June's Featured Producer Partner | Maral: From Aleppo to Yerevan

Maral, who is originally from Aleppo, is working with HDIF to sell her delicately, hand-embroidered clasp bags in the Homeland shop. Her distinct motifs represent embroidery traditions from Western Armenia, like Aintab, Urfa, Sebastia, and Marash. She learned these techniques as a young girl from her grandmother. Her home in Aleppo was adorned with ornaments she made herself using these skills.

Although the war forced her to leave Aleppo, she no longer classifies herself as a refugee. Instead, Maral has set up a home in Yerevan and - starting from ground zero - has established her own business making accessories and ornaments to support her family of five.

Many Armenian's from Syria repatriated to Armenia due to the war. HDIF was one of the first social enterprises in Yerevan to set up a project to create jobs for Syrian Armenian women, allowing them to sell beautiful accessories using their exquisite embroidery skills.