Lusine's Story: Turning Passion into Healing

“Every day, when I head home tired, I remind myself of one thing: I am doing what I love. And that gives me the strength to wake up the next morning with new energy.”

Lusine was born and raised in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and trained as a teacher. Her love for dough, along with treasured family recipes, came from her grandmother, whose cakes were famous throughout their village.

"Everyone in our village knew that my grandmother baked the most delicious treats," Lusine remembers fondly. She baked her very first cake when she was only in 7th grade, and the news quickly spread among her neighbors, who were amazed by the taste. Although her parents were against her taking orders at such a young age, wanting her to focus fully on her education, Lusine always held on to her secret dream: "When we were living in Artsakh, we had a large home with a beautiful yard. My secret dream was that one day, I would build my own big bakery right there in our yard."

Relocating in 2023 and facing immense loss, especially the devastating death of her younger brother, who remained in Artsakh, left Lusine struggling with deep stress and grief. In those heavy days, returning to the work she loved became her only true refuge and source of healing. "Working with dough was the only thing that could calm my mind. I put every bit of energy I had left into turning my dream of opening a bakery into reality," she shares.

In the beginning, Lusine did everything entirely on her own: baking, selling, and managing the business. "There were months when I made zero profit and barely broke even, but I just needed to leave the house every day to save myself from that grief," she recalls.

Without any formal advertising, her greatest advantage was the genuine taste and high quality of her products. "Our menu was our best advertisement. Once people tried our baking, they kept coming back and telling others." As her selection grew from traditional “Zhengyalov Hats” and “Baklava” to various cakes and pastries, Lusine realized she could no longer keep up without extra help and professional equipment.

She found the program by chance. One evening, while looking through her phone, she saw an online announcement about a project supported by the Armenian Fund for Sustainable Development. "To be honest, I was not sure at first," she says. "I thought, 'So many people have applied. Why would they pick me?' I sent the form and expected nothing." A few days later, the project staff visited her. They looked at her small workspace, asked about her plans, and checked whether the idea could grow. "Some time passed, and then they called me to a meeting. We went through every detail together. That is when I understood something important. If I say yes now, I must succeed, so these people never feel sorry that they trusted me. When I heard that I was selected, I was so happy. That was the moment I understood these chances are real."

Through the program, she received a professional refrigerator and a pie-making machine. The change in her daily work was clear from the first week. Before, she had to prepare the dough by hand, and this took long hours every morning. Now the machine does the hard part, and the refrigerator keeps her products fresh for much longer. She can make more pies, work faster, and take bigger orders without worry. Her customers, who keep growing, no longer have to wait. She still dreams of a better place with more space, and she does not hide it. But she is calm about it. She believes it's still ahead and that she will build it step by step, over time.

Today, Lusine is already looking ahead with new plans. "I am trying to expand our space and offer an even wider selection of cakes, because my whole story started with baking cakes. I really want that part of our menu to be just as large and deeply loved. I know it will take hard work, but doing what I love makes every effort worth it."

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