LOCAL HANDICRAFTS FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Times are rough, there's no doubt about that! The world is a complicated place with too many troubles to fully absorb. So it's our job to not get confused or distracted, but to focus even more on what our mandate is - to create sustainable incomes among vulnerable communities in Armenia. And so far in 2026, our hard work and laser focus is giving good results.

Our loyal distributor in the US has placed her first order for the year, and will arrive in late February to see our work in action. She has ordered her bread and butter products from Berd and Koghb in the northeast, Kapan in the south, and Vardenis up by Lake Sevan. We really appreciate her consistency in keeping those crochet hooks, sewing needles and paint brushes going!

We are in negotiations another US organization to resume delivers of carved wooden, ceramic and resin home decor and jewelry after a long pause. We are so happy to get this going again! More hands hard at work in Armenia!

We have an inquiry from a non-profit in the US for a fun little hand crocheted elephant that they expect to be ordering in pretty good quantities. This guy comes from Gyumri in the north. 

Our distributor in the UK pulled back last year, but her clients are still asking for our products, so she has placed a nice order as well. That means Kapan, Talin, Koghb Gyumri will be working away on that order too!

And then there is the Duty Free client at the airport here in Yerevan. Nearly every month they are placing nice orders that support dozens and dozens of artisans across the country, mostly Talin, Kapan, Goris, Berd and Gyumri.

Then there is of course our fantastic Made51 partners who buy exclusively hand felted and embroidered items from refugee artisans in Armenia. 

We don't want to jinx it, but for HDIF, 2026 has started off fairly (unexpectedly) well. We thank you for your support!

To remind us of why we do what we do, we included here portraits of a few of the women we support around the country. If ever in Armenia, please plan a visit to one or more of them to drink coffee and tell stories! These portraits are used on tags on every single product we sell. This because this women are the heart and sole of what we do. 

Thank you!

Links:

• HDIF USA

During the last week of September in 2023, the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh fell. Nearly 120.000 ethnic Armenians were forced to flee. On September 25th, a tanker was allowed in to provide enough fuel for them to drive out, leaving everything they know behind, but at least with their lives. All the men of city of Stepanakert gathered around the tanker to get their few liters for the journey. Then it exploded, killing hundreds and wounding hundreds more. A fiery bloodbath. Among those were the son and son-in-law of Armine. The mens' hands scorched and faces seared, they were flown out by helicopter. Armine, her husband and their two daughters escaped a couple days later, as much of their belongings as they could piled on the roof of their car - boxes of the most cherished items, chairs, a mattress.

A couple months ago, Armine walked into our office one day here in Yerevan, downtrodden and quiet. She looked at our crocheted items. When I asked what she wanted, she nervously pulled a crocheted bear out of her bag and asked if we could sell it. She broke down as she told her story. The bear had hashtags on it, appearing to have been beaten.

Armine was beaten up - by the burden of two men in her family still needing daily medical care, by losing her home and land, by not being able to find a job, by life. I thought long and hard that evening about whether it's right to help one individual and her family with a project, but thought of the old proverb 'save one and save the world'. I looked at the bear again, and baptized it Battered Bear, because we are all feeling battered in this complicated world. I thought that might be something people could relate to. And boy did they. Armine has been making 16 Battered Bears a week since then, and we pay her as she delivers, on the spot. So far, Armine has gotten orders for about 464 bears....way beyond our expectations, but guaranteeing her work for months, all the way up to Christmas and beyond. They've been shipped to the UK, Norway, Australia, Belgium, the US and more. Some people want just to make a donation. The bears made with those donations will be given out by an Armenian Santa at a Christmas party for kids from Nagorno Karabakh in December here in Yerevan.

Needless to say, Armine is a different woman today than she was that first day just a couple months ago. She walks in with her weekly delivery of 16 bears beaming and proud, chatting away. We're so pleased with this result, we can't even express it. We've made a difference for this one family.

To give to this fundraiser, please use this link: https://goto.gg/f/74542

Thank you.