Courage is Half the Battle

30-year-old Armine tells how she has changed her life, acquired a new profession and provided decent living conditions for her children. 

Armine lives in the city of Alaverdi, Lori marz, with two small children and her parents. After a divorce, she took care of the children completely alone. The family allowance provided by the state was not enough to cover the needs of a large family. Being without a profession, Armine had to work as a cleaner, participate in seasonal agricultural work, particularly harvest work, engage in poultry farming and sell eggs.

In the summer of 2021, after being referred by the Community Social Worker, Armine was involved in the "Community Level Access to Social Services" (CLASS) project, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by World Vision Armenia, the Child Development Foundation, the Women's Support Center and ARNAP Foundation.

Given Armine's passion and skills, it was decided to support her in taking table design classes and providing her with the right supplies and tools.

"Although I faced many difficulties in my life, I always had a desire to learn and I have been active. It is not so easy to get an education at the age of thirty. I decided to enter the Alaverdi Secondary Vocational College and received the qualification of a clerk. I also participated in women's leadership programmes at the municipality initiative. When you aspire and try to do something, believe me, new opportunities open up," Armine says.

Lilit Margaryan, the Community Social Worker, who was working with Armine at the beginning, also confirmed that Armine had been active in the community, participating in women's leadership programmes to raise community problems before joining the CLASS Project.  

"When choosing the beneficiaries of the project, it is very important to see people's willingness, desire to work and grow. As you can see, Armine is a bright example of how to use any opportunity to improve one's life conditions. In 2022, within the project, Armine completed the table design course, and even though she had health problems in that period, it did not prevent her from successfully completing the course. Moreover, Armine has been able to expand her tools and also engage in event planning. Currently, she is engaged in the planning of family events, weddings, anniversaries, as well as ensuring the beautiful setting of public events. For example, the "Last Bell" event, as well as parties and performances organised in schools and kindergartens," says Lilit Margaryan. 

"You should never give up or despair. You have to have courage to follow your dreams, and courage is half the battle. Certainly, I still have a lot of things to do and many goals, but today the issue of a stable income for my family has already been solved to some extent," says Armine. She also half-jokingly adds that the community of Alaverdi also benefited from her new profession as previously there were few event planners and table decoration services in the community, and the residents of Alaverdi often had to travel to Vanadzor to seek these services. Now, these services are being provided thanks to the activities of Armine, resulting in the Alaverdi community becoming more beautiful.

Armine states that she aims to establish a wedding salon in the community as there is none in Alaverdi.

Currently, Armine's activities continue to be the focus of Alaverdi Community Social Workers, who are constantly in contact with Armine and try to support in all possible cases.

"When we started working in the new consolidated community of Alaverdi, Armine had already completed the table design courses, received the working tools and started working. We learned that Armine is one of the beneficiaries of the CLASS project, and we are in contact with her, together with the project specialists, so that we can support her in her work, if possible," says Armine Shakhkyan, the current Social Worker of Alaverdi community.

This article is made possible by the generous support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of World Vision Armenia and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.