The Aleppo Homenetmen women’s basketball team in 1948
BY MARY NAJARIAN
The Annual Homenetmen Navasartian Games held in Van Nuys, California, always takes me down memory lane to the 1947 Olympic Games in Aleppo, Syria.
We lived on Zavarian Street in Nor Kyugh, the Armenian ghetto. Every day after school, my younger brother Koko and I would come home from school, throw our school bags in the house, and run outside to play with our friends on the unpaved streets covered with dust in the summer and mud in the winter.
To get us off the dirty streets, my father signed Koko up for the Homenetmen Jr. Boy Scouts and signed me up for the Garmeer Khach Girl Scouts, (now Homenetmen). Little did we know that by becoming a scout, we would not only get off the streets, but also start a new life. We were now a part of the Homenetmen family.
Aleppo Homenetmen leaders in 1947
There was always something new and exciting to learn about and do at Homenetmen. We were taught to love and respect our Homeland and fellow Armenians. It was engrained in us that to be an Armenian was a privilege. Our ancestors went through the horrors of genocide, endured unspeakable torture, misery, and starvation to give us life.
I can honestly say that the day I was introduced to our Motto (Ô²Õ¡Ö€Õ±Ö€Õ¡Ö
