KRO is a mix of courage and will

Four years have passed since this atrocious war. It is too hard to reminisce. What I had at that time and what I have now can't be compared. I lost my husband during the war; I lost the land where I lived. If I talk to you metaphorically about this, it may be like a situation where you fall into the fathomless abyss. You are in freefall, plummeting into an endless void with no sense of control or direction. Everything crumbled in a second, and I thought each moment of descent pulled me deeper into darkness, leaving my beautiful world behind.

After the war, and moving to the Republic of Armenia, I worked as a paralegal, but it did not meet our needs. I decided to do something else simultaneously. I have always loved baking.

I started taking orders and making pastries at home. Last year, in 2023, I stumbled across the Armenian Fund For Sustainable Development announcement about a "Women empowerment program" and applied for support.

At first sight, my pastry shop is not on the first line street where most shops of this quarter are, but its location is in the middle of many educational institutions, music schools, and dance groups in the neighborhood, and my shop has become a favorite place for children to have a break. Every day I have new clients, and their number soars daily.

Reflecting on my journey, while the war took much from me, it also gave me something invaluable: a community of people who feel like family and stand by me unconditionally.

Zita is a refugee from Artsakh and a beneficiary of the AF4SD "Refugee Women Empowerment" program.

Arev Society provides management support to the AF4SD "Vulnerable Women Empowerment" program.