In fall 1915, 1,260 children from Musa Dagh were living in the Port Said camp. It was therefore necessary to open a school. The Union agreed to build it and defray its expenses. Opened on an emergency basis on 20 October 1915, it initially consisted of twenty-five big tents. Early in 1917, there were only nine hundred fifty pupils in the school, due to the high mortality rate of the young children living in the camp, the departure of many families, and the lack of classes for children between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. By the end of the year, the number of schoolchildren had increased as a result of the arrival of new refugee families. In the four years of its existence, the Sisvan School not only educated, but also fed and clothed no fewer than three thousand children. For a brief period, from October 1915 to January 1916, T. Karakashian, the AGBU’s treasurer, served as its principal. He was succeeded by Hmayag Kranian. Hampartsum Yeramian, the founder of the Yeramian School in Van, served as school inspector. Later, Mesrob Zhamgochian was made principal and some of ... Read all
Relief Measures for the Refugees in Port Said
Children in the primary grades at the Sisvan School (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
Children in the primary grades at the Sisvan School (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
Mesrob Zhamgochian, principal of the Sisvan School (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
Hmayag Kranian, principal of the Sisvan School (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/Paris).
The Port Said tent camp for refugees from Musa Dagh (Coll. Bibl. Nubar/ Paris).