Stitching a New Path in Achajur

40-year-old Seda Ghevondyan, never imagined that sewing would one day become not just a skill, but her passion, and the foundation for her future. A teacher by profession, she thought her path would always lead to a classroom. But the moment she picked up a needle and thread, something shifted. She couldn’t put them down.

“It all happened by chance,” Seda recalls. “I started working at the Ijevan sewing factory, even though I always thought my place was in a school or kindergarten.”

For the past five years, Seda has been sewing workwear and military uniforms at the factory. The environment was unfamiliar at first.

“At first, it was strange to work among so many people and so much noise,” she says. “But after a while, I grew to love this world.” That love led her to dream of something more.

When Seda heard that FAR was launching the Start Your Own Business entrepreneurship initiative in her village of Achajur, home to around 4,000 residents, she didn’t hesitate. She joined the four-day training and presented her idea: to open a small sewing business at home, where she could take her own orders and create her own designs. All she needed was a sewing machine and a few basic supplies to start.

Seda was selected as one of 34 winners whose business ideas received startup funding. “I realized that I could work for myself,” she says. “If I put in the same energy I give to my factory job into my own business, it will truly be for me-for my family.”

Today, Seda produces bedding and towels, selling them online and in local stores across Ijevan region. She dreams of eventually opening her own sewing studio; a place where she can work as both creator and owner, and where others in her community can find stable, dignified employment.

Since 2013, FAR’s Breaking the Cycle of Poverty Program (BCPP) has supported families in Tavush by fostering opportunities that create long-term change. BCPP is generously funded by the Mardigian Family Foundation.

Join us in empowering women like Seda to build strong, local businesses and create new opportunities in their communities. Support FAR today.