Armenia: Finding strength to fulfill a long-held dream

“When you do what you love, success follows. Our success comes from staying positive and determined. Instead of focusing on challenges, we look ahead,” said Alina Voskanyan, whose son went missing following the escalation of the conflict in 2020.

Despite her grief and the challenges of not knowing what happened to her son, Alina has stayed strong and kept hope alive. She believes that he will return home one day and, when he does, she wants him to find her full of resilience and not struggling with despair.

To stay optimistic and keep herself motivated, Alina decided to work towards a lifelong dream of having her own bakery. Baking has always been something she enjoyed doing. After thinking about it for years, she finally learned cake decoration and went ahead with starting her own business, with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“I had some experience working in a pastry factory and always enjoyed cooking, which gave me the confidence to pursue my dream,” she said.

For Alina, another important reason behind wanting to open a bakery was to have a stable livelihood which would allow her to spend more time with her son and focus on him when he returns. Her family has been a big help in setting up her small business. In the meanwhile, through her new venture, she has also been able to give back to her community by helping others find employment. Currently, she has three employees and another person is expected to join the staff soon.

The ICRC helped Alina start her own business by providing a conditional cash grant. Through this initiative, we aimed to empower her with a sustainable income, fostering self-sufficiency and creating job opportunities for others.