Noubar Afeyan
YEREVAN. – Armenian people are capable of helping the others: it is our response to the Turks, and it is absolutely opposite thing to what they did, co-founder of Aurora initiative Noubar Afeyan said.
Afeyan, Flagship Pioneering CEO, said Aurora Prize is a new thing in humanitarian programs.
In the humanitarian sphere, there were no similar programs that would represent such a small country as Armenia.
“The world is not focused at all on the themes of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide. The materials that we submitted are completely new and have never been presented at the world level,” he said during Aurora Dialogues discussion held at UWC Dilijan College.
Afeyan is confident that they would continue their endeavor in the next few years,
“At a time when you feel that the world has left you, you see people who are ready to help you putting their lives at risk, and this certainly inspires hope. During the Genocide, we, the Armenians, were on our last breath, and throughout history foreigners – Americans, Turks or Syrians – helped us. Now they see the Armenian people, who managed to overcome all this and become self-confident and working people,” he added.
He emphasized that the part of the amount collected during last year’s Aurora Prize was transferred to the orphans of Brazil.
“If you only see how these children are talking about the Armenians and Armenia. They had never heard of the Armenians. Now they see that the Armenian people help them with the help of a woman from Burundi [winner of the first Aurora Prize Barankitse –ed],” he added.
Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Central Board Member Noubar Afeyan was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), AGBU said in a press release.