Meet Producer Leader Gohar Hovhannisyan from Kapan

Located at the bottom of Armenia's panhandle and close to the Iranian border, Kapan is wedged between high mountains and splintered by numerous valleys.  The name itself is derived from the Armenian word Kapel (to lock), a reference to the interlocking mountain chains that converge here. 

HDIF’s producer partner, Gohar Hovhannisyan, leads a team of 13 women in Kapan who crochet a wide variety of products.  Gohar is responsible for one of HDIF's most iconic products - the Armenian flag heart keytags that we all love. Her group also crochets pencil cases, car and airplane rattles, coin purses, baby booties and hats. 

Recently, Gohar’s crocheted crocodile and bunny pencil cases have enjoyed great success in the United Kingdom thanks to the work of Sonya Varoujian of Noor & Katu, HDIF’s distributor in the United Kingdom.

Having produced over 2000 products in the past few months for HDIF, Tim and Jean-Pierre recently sat down with Gohar to brainstorm how they can help her expand her business.

Gohar shared, “We are the talented women of Kapan, who engage in sewing and produce ecologically friendly toys that are consumed worldwide.”

In late 2022, Gohar’s husband passed away suddenly after being unable to bear the stress of Azeri attacks that occurred in mid-September. In order to keep her mind off this tragic loss, Gohar kept her team of artisans working on orders for the holiday season, and even traveled to Yerevan to deliver the products. Every purchase of HDIF’s fair trade handicrafts supports meaningful job creation for women throughout Armenia. And in Gohar's case, this work is more vital to her family than ever.

This is what HDIF’s partners are about - strength, dignity and determination, even in the face of painful challenges - they work for their communities, not just for themselves.

We in HDIF are proud of all our producer partners. They are amazing women, each and every one of them.