Bird’s Nest Orphanage Refutes Erroneous Press Reports

July 6, 2015

The Bird’s Nest Orphanage in Lebanon
ANTELIAS, Lebanon””Last week, articles appearing in various Lebanese press outlets, in several languages, reported that the historic Bird’s Nest (Trchnots Puyn) Orphange was being sold to make room for a beach-front development.
One of the last vestiges of the Armenian Genocide, the Bird’s Nest facility, which was run by the efforts of Near East Relief and founded by Danish missionary Maria Jacobson, was a refuge for orphans who survived the Genocide and today continues to operate as a safe-haven for underprivileged children under the auspices of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia,
The Board of Directors of Bird’s Nest issued an announcement on Sunday refuting those claims, with its executive director Seta Khedeshian, in an interview with CiliciaTV, also criticizing the press for irresponsible reporting that has created furor in the community, as well as on social media.
The focus of the controversy is a beach front portion of the Bird’s Nest property that has not been is use for decades. Given the rising costs of maintaining the facility, the board has leased that portion of the property, which will be developed by the lessee. After the completion of the lease, the ownership of that developed property is slated to revert to the Catholicosate.
Currently, an old building on the soon-to-be-leased portion of the property, which was a dining hall, is now being used as a church. That building, which is in poor condition, will be demolished and a new Armenian church will be constructed, through a $1 million pledge by the lessee on the perimeter of the current facility.
The development on this portion of the property will provide Bird’s Nest with much-needed income to continue to serve the children of the community.
“The income generating project currently under construction at the bottom half of the orphanage (under the supervision of the Lebanon’s directorate of antiquities) is to help with the maintenance of the Orphanage, the Museum, the Armenian Church and the community as a whole,”

Your generosity empowers our advocacy, inspires our work, and sustains our momentum.
DONATE NOW!
close-image