As 2020 winds down, we would like to reflect a bit.
HDIF made a crazily optimistic budget early in the year, and quite frankly did not expect to even come close......but we did come close, it seems.
We never expected a virus to shut down much of the world, taking with it all the tourists that were supposed to flood Armenia this Summer. But we pivoted to masks and made the best of a bad situation.
We never expected a war in Artsakh. We never expected all the dirty laundry that has come out as a result. We never expected all those young men to die. We never expected a flood of evacuees. We are still reeling with frustration and a sense of injustice. HDIF's producer partners have lost sons and grandsons, neighbors and community members. We did what everybody did, rolling up our sleeves and providing whatever humanitarian assistance we could, forging important new partnerships along the way. Making the best of a horrible situation.
We never expected the Buy Armenian tsunami to happen at all, let alone in the enormous volume it did in the wake of the war. We struggled greatly to produce the volume of orders we got. We uncovered weaknesses in parts of our supply chain and are working to fix them. This tsunami meant lots of stress, but thankfully lots of money being sent to our producer partners in the regions of Armenia to get them through these rough, dark days.
So, while not entirely in the mood to celebrate, we are certainly thankful. Very thankful - thankful to our faithful producer partners all over Armenia, to our ridiculously hard working staff, to our very engaged board of directors, to a long list of volunteers, to all of our strategic partners, to our many donors and supporters, to our sister organization in the US, to all of our overseas clients in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Hong Kong and more.
You know who you are. Thank you.
We enter 2021 with tons of determination to make HDIF even bigger, better and stronger. We will welcome a new full time marketing staff person. We want a new emphasis on recycled products and products made by refugees, evacuees and wounded soldiers. We want to switch to more natural fibers in our knit and crocheted products. We will start future oriented developmental projects, the first being the Sari Janaparh (Mountain Road) project in Tavush where we will develop bed and breakfasts, hiking trails, cultural activities and more.
We are ready.
It has been a rough year with lots of physical and emotional distress, and we are glad it is nearly over. We send 2020 on it's way, and welcome in 2021 with renewed determination and energy.
Thank you for being part of it. Let's work harder, together in 2021.
Our humble appreciation to you for your contribution to HDIF here in Armenia.
