ARMENIAN JUSTICE WALK BEGINS MARCHERS LEAVE L.A. FOR WASHINGTON, D.C.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS Special to the Daily News

Nearly a century after the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians, the descendants of those victims are finding new ways to heal old wounds.

Water coolers in hand and painful memories in their hearts, members of the United Armenian Students kicked off their 3,000-mile Journey for Humanity on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday. The group, made up of Armenian college students, is marching 20 miles a day until it reaches the nation's capital in the hopes of educating people about the Armenian genocide, as well as other atrocities occurring throughout the world today.

``We have carried this pain for 91 years,'' said Vahe Abovian, project director for Journey for Humanity.

``We kept hearing `never again, never again,' but it keeps happening,'' he said.

Abovian, 29, has taken a leave of absence from his job as deacon of the Western Dioceses of the Armenian Church and has sent his wife and two daughters to Armenia to reduce his expenses so he can afford his five-month trip.

He feels compelled to make this sacrifice not only as an Armenian, but as an ethical human being, he said.

``It is personal to me as an Armenian, but the issue of genocide is too big to be trademarked as an Armenian or a Jewish issue,'' Abovian said.

With the death toll in the Darfur region of the Sudan nearing 400,000, Abovian stressed that recognition of genocides can lead to their prevention in the future.

``The reasons for doing this are twofold,'' Abovian said.

``We are trying to keep the memories of all genocide victims alive and educating our society and we are demanding that no more crimes against humanity happen,'' he continued.

Richard Hovannisian, chairman of modern Armenian history at the University of California, Los Angeles, said for many Armenians it is the unresolved aspect of the genocide that causes the hurt to remain.

``It is 90 years after the fact, and the Turkish government will not go on the record,'' Hovannisian said.

Hovannisian also said that much of the drive behind the genocide awareness movement stems from a belief that had the world paid attention to the Armenian genocide, many other genocides could have been prevented, including the Jewish Holocaust.

He added that youth involvement in the issue is important. ``Their idealistic streak should be encouraged,'' Hovannisian said.

By Tuesday afternoon Glendale Community College student Albrik Zohrabayan had marched 11 miles in 90-degree heat.

``I'm tired,'' Zohrabayan said in a weakened voice. But he isn't nervous about his trip, despite the unknown territory and summer heat; he only hopes people are open to the message he carries.

``We just hope they are going to support us. That's all we care about.''

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Participants from the United Armenian Students march through Atwater Village on the first day of their five-month Journey for Humanity walk to Washington, D.C.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer