The uniting power of Handicraft

Homeland Development Initiative Fund (HDIF) was established in 2013. It is a non-governmental organization that was born within the scope of the Homeland Crafts project, which was founded by the Honorary Consul of Norway and Finland in Armenia, Sir Timothy Straight. The foundation was established with a mission to expand the rights and opportunities of women throughout Armenia using traditional crafts such as handicrafts. The production partners of the company are from more than 15 communities of Armenia, women in difficult social conditions, whom the foundation teaches to work with crochet and knitting needle, and the created items find their buyers in Germany, Italy, the USA and other countries. They produce high quality items with unique mastery and talent. Today, the foundation has 235 producers and they have set a goal to increase the number to a thousand by 2024 in order to expand their influence. Cooperation between HDIF and Voskeporik Development Center began in 2019. The Impact Hub (Sir Timothy Straight is also a member of Impact Hub) united the two organizations. The parents, relatives and friends of the voskeporiks became the beneficiaries of the cooperation. Combining the purpose of The Foundation on the one hand, and the mission of the Voskeporik Development Center on the other hand to promote the development and socialization of the child, a decision was made to teach women to knit and produce toys for children, which then entered the international market. The most important aspect of cooperation with HDIF was the opportunity to enter the international market. During the cooperation, in the course of creating high-quality products, handmade items and self-organizing, we came up with an idea to present the products not only to the local community, but also to the world. Moreover, the idea was to create and develop Eco Toys. The terrible war of 2020 brought the idea one step closer to realization. Voskeporik Development Center, serving about 200 displaced children from Artsakh, seeing how parents lose their children, even in such a difficult psychological state, organized itself. We decided to involve those women in the disciplinary method we already had, which was formed as a result of nonstop handicraft. As a result of this creative therapy, the idea of ​​making warm hats for soldiers was born. Getting back to the cooperation with HDIF, it should be noted that it will develop further, perhaps with a different scope and scale. We are particularly grateful to the foundation for serving as a stimulus to come up with our own products, for giving us a platform and an opportunity to enter the international market.