On January 31, 2020, The Coordinating body of the “Socio-Psychological Assistance to Syrian Refugees” project of Aleppo Compatriotic Charitable Organization (Aleppo-NGO) held the first meeting of the year at Aleppo-NGO’s office with the participation of 31 members.

The guest of the meeting was Priest Grigor Hovhannisyan. Dzovig Makarian-Baitarian, Co-founding Vice President of Aleppo-NGO, gave a welcome speech after which the Priest congratulated the participants for the past holidays and organized a blessing ceremony in the Organization. The Priest read St. Matthew’s Gospel, commenting on them and explaining the importance of spiritual life in the secular life of everyone.

Priest Grigor Hovhannisyan told about his visit to Jerusalem, mentioned the important role of the Armenian church there, the activities of the Armenian community among other nationalities. The priest gave exhaustive answers and explanations to all questions of the attendees and ended the meeting with a prayer. Each participant took a piece of blessed bread and salt and drank blessed water. 

As a reminder, the free socio-psychological assistance meetings at Aleppo-NGO provide support to Syrians who went through the war and find themselves experiencing psychological side effects, helping them to recover and become actively involved in the civil life of Armenia. The meetings take place every Friday at 13:00, at the Aleppo-NGO’s office. The address is 11 Northern Avenue, -1 floor (entrance from Abovyan street).

The meetings are free for participation.