Diasporan Helps People of the Kashatagh Region in Karabagh

By Armen Topouzian

DETROIT, MI--This is a journey that started in October 2001 in the Village of Berdzor located on the Lachin Corridor, in Nagorno Karabagh. On that day, I visited Dr. Dalton Buniatyan, the Chief Physician of the Kashatagh Regional Hospital per request of Armenian Relief Society Chairperson Maro Minassian. The purpose of my visit was to determine whether I could provide the hospital the much needed medical equipment and supplies.

The Kashatagh Region was devastated by war from 1991-1994. The 10,000 inhabitants of this region are dependent on this sole hospital for all their medical needs. The population consists mostly of displaced families who migrated into the region to start a new life after the war. Because of the poor economic conditions of the country and the blockade, the rebuilding of the region has progressed very slowly.

Dr. Buniatyan is a striking figure with a warm face, huge handle bar moustache, and the eternal optimist. Although he has a home in Apovian where he cares for his family and children, he remained in the war region during the duration of the Karabagh war, working as one of the few field surgeons there. Because of his personal sacrifices and devotion, the doctor has rightfully gained the respect and trust of the mardagans (fighters) and the population inhabiting the region, henceforth becoming legally recognized as Dr. Artsakh Buniatyan. He is hopeful for a real hospital one day and is optimistic for the future of his people and nation.

In 1996, after the cease-fire, Dr. Artsakh was appointed Chief Physician of the Kashatagh District Medical Unit. For his services he was paid the sum of 18,885 dram ($34) per month. Since then, he leaves the region only occasionally to visit his family. Karabagh has become his home.

In 2000, the Berdzor Hospital, a large two-story building, impractical for hospital use, serviced 1,500 ambulatory patients, treated 700 inpatients of which 47 were surgical cases, and monitored 160 new births. Medical services were free of charge. When I visited it in October 2001, the facility was in a deplorable condition. The beds were collected from homes, schools, or other institutions ravaged or destroyed by the war. The medical equipment was antiquated, often obsolete or badly worn.

Since the hospital inception in 1996, the professional staff, consisting of seven medical doctors of various specialties and 12 registered nurses, has managed, with heroic effort, to service the population's needs. Unfortunately, it has overused its resources and equipment. At the time of my visit, the hospital had very limited financial resources. The government of Nagorno Karabagh was not able to satisfy the hospitals needs.

My parting words to the doctor, after touring the hospital, were that I felt I could help him. With a big smile he made me aware of the many visitors that had visited him, with similar comments, only to never hear from them again. I reassured him that I would try not to be one of them but that he needed to be patient. Based on my previous experiences, I knew I would need at least 12 months to make the necessary contacts to obtain the equipment, and make allowance for transport time of the equipment to Karabagh.

Upon my return to Detroit, I filed an application for medical equipment with the World Medical Relief (WMR) for the Berdzor Hospital. The WMR, a 50-year old charitable Detroit organization, collects and distributes recycled medical and dental equipment, medical supplies, and medicine to aid thousands of sick and poor people around the globe. After the application was approved, the WMR representative and I selected and tagged the individual items. I photographed each item as well as the packing of the shipping container to record the items and their condition at shipment to show Dr. Artsakh what to expect.

On August 20, 2002, a 40-ft container, loaded with six tons of medical supplies and equipment with an estimated value of $334,000, left Detroit for Berdzor. After six weeks in transit, via ship to Georgia, overland to Armenia, it arrived in Yerevan on September 30, 2002. It arrived at its final destination, Berdzor, in October 2002, one year after my first meeting with Dr. Artsakh. The United Armenian Fund handled shipping costs to Yerevan while the ARS paid the handling fees at WMR and the cost of shipment from Yerevan to Karabagh. To minimize the shipping costs from Yerevan to Berdzor, the Kashatagh Region administrator forwarded trucks from Karabagh to pick up the supplies.

The shipment contained 23 hospital beds, a dental chair, EKG, surgical instruments, autoclaves, glucometers, ENT sets, examination tables, medical supplies, wheelchairs, crutches, centrifuges, oxygen tanks and gauges, desks, bedside cabinets, IV poles, and file cabinets.

I was faced with a small, but very important problem. WMR was able to provide all the items requested, except a much needed ultrasound unit.

I made contact with all the major Metro Detroit hospitals as well as several manufacturers of ultrasound systems, asking for the donation of a unit. I wasn't successful. But I was successful in finding eight Metro Detroit Armenian-Americans that pledged $1,700 each. Including my pledge, I had a total of $15,300.

On September 28, 2002, I met with Dr. Artsakh at the Berdzor Hospital and showed him the photographs of the shipped medical supplies from WMR. I shared with him the list of the Detroit region donors without whose generosity I could not have provided him with an ultrasound system. Dr. Artsakh was extremely grateful to the donors of the ultrasound system and toasted to their health. He added that the equipment would be the most important tool in his arsenal to help his people. He looked very tired and sad when we first saw him. The doctor had been up all night watching over a veteran that wasn't expected to live through the day because of internal wounds suffered during the war.

Upon my return to Yerevan, I discussed Dr. Artsakh's ultrasound needs to the Yerevan based equipment supplier, Meditech LLC. The Aloka SSD- 1100 Ultrasound System was recommended. It was suitable for a wide spectrum of examinations. The system cost was $18,200 with two probes. The ARS added the additional $2,900 to our donation of $15,300 to purchase this ultrasound system. The Ultrasound System became operational at the Berdzor Hospital on January 24, 2003.

The Ultrasound System would not have been possible had it not been for the generosity of the following donors: Dr. Vahagn and Mary J. Agbabian, Robert and Margaret Benian, George and Shakeh Basmajian, Armen Kevorkian, Aram and Rosemary Moloian, John and Rose Manoogian, Berj and Nanig Manoukian, Leon Rafaelian, and Armen Topouzian.

The Metro Detroit Armenian community sincerely thanks the World Medical Relief for its assistance to the Armenian Nation. They have a long history of supporting the Armenian people. In support of the victims of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia, they had volunteered two pallets of medicine, valued at $220,000, for shipment to Armenia. In 1999, upon my request, they had shipped 5.3 tons of medical equipment valued at $314,000 to the ARS Akhurian Mother and Child Health Center. Thanks to their generosity, the ARS was able to share a large portion of those supplies with several other hospitals in Armenia.

To date, including the shipment to Berdzor, WMR has provided approximately 12 tons of medical supplies and equipment, valued at $869,000. Our community is forever grateful for their generosity.