Corr Addresses CYSCA Annual Meeting

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—On June 16, the Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association (CYSCA) held its 24th Annual Meeting at Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church of Greater Boston, on Brattle St. in Cambridge. The keynote speaker was Brian Corr, executive director of the Cambridge Peace Commission, who serves ex-officio on the CYSCA Board.

Corr described the common origin of the Peace Commission, which was established in 1982, and the Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association, which was born out of it in the mid-1980′s. Part of the Peace Commission’s mandate from the City Council was to establish a sister city in the Soviet Union. He identified the CYSCA as well as some of Cambridge’s other sister city programs, including the Cambridge-El Salvador relationship, as having a character that is different from the European post-World War II “Twin City” projects that were aimed at reconciliation, and also different from the more typical sister city programs launched by Eisenhower in the 1950′s, which tend to be oriented towards cultural and business relationships. This “Third Model” aims to build a relationship based on shared values and the value of each person.

He noted, “We are most fully human when in community, creating something bigger.” As to the purpose of sister city efforts, he said, “I believe that it is not just ‘What do we get?’ but ‘What can we give?’ and ‘What is important to do in this time of global crises?’” He added, “We understand that we share a common future and a common set of challenges—despite our differences—from globalization and climate change to providing healthcare and public safety for all of our citizens.”

He also asked, “What does the history of the 1915 genocide and Armenian Diaspora offer this relationship? How does it help us see what sort of society we want to build—both here and in Armenia?” Corr challenged the audience to ask how the sister city project can support Armenia “in a way that is deeper than aid and material and financial support.” He asked how the CYSCA can make a deeper impact and how Cambridge can provide more support.

In keeping with the spirit of the Cambridge Peace Commission, Corr asked the CYSCA to consider creating an exchange of peace-makers and perhaps labor activists from both communities, pointing to several NGOs in Armenia that are working on human rights and on better communication with Armenia’s neighbors. A delegation from Cambridge might include, for example, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, as well as high school students and city officials and staff.

At the brief business meeting preceding the talk, CYSCA president Cheryl Shushan reviewed the past year’s programs, including a three-week Community Connections training program for social workers from Armenia. She also announced the next Community Connections group, 10 university administrators from Armenia who will visit in October, and made an appeal for host families from Oct. 10-28. She added that this new program will be the CYSCA’s 19^th group of professional trainees since the inception of the Community Connections program in 1997. Shushan also reported on the successful hosting in April-May of two representatives from the scientific and educational field in Armenia at the Cambridge Science Festival, with the hope of their gaining ideas to promote a similar science festival in Yerevan.

Shushan praised the dedicated service of long-term CYSCA board members Jirair Babikyan and Paul Boghosian, as well as Andrea Cherkerzian and Marlene Clauss, who chose not to run for the board this coming year. The association elected 13 returning members to the Board of Directors for the coming year, as well as two new members. Joseph Dagdigian is an electrical and computer engineer who has been active in supporting scientific research in Armenia, as a co-founder of the Support Committee for Armenia’s Cosmic Ray Division of the Yerevan Physics Institute. With his wife Lisa he travels yearly to Armenia. He is also active in the Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America as well as a number of Boston-area Armenian organizations. Karina Matevosyan, born and educated in Yerevan, was a professor of Russian in Moscow. She also became dean of the liberal art department at the Academy of Agriculture, and later, director of the Cultural Center at the Armenian Embassy in Moscow. She was one of the founders of the Armenian Museum in Moscow. Upon immigrating to the U.S., she continued to teach Russian as well as embarking on a second career in dentistry. She teaches at the Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene in the Mass. College of Pharmacy, and heads the dental hygiene staff at a large clinic in Cambridge. As a member of the American Armenian Medical Association she has future plans to establish dental hygiene studies in Armenia.

For more information about CYSCA, visit www.cysca.org.