On Friday, September 12, 1997, I attended a testimonial program honoring Dr. Carolann 
S. Najarian, founder and president of the Armenian Health Alliance, which has been 
giving aid to the needy in Karabagh and Armenia.  It was hosted by the Armenian 
Inter-Communal Committee of Philadelphia and it was held at the Armenian Martyr’s 
Congregational Church in Havertown, PA.


Dr. Najarian is the daughter of the late Avedis and Arpen Abrahamian.  She was born and 
raised in New York City.  After attending the High School of Music and Art, she entered 
the City University of New York.  She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music and 
graduated with high honors.


After marrying K. George Najarian and moving to Cambridge, MA., she was able, with 
the loving support of her husband, to fulfill her lifelong ambition of becoming a doctor.  
She entered the Boston University School of Medicine in 1976 and graduated with a 
Doctor of Medicine Degree in 1980.  After completing her residency in Boston area 
hospitals, she entered private practice.


Her motivation for getting involved with the homeland came in the early part of 1988 
when Nagorno Karabagh’s Armenian freedom fighters were fighting and dying for their 
independence from Azerbajian. In July of that same year, out of mounting concern, she 
took a trip to Karabagh’s war zones to witness, first hand, what was going on.


During the latter part of 1988, with the specter of Karabagh’s dying and desolation still in 
her mind, Dr. Najarian and her husband personally, without any outside help, took out a 
full page ad in the New York Times describing the horrible plight of the Karabagh 
Armenians.  It was to appear during Mikhail Gorbachev’s visit to our United States and 
on the very day he was to address the United Nations.


The timing, as Dr. Najarian described it, turned out to be "An act of God."  On December 
8th when the New York Times with the Najarian page hit the streets, on the very same 
day that Gorbachev was addressing the United Nations, the pages of the New York Times 
were also blazoned with the tragic Armenian earthquake of December 7, 1988.  And it 
was on this fateful day that, without forethought of danger, hardships, or sacrifices, Dr. 
Carolann Najarian became an angel of mercy.  She put aside her private practice, 
dedicating her time and medical expertise to the earthquake victims, while founding and 
organizing the Armenian Health Alliance in 1989 for ongoing support.


With the help of public support, the Armenian Health Alliance has grown considerably 
since that time.  Today it has supplied, and will continue supplying, medical and material 
aid to thousands upon thousands of needy Armenians in the slowly mending earthquake 
ravaged areas of Armenia and the war-ravaged areas of Nagorno Karabagh.


Dr. Najarian has made more than twenty-five trips to Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh 
since the earthquake.  She continues to give medical aid to the needy in villages, 
orphanages, refugee centers, and also to maternity centers and hospitals along the way.


On a more personal bearing, she also visits the Primary Care Center in Gumri and the 
Arpen Center in Stepanagerd.  Both of these facilities, along with two more Arpen centers 
in Lachin and Shushi, are all sponsored by her Armenian Health Alliance.


All in all, Dr. Carolann spends approximately four months out of each year on site--- 
supervising, teaching, administering, and consulting.   The Primary Care Center in Gumri, 
staffed with local doctors and aides, provides primary care to over 400 patients each 
month.  They specialize in the treatment and prevention of hypertension, diabetes, and 
ulcer disease.  The Arpen Centers provide consultation, nutritional, and material help for 
pregnant women.  More than l,500 women have come through the Stepanagerd Center 
since it was established in 1994, receiving throughout their pregnancies, monthly parcels 
of foodstuff, vitamins, soap, and clothing.


What I have described is a thumbnail sketch of a very heroic and dedicated Armenian 
woman.  Some might think of Dr. Carolann S. Najarian as an Armenian Mother Teresa or 
perhaps an Armenian Florence Nightingale, but if you were to ask me, I would say that 
her motivations come from the inherent qualities of a traditionally heroic Armenian 
mother who places the security and well-being of her family and children ahead of her 
own.

Joseph Vosbikian