This summer, the Armenian EyeCare Project will embark on a very special Mission to Armenia in celebration of our 25th Anniversary and we want you to join us for this unforgettable trip!
From July 17 through July 29, guests, donors and friends of the EyeCare Project will join with Founder, Dr. Roger Ohanesian, and Project physicians and staff, who will be in Armenia for the Project’s Annual Medical Mission and International Ophthalmology Conference, for an adventure you will remember for the rest of your life.
To celebrate our 25th Anniversary, we have planned an amazing trip for you and all friends of the EyeCare Project who have helped to bring sight to Armenian eyes for 25 years in this tiny jewel of a country.
AECP In-Country Director Nune Yeghiazaryan
With beautiful sceneries, Armenia has strong ties to the past and exceedingly warm local hospitality. Nestled in the Caucasus Mountains, Armenia will astonish you with its natural beauty — fascinating landscapes, snow-capped mountains, lush forests and dramatic waterfalls — as you tour the main attractions of Armenia in its tiny villages and the capital city of Yerevan.
Our group will stay at the Golden Tulip Hotel, in the heart of Yerevan, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. You will have opportunities to stroll through the capital, which now enjoys a cosmopolitan café culture with sophisticated streets and squares lined with shops and restaurants. While at the hotel you can enjoy time in the sun around the beautiful pool, work out at the well-appointed gym or spend a luxurious day at the first-class spa.
While in Armenia, one of the world’s earliest settlements, dating back to 894 B.C., you will enjoy its spectacular beauty, see historic architecture, tour the world’s oldest churches and monasteries, get to know Armenia’s people and their unequalled hospitality, experience the country’s rich culture as well as centuries-old traditions and enjoy the unique national cuisine, considered one of the oldest in the world.
Sevanavank Monastery
The first sovereign nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301, Christianity has shaped Armenia’s culture and traditions, its architecture and even its exceptional cuisine. You will visit Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in Vagharshapat, and we have a special meeting for you with the Catholicos. According to scholars, Etchmiadzin was the first cathedral built in ancient Armenia and is considered the oldest cathedral in the world.
At the core of Armenia’s identity is its long Christian heritage — it’s said that Jesus’ apostles brought Christianity to Armenia. You will experience this Christian heritage that is represented in the early Christian churches and monasteries, seen nowhere else, which dot the landscape and are traditionally built in dramatic locations on the shores of lakes, overlooking river gorges or on mountain slopes.
Planned are visits to some of Armenia’s most outstanding monasteries — the Gheghard Monastery, where you will see the spear used at Jesus’s crucifixion and the Tatev monastery, which sits spectacularly on a plateau. We will also visit the 1st Century Temple of Garni, Armenia’s monument to the sun God, which still stands even though most traces of paganism were destroyed.
Tatev Monastery
According to tradition, Noah’s Ark came to rest on biblical Mount Ararat after the Great Flood in the 11th Century. You will see the most breathtaking views of Mount Ararat from Armenia where it is considered a sacred mountain by Armenians and is the country’s principle national symbol.
Awaiting you in Armenia for our special 25th Anniversary Mission Trip is a fascinating combination of EyeCare Project visits and historical and cultural tours throughout Armenia. You will learn more about the organization you support and how we provide eye care for the people in Armenia. You will also meet the people responsible for the Project’s programs — physicians and staff — who work hard to eliminate preventable blindness in Armenia and provide access to eye care for every Armenian in need.
In Yerevan you will have lunch with our staff and visit our subspecialty clinics, the Center of Excellence for the Prevention in Childhood Blindness where we treat babies with ROP and our Education Center and Wet Lab. On an excursion to beautiful Lake Sevan, the second largest freshwater high-altitude lake in the world and the largest lake in the South Caucasian Region, we will tour the Mobile Eye Hospital, have lunch with our physicians and visit Sevanavank, a monastic complex located on a peninsula at the northwestern shore of Lake Sevan.
Our AECP Mobile Eye Hospital
To celebrate the Grand Opening of the Kapan Regional Eye Clinic with local and national dignitaries we will take a short outing and overnight to the villages of Goris and Areni. On our way we will visit historical sites including Tatev and Noravank along with the Medieval Goris Cave Dwellings that have a natural beauty of unparalleled rock formations — ranked as a top attraction in Armenia.
Goris will be followed with wine tasting in the Areni village, situated in the southwest next to Goris, where you will taste the wine — “the noble wine of Areni” — and learn the secrets of good wine making. The origin of the cultivation of grapes and wine-making in Armenia dates back to the historical past with a wine-making facility unearthed at the Areni-1 cave complex and dated 4,000 BC. Attributed to the unique dry climate, nowhere else in Armenia has shown itself to be as good as the village of Areni for valuable grapes and wine making.
To enjoy the warm and wonderful hospitality of Armenians we have a number of social engagements planned for you including a reception with the Minister of Health who will honor EyeCare Project physicians for 25 years of service to Armenia, meet-and-greets with our staff and physicians and dinner with our Fellows.
Group Shot of AECP Physicians and Staff
We begin our memorable trip with a Welcome Party and close it out with a fun 25th Anniversary Gala Party with dinner and dancing. We will also have delicious dinners at some of Armenia’s best restaurants to experience their unique cuisine along with evening entertainment and we have tickets for you to the symphony and the opera at the Historic Opera House.
Please join us for this once-in-a-lifetime holiday to Armenia to celebrate our 25th Anniversary! We promise you an adventure you will remember for the rest of your life.
For reservations and more information, please contact us at our AECP office at 949-933-4069 and ask for Leslie. Reservations are limited with a June 15 deadline. We hope to see you in Hayastan!
