I met Dr. Joel Sargsyan at his clinic inLyon.

He is a well-known surgeon and urologist, a specialist in lithotripsy, i.e. crushing kidney stones. I was aware that over the years he had rendered valuable assistance to Armenian healthcare institutions, but he did not seem eager to pursue that topic during our conversation. He would speak with pleasure about his family, childhood, or general health issues while deftly dodging questions about his hand in providingArmeniawith aid. At first it seemed to me that something was getting lost in translation, because for the first twenty minutes a Russian-speaking French girl, Aneline, was helping an Armenian fromYerevancommunicate with an Armenian fromLyon. We were then joined by a deacon who worked at the Armenian church inLyon. He was trying to translate more than the doctor's words and would always add, “The doctor is a man of incredibly modesty. If it were anyone else, they would be blowing their own trumpet.”

Joel Sargsyan's ancestors came toFrancefrom Sassu andIzmirin 1925. Joel was born in 1949. Until the age of five, he lived with his grandmother and spoke exclusively in Armenian. “My parents forced me to speak Armenian,” he said.

In those years,Lyondid not have an Armenian school. People of his generation would learn their mother tongue at home, in church or during community meetings. “We learned French and sacrificed our Armenian, because we did not want to left behind by society,” the doctor said with regret.

The earthquake in 1988 was a hard shock for many Armenians living abroad. Joel Sargsyan said that it was the earthquake that caused the Armenian within him to reawake. The collaboration betweenArmeniaand the doctor fromLyonbegan thereafter. Since 1988, he has come toArmeniaeight times and worked in different hospitals, performing complex operations with instruments and valuable equipment which he brought with him. “I have always preferred working with the most modest doctors whose work helps people, rather than work with officials in healthcare or government,” said Joel Sargsyan.

Joel Sargsyan's biggest contribution was his donation of a lithotripter to the Armenian Urologists' Association. It is now located at theMikaelyanHospital. “When he made the donation, Dr. Sargsyan put forward the condition that it would not be used by just one person, but rather by different doctors in the hospital,” said surgeon Sergey Fanarjyan.

Until then, surgery was the only option for the removal of kidney stones inArmenia. After the installation of that equipment, around 2,500 non-surgical procedures have been conducted. “He achieved his goal – surgical operations are now rarely performed in our hospital for the removal of kidney stones. In most cases, the patients are treated using the equipment donated by Joel Sargsyan,” said Dr. Fanarjyan, who maintains close relations with the doctor fromLyonto this day. “I consult with him regularly. I send him pictures through e-mail and ask for his advice. His experience helps us to this day,” said Fanarjyan.

Besides providing professional advice and technical assistance, Dr. Sargsyan has also helped train doctors fromArmenia. With his help, many doctors have improved their professional knowledge and skills in the leading clinics ofFrance. “I saw that people inArmeniaknow the need to progress and want to develop and succeed. I thought that they needed help in reaching international standards,” said the doctor fromLyon.

He gave the utmost importance to professional exchanges and the training of Armenian physicians. But he also noted that some doctors would stay on and work inFranceafter they were trained. “They come for training, but then make use of the opportunity and stay. So it turns out thatFrancegains from them, butArmenialoses,” said Sargsyan, without blaming the people in question, “There was a young man who received training here and started working as an anesthesiologist. Everyone rules their own destiny, we should not judge them. They stay here and work to support their families or sometimes even their extended families.”

Joel Sargsyan considered the assistance offered toArmeniaby the Diaspora and Western countries important. “It is very useful,” he said, “But sometimes it is easier to find aid – equipment and material – than to identify the person inArmeniawho will use them best.” According to him, there are two kinds of people inArmenia– the honest, who are meek, careful, humble and those who have power and think only about their position. “When you give someone a tool, you have to think about who will be using it,” said the doctor, “If it is someone useless, the tool will not serve its purpose, no matter how valuable it is.”