP
Screening Team
prescribed treatment
and gave instructions
to each child and
their camp supervisor.
Supervisors were
instructed to make
sure each child
followed the prescribed
treatment at camp,
and to notify each
child’s care-taker
about the importance
of follow-up treatment,
visits to local
ophthalmologists
and the importance
of good hygiene.
It was a wonderful
experience for
the EyeCare Project
team who will return
again next summer
to care for the
children.
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