The Inaugural Annual Dinner and Presentation Night was held on Sunday 5th November 2006 at the Scandinavian Club in Frenchs Forest, Sydney. The gathering marked the fifth anniversary of the establishment of Mission Armenia Ltd in Sydney, whose purpose is to promote, support and help expand the work of Mission Armenia NGO.

Special guests included The Hon. Joe Hockey, MP, Member for North Sydney and Federal Minister for Human Services; Mr Stepan Kerkyasharian, Chair, Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW; Mr Artin Etmekdjian, Deputy Chair, Ethnic Communities' Council of NSW, and Mrs Nora Etmekdjian; Clr Ivan Petch, Mayor, City of Ryde; and Clr Sarkis Yedelian, Councillor, City of Ryde, and Mrs Maro Yedelian.

The evening was opened with prayer by Pastor Hratsh Kiujian, pastor of the Armenian Evangelical Brethren Church and co-director of Mission Armenia Ltd. The MC for the evening was Mr Andre Marootians, who had travelled from Melbourne for the occasion. The guests were treated to a series of inspiring musical performances by some of the Armenian-Australian community’s youngest talents – Miss Rosa Kotoyan, Miss Meghety Zeytouncian, Mr Narek Armaganian and Miss Sarin Karadanian – led by Mrs Marguerite Porter-Hovhnissian and Miss Janet Saprichian. Mr Robert Grigorian, co-director of Mission Armenia Ltd, and Mrs Annie Kerkyasharian, a trained nurse who worked as a volunteer with Mission Armenia in 2005, captivated the audience with audio-visual presentations of their first-hand experience of Mission Armenia’s extraordinary work among the elderly and refugees. Mission Armenia Ltd co-director, Dr Armen Gakavian, provided the audience with up-do-date information about the work of Mission Armenia.

The highlight of the evening was an ‘interview’ with The Hon. Joe Hockey MP, who had been invited as keynote speaker for the occasion. Mr Hockey, whose father is of Armenian background, is the second Australian government minister (after the Hon. Phillip Ruddock) to have visited Armenia. During his visit in November 2005, Mr Hockey met with the Prime Minister and the Minister for Health. He also planted a memorial tree on the grounds of the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, capital of Armenia.

Mr Hockey shared some of the highlights of his time in Armenia, while speaking frankly about the challenges facing our homeland: corruption, the lack of economic ties with neighbouring Turkey and Azerbaijan, and the need to harness the potential of the diaspora. As former Australian Minister for Tourism, Mr Hockey was impressed with Armenia’s potential as a tourist destination. He emphasised, however, that this potential could only be achieved with improved infrastructure, rooting out corruption and an end of hostilities with Azerbaijan.

Mr Hockey spoke highly of the work of Mission Armenia, and urged its Directors to seek avenues of cooperation with the Australian government.

Over $5,000 was raised on and immediately following the Dinner and Presentation Night. These funds will be used to support the following two projects:
• One month’s computer training for 200 young refugees involved in Mission Armenia’s Vocational Training Program.
• One year of salary (including on-costs) of a doctor based at Mission Armenia’s Community Centre serving the elderly in Sevan.

Mission Armenia NGO supports 10,000 refugees and provides centre-based and home-based care for 8,000 elderly throughout Armenia. For more information about its work, and how you can be involved, please visit www.missionarmenia.com.